Corrections officer from Madison County thought he was corresponding with 14-year-old girl who was actually a federal agent, according to U.S. attorney.
A Madison County corrections officer was arrested in south Baldwin County on Monday morning on federal felony charges of attempting to use the Internet to solicit sex from a minor.
James Norbert Stracke, 55, of Meridianville was arrested when he arrived in Foley, said Tommy Loftis, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Mobile. Stracke was also charged with attempting to transfer obscene material.
Stracke has been a corrections officer for the Madison County Sheriff's Office for 15 years, said Chris Stephens, chief deputy.
Last week, Stracke began corresponding on the Internet with a person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes. The person was an undercover federal officer, the statement said.
In Foley, Stracke was arrested by officers from the city police, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Attorney's Office Project Safe Childhood Task Force.
Stephens said that Madison County officials placed Stracke on unpaid leave Monday after being informed of the arrest. He said Stracke has been a corrections officer assigned to overseeing jail inmates since being hired.
Stephens said the jailer had no record of disciplinary problems.
"He was kind of a quiet guy, kind of reserved," Stephens said Monday. "There was never any indication of anything such as this."
Stephen said Stracke did not have access to county computers or the Internet as part of his jail job.
Stracke made an initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge William Cassady, and is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday.
A defendant convicted of enticement of a minor could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined as much as $250,000, according to federal officials. The charge of transfer of obscene material to a minor carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
Stracke's case will be presented to the federal grand jury next month, Loftis said.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Deputy Accused Of Sex With Minor Held On High Bond
ORLANDO
On Tuesday morning, bond was set at $250,000 for an Orange County deputy who was arrested on child sex charges.
The Sheriff's Office said Louis Mercado, 45, was taken into custody Monday on charges of sexual battery on a minor.
Deputies said the alleged abuse began in January 1992 when the boy was 7 to 9 years old, and it continued until the victim was 16 or 17 years old.
According to officials, the sexually explicit activity often happened when the boy spent the night at Mercado's home.
Mercado has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. He has been with the Orange County Sheriff's Office since 1992 and was currently serving as a school resource officer.
Mercado has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.
The victim is now 24 years old and his aunt called investigators.
Police revealed that a couple of days ago, Mercado made contact with the victim. They said he called him on the phone, admitted to the abuse and apologized.
On Tuesday morning, bond was set at $250,000 for an Orange County deputy who was arrested on child sex charges.
The Sheriff's Office said Louis Mercado, 45, was taken into custody Monday on charges of sexual battery on a minor.
Deputies said the alleged abuse began in January 1992 when the boy was 7 to 9 years old, and it continued until the victim was 16 or 17 years old.
According to officials, the sexually explicit activity often happened when the boy spent the night at Mercado's home.
Mercado has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. He has been with the Orange County Sheriff's Office since 1992 and was currently serving as a school resource officer.
Mercado has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.
The victim is now 24 years old and his aunt called investigators.
Police revealed that a couple of days ago, Mercado made contact with the victim. They said he called him on the phone, admitted to the abuse and apologized.
Officer Accused of Stealing Garden Hose in Court
ANSONIA, Conn.
An Ansonia police officer who was charged with larceny and accused of stealing a $25 garden hose from the police department will be in court Tuesday.
Antonia police arrested Mustafa Salahuddin, a 20-year veteran of the force, two weeks ago and he has been on paid leave since.
Protestors are coming out in support of him and Salahuddin’s lawyer, Rob Serafinowicz, said this case has nothing to do with a hose, it's about payback.
"This is a clear case that the chief decided that he wanted to retaliate against him for things that happened years ago,” Serafinowicz said. “That's the chief's MO. It's his style, and it's nice that everybody's out here to support Moose based on these stupid charges."
Years ago, Serafinowicz said, Salahuddin challenged the department's policy against facial hair and won the right to wear this beard, part of his Muslim beliefs.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Ansonia's mayor said the U.S. Department of Justice would investigate Salahuddin's arrest.
NAACP representatives marched to support Salahuddin Monday and said they will do it again.
Not everyone in Ansonia is as supportive.
“You're in the public eye. You're supposed to be a role model for citizens. Myself, if I do something wrong, I'm accountable too,” said Mike Celestino of Ansonia.
An Ansonia police officer who was charged with larceny and accused of stealing a $25 garden hose from the police department will be in court Tuesday.
Antonia police arrested Mustafa Salahuddin, a 20-year veteran of the force, two weeks ago and he has been on paid leave since.
Protestors are coming out in support of him and Salahuddin’s lawyer, Rob Serafinowicz, said this case has nothing to do with a hose, it's about payback.
"This is a clear case that the chief decided that he wanted to retaliate against him for things that happened years ago,” Serafinowicz said. “That's the chief's MO. It's his style, and it's nice that everybody's out here to support Moose based on these stupid charges."
Years ago, Serafinowicz said, Salahuddin challenged the department's policy against facial hair and won the right to wear this beard, part of his Muslim beliefs.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Ansonia's mayor said the U.S. Department of Justice would investigate Salahuddin's arrest.
NAACP representatives marched to support Salahuddin Monday and said they will do it again.
Not everyone in Ansonia is as supportive.
“You're in the public eye. You're supposed to be a role model for citizens. Myself, if I do something wrong, I'm accountable too,” said Mike Celestino of Ansonia.
Officer Knocks Bicyclist to the Ground
NEW YORK
The New York Police Department has disciplined a Midtown police officer who had arrested a bicyclist he appears to have knocked to the ground, according to a YouTube videotape of the incident released Monday.
The videotape has raised concerns about police Officer Patrick Pogan's sworn account that the bicyclist deliberately drove into him last Friday evening during a Critical Mass bicycle ride in Times Square, a source said.
After the videotape surfaced, the NYPD took away Pogan's badge and gun, temporarily placing him on desk duty. The Manhattan district attorney also announced that it was investigating the incident.
In a criminal complaint, Pogan accused bicyclist Christopher Long of steering into him, the impact flinging Pogan to the ground and causing cuts on his forearms.
However on the video, shot by a bystander, it appears as though Pogan was the aggressor who used both hands to shove the 29-year-old Long off his bicycle as he traveled down Seventh Avenue by 46th Street about 8:30 p.m. July 25.
The videotape shows Long hitting the ground but doesn't show Pogan thrown off his feet.
Police arrested Long, charging him with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, charges that now are under scrutiny given the videotape, a source said.
"The officer has been placed on modified assignment pending further investigation of the incident," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's spokesman. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined comment.
Long also declined comment, but a Critical Mass supporter said confrontations like these are common between police and bicyclists.
At their monthly bicycle rides, Critical Mass has at times been accused of blocking traffic and causing disruptions to promote "non-polluting transportation."
"I was just horrified. You see the police officer knocking the cyclist off his bicycle," said Judy Ross of Time's Up!, a promoter for Critical Mass.
However a former NYPD official said the videotape may not tell the whole story.
"You can't see what the bicyclist is doing as he approaches the officer, other than he is coming close to the officer," said security consultant Thomas Ruskin, president of the CMP Group.
The New York Police Department has disciplined a Midtown police officer who had arrested a bicyclist he appears to have knocked to the ground, according to a YouTube videotape of the incident released Monday.
The videotape has raised concerns about police Officer Patrick Pogan's sworn account that the bicyclist deliberately drove into him last Friday evening during a Critical Mass bicycle ride in Times Square, a source said.
After the videotape surfaced, the NYPD took away Pogan's badge and gun, temporarily placing him on desk duty. The Manhattan district attorney also announced that it was investigating the incident.
In a criminal complaint, Pogan accused bicyclist Christopher Long of steering into him, the impact flinging Pogan to the ground and causing cuts on his forearms.
However on the video, shot by a bystander, it appears as though Pogan was the aggressor who used both hands to shove the 29-year-old Long off his bicycle as he traveled down Seventh Avenue by 46th Street about 8:30 p.m. July 25.
The videotape shows Long hitting the ground but doesn't show Pogan thrown off his feet.
Police arrested Long, charging him with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, charges that now are under scrutiny given the videotape, a source said.
"The officer has been placed on modified assignment pending further investigation of the incident," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's spokesman. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined comment.
Long also declined comment, but a Critical Mass supporter said confrontations like these are common between police and bicyclists.
At their monthly bicycle rides, Critical Mass has at times been accused of blocking traffic and causing disruptions to promote "non-polluting transportation."
"I was just horrified. You see the police officer knocking the cyclist off his bicycle," said Judy Ross of Time's Up!, a promoter for Critical Mass.
However a former NYPD official said the videotape may not tell the whole story.
"You can't see what the bicyclist is doing as he approaches the officer, other than he is coming close to the officer," said security consultant Thomas Ruskin, president of the CMP Group.
Officer Pleads Not Guilty in Road Rage Shooting
VISTA
A San Diego police officer accused of shooting at a mother and her child while off-duty pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon to charges stemming from the incident.
Officer Frank White faces a felony count of gross negligent discharge of a firearm with two enhancements for great bodily injury and one misdemeanor count of exhibiting a firearm. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of nine years in prison.
White answered the judge's questions during a brief appearance in Superior Court in Vista. He was there with his wife, attorneys and two other people. He did not answer questions after the hearing.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced the charges at a noon news conference and did not take any questions from reporters.
“Every officer-involved shooting is carefully reviewed by the District Attorney's Office to determine if criminal charges should be filed,” she said. “Based on the evidence and the law, these charges are appropriate.”
White was in the process of being suspended without pay Tuesday pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, said Det. Gary Hassen, a San Diego Police Department spokesman.
The incident occurred the night of March 15, when White and his wife encountered Rachel Silva, who was driving with her then 8-year-old son, Johnny, in the passenger seat.
The shooting evolved from an apparent road-rage dispute and ended with White firing five rounds into Silva's car, officials said. Silva was shot twice in the arm, while her son was hit once in the knee.
White was allowed to leave the courtroom on his own recognizance without posting bail and must return on Saturday to be booked and released. His next court appearance is set for Aug. 26 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17.
In April, the Attorney General's Office and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office decided to split the prosecution of the cases. The attorney general took over Silva's case, while the District Attorney's Office handled the investigation into White. Both agencies agreed that it was best to conduct two independent reviews in case both Silva and White were charged.
Silva has pleaded not guilty to felony child endangerment and five misdemeanors: two drunken driving charges, possession of marijuana, driving on a suspended license and driving on a license suspended for a previous drunken driving conviction.
Silva faces up to six years in prison if convicted of the felony. Her preliminary hearing has been set for Sept. 9.
In the interim, Silva has been in a rehabilitation facility where she will remain until counselors say she can leave, said her defense attorney Michael Pancer.
In response to White's charges, Pancer said: “I think the District Attorney's Office got it just right.”
The lawyer said he spoke to his client about the charges filed against White and said Silva “is pleased that Ms. Dumanis had the courage to do this.”
White's defense attorney, Richard Pinckard, said his client denies all of the allegations.
“This case rests on the evidence,” Pinckard said after the hearing. “We'll see how it unfolds.”
Oceanside police conducted an initial investigation and turned the case over to the District Attorney's Office in April to determine whether charges should be filed.
Oceanside police said Silva's blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent – nearly twice the legal limit – at the time. Authorities also said she had marijuana in her system.
Silva has said she doesn't recall how the confrontation started and doesn't know why White fired into her car. She also said she was only trying to get away from him when she saw his gun.
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Silva's son against White, the city of San Diego, the San Diego Police Department and the police chief. Silva has filed a similar claim.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Former Officer David Scudder Sold Fake Autographs
GREENSBURG, Ind.
A former police officer faces theft and official misconduct charges for allegedly pocketing money while investigating a scam that sold fake autographs of action film actor "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
David L. Scudder, who was charged last week, resigned from the Greensburg police force on June 30 after the Indiana State Police began investigating his actions.
Prosecutors said Scudder, 37, seized money from a man who was acting as the "promoter" of a man who resembles Austin, a wrestler who's made the transition to films.
Those two men, who were selling what they said were Austin's autographs, had tricked about eight people to pay $10 for each of "the false and fraudulent autographs," according to an affidavit filed in Decatur County Circuit Court.
The affidavit states that on June 21, Scudder and Greensburg police Detective Mike Cruze arrived at a Wal-Mart in the city about 40 miles southeast of Indianapolis where the two men had been selling the bogus Austin autographs.
The "promoter" told the officers he had collected about $166 that day, but said that his cohort had already left with that money.
Despite that, Scudder asked the man to give him $166 of his own money and then gave the man a receipt -- a transaction captured on Wal-Mart surveillance video -- before announcing to those present, including Cruze, that he had seized the cash, the affidavit states.
Scudder's investigation report filed two days later made no mention of the money or the receipt being logged as evidence, according to the affidavit.
State Police were contacted after Scudder offered Cruze and other Greensburg police officials no explanation for the missing money.
His report, however, noted that the money "was returned to the fans at the scene."
But the affidavit said none of the victims had received any money from the officer.
A former police officer faces theft and official misconduct charges for allegedly pocketing money while investigating a scam that sold fake autographs of action film actor "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
David L. Scudder, who was charged last week, resigned from the Greensburg police force on June 30 after the Indiana State Police began investigating his actions.
Prosecutors said Scudder, 37, seized money from a man who was acting as the "promoter" of a man who resembles Austin, a wrestler who's made the transition to films.
Those two men, who were selling what they said were Austin's autographs, had tricked about eight people to pay $10 for each of "the false and fraudulent autographs," according to an affidavit filed in Decatur County Circuit Court.
The affidavit states that on June 21, Scudder and Greensburg police Detective Mike Cruze arrived at a Wal-Mart in the city about 40 miles southeast of Indianapolis where the two men had been selling the bogus Austin autographs.
The "promoter" told the officers he had collected about $166 that day, but said that his cohort had already left with that money.
Despite that, Scudder asked the man to give him $166 of his own money and then gave the man a receipt -- a transaction captured on Wal-Mart surveillance video -- before announcing to those present, including Cruze, that he had seized the cash, the affidavit states.
Scudder's investigation report filed two days later made no mention of the money or the receipt being logged as evidence, according to the affidavit.
State Police were contacted after Scudder offered Cruze and other Greensburg police officials no explanation for the missing money.
His report, however, noted that the money "was returned to the fans at the scene."
But the affidavit said none of the victims had received any money from the officer.
Trial Of Lima Police Officer Sgt Joe Chavalia Starts This Morning
The trial of Lima Police Sgt. Joe Chavalia will get underway today. Jury selection starts just before 9 a.m. in the Allen County Common Pleas Court. Visiting Judge Richard Knepper has blocked two weeks for the trial, although it is expected that jury selection alone could take between two and five days.
Security will be tight for the trial, as extra Sheriff’s Deputies will be on hand at the court. No one will be allowed to wait outside the courtroom while the trial progresses and the courtroom will be locked so that no one can enter while court is in session.
Chavalia is charged with negligent homicide in the shooting death of Tarika Wilson during a drug raid in Lima in early January. He also faces a charge of negligent assault for wounding Wilson’s son Sincere.
Security will be tight for the trial, as extra Sheriff’s Deputies will be on hand at the court. No one will be allowed to wait outside the courtroom while the trial progresses and the courtroom will be locked so that no one can enter while court is in session.
Chavalia is charged with negligent homicide in the shooting death of Tarika Wilson during a drug raid in Lima in early January. He also faces a charge of negligent assault for wounding Wilson’s son Sincere.
UPDATE: Officer maybe Charged with Taser Death
NEW ORLEANS
A prosecutor in central Louisiana says he will consider criminal charges against a former police officer accused of jolting a handcuffed man nine times with a Taser before the suspect died.
Baron Pikes was repeatedly shocked with a 50,000-volt Taser as he was arrested on a drug possession warrant on January 17th. A coroner ruled the death was a homicide. The Winn Parish district attorney says former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent has acknowledged using the device on Pikes.
Nugent's lawyer says he's not surprised the D.A. wants a grand jury sort through the facts.
A lawyer for Pikes' relatives says the family welcomes the grand jury's probe which she called "a step in the right direction."
Winnfield is about 40 miles northwest of Jena, the site of a massive civil rights protest last year.
Thousands demonstrators gathered in Jena to protest the cases against six black teenagers charged with beating a white student at a high school.
Pikes was black; Nugent is white.
A prosecutor in central Louisiana says he will consider criminal charges against a former police officer accused of jolting a handcuffed man nine times with a Taser before the suspect died.
Baron Pikes was repeatedly shocked with a 50,000-volt Taser as he was arrested on a drug possession warrant on January 17th. A coroner ruled the death was a homicide. The Winn Parish district attorney says former Winnfield police officer Scott Nugent has acknowledged using the device on Pikes.
Nugent's lawyer says he's not surprised the D.A. wants a grand jury sort through the facts.
A lawyer for Pikes' relatives says the family welcomes the grand jury's probe which she called "a step in the right direction."
Winnfield is about 40 miles northwest of Jena, the site of a massive civil rights protest last year.
Thousands demonstrators gathered in Jena to protest the cases against six black teenagers charged with beating a white student at a high school.
Pikes was black; Nugent is white.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Cpl Albert Silveri III Charged with Soliciting Sex With Children
A Pennsylvania State Police officer who allegedly was soliciting sex with children while in an Internet chat group with an undercover officer from Delaware County was arrested yesterday.
Cpl. Albert Silveri III, of Aston, was charged with criminal solicitation to rape, solicitation to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, solicitation to statutory sexual assault, and other related charges. He was suspended without pay and was being held on $250,000 bail in Delaware County prison.
"It is certainly a sad day for the Pennsylvania State Police," Major Len Bandy said at a news conference today.
According to court documents, Silveri, 39, was using a state-issued laptop as he and the undercover officer discussed meeting for the purposes of having sex with her and her two fictitious daughters, ages 8 and 10.
Silveri, who was assigned to Troop K at the Belmont barracks in Philadelphia, joined the department in 2000 and was promoted to corporal in April 2007, according to the state police Web site. He was working as an accident reconstruction specialist.
Charged with Rape, Aggravated Sodomy, Assault etc..
COBB COUNTY, Ga.
A Cobb County sheriff's deputy has been arrested and accused of rape, officials said Tuesday. The deputy was fired after the sheriff learned of his arrest.
According to investigators, 37-year-old Jason Anthony Bill of Marietta took a woman against her will from the Corona Bar and Grill on Pat Mell Road Monday night. Bill handcuffed and tied up the woman, police said. He then took her to an apartment on South Cobb Drive and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint, according to investigators.
She was later able to escape.
Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren released a statement Tuesday that said, "It was with a profound sense of outrage and betrayal that I learned of the actions and subsequent charges lodged against Deputy Jason Bill. This type of conduct is reprehensible under any circumstances but even more so when committed by a law enforcement officer. I have no tolerance for misconduct by anyone sworn to uphold the law and, as a result, have immediately terminated Jason Bill’s employment with the Cobb County Sheriff's Office."
Bill is being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. He has been charged with rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment and battery.
Roanoke Officer Arrested for Armed Robbery
A former Roanoke police officer who is suspected in an armed robbery has been arrested in Mississippi.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said Jonathan Heard was arrested around 4 a.m. Saturday in Biloxi.
The former officer is accused of robbing a store in Central on Friday night and leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Franklin said one of his deputies knew Heard and called him on his cell phone.
He said Heard told the deputy he planned to surrender after he spoke with an attorney, but that was apparently a ruse.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said Jonathan Heard was arrested around 4 a.m. Saturday in Biloxi.
The former officer is accused of robbing a store in Central on Friday night and leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Franklin said one of his deputies knew Heard and called him on his cell phone.
He said Heard told the deputy he planned to surrender after he spoke with an attorney, but that was apparently a ruse.
Deputy accused of sexual assault
Woman went to his home to pick up her kids before alleged incident occurred.
A Richland County sheriff’s deputy was fired and arrested Friday after a woman said he sexually assaulted her when she went to his home to pick up her children, authorities said.
Rodney J. Muller, 42, of Irmo, turned himself in around 3 p.m. and was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, Sheriff Leon Lott said. He was taken to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
At a hearing Friday night, Judge Phil Newsom set a cash or surety bond of $25,000, which means Muller can post 10 percent of that and be released.
Muller would not give a statement and is not cooperating with investigators, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Myers said.
Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is the charge when a person “uses force or coercion to accomplish the sexual battery in the absence of aggravating circumstances,” such as a threat of violence, according to state law. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A victim’s advocate told the judge the woman had suffered injuries to her right arm and was treated at Palmetto Health Richland where she went after the assault.
The woman told hospital workers she had gone to Muller’s home Thursday afternoon to pick up her two children, authorities said. Muller’s wife runs a day care at their Chadford Road home.
When the woman arrived around 5 p.m., Muller’s wife and the children she cares for were not there. It is unclear where they went or why, authorities said.
Muller, who was off duty, was the only person home and is accused of grabbing the woman, taking off her clothes and sexually assaulting her, Lott said.
The children under his wife’s care were unharmed, Myers said.
According to authorities, the woman went to a hospital immediately after the assault. Hospital staff members contacted the Sheriff’s Department, prompting the investigation, Lott said.
The State newspaper generally does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Speaking at Muller’s bail hearing, the woman said she had recently moved to the area and was “just trying to get myself back on my feet.”
She said she was scared and requested a no-contact order against Muller, which the judge granted. Muller is not allowed to be within 100 yards of her.
Muller’s attorney, Byron E. Gipson, said at the hearing his client has told him he is not guilty.
Gipson said Muller, a father of five, had worked for the Department of Juvenile Justice for 19 years and has been married for nearly 20 years.
“He has a record of service to the community that is impeccable.”
Gipson said Muller was not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and requested a personal recognizance bond for his client, which would mean Muller wouldn’t have to put up any money.
Judge Newsom denied the request, noting the seriousness of the charges.
Lott said anyone who breaks the law is subject to prosecution and his officers are no exception.
“We are held to a higher standard,” Myers said.
Muller has been with the Sheriff’s Department since December 2007 and has no prior disciplinary history at the department, Myers said. He does not have an arrest record, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.
Muller is the third officer this year to be fired after allegations of wrongdoing.
In May, Deputy Jerry Thomas was charged with three counts of receiving bribes, accused of accepting $10,000 over a year and a half to be a lookout for gambling houses and helping them set up.
Last month, school resource officer Eric Allen Barber was charged with misconduct in office. School officials reported he inappropriately hugged girls at Dent Middle School.
The day-care license for Muller’s wife was renewed in September 2007 and expires this September, according to Department of Social Services records. The day care, which is licensed to care for no more than six children at a time, last was inspected in May.
It is not clear how long the woman’s children have attended day care at the home.
A Richland County sheriff’s deputy was fired and arrested Friday after a woman said he sexually assaulted her when she went to his home to pick up her children, authorities said.
Rodney J. Muller, 42, of Irmo, turned himself in around 3 p.m. and was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, Sheriff Leon Lott said. He was taken to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
At a hearing Friday night, Judge Phil Newsom set a cash or surety bond of $25,000, which means Muller can post 10 percent of that and be released.
Muller would not give a statement and is not cooperating with investigators, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Myers said.
Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is the charge when a person “uses force or coercion to accomplish the sexual battery in the absence of aggravating circumstances,” such as a threat of violence, according to state law. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A victim’s advocate told the judge the woman had suffered injuries to her right arm and was treated at Palmetto Health Richland where she went after the assault.
The woman told hospital workers she had gone to Muller’s home Thursday afternoon to pick up her two children, authorities said. Muller’s wife runs a day care at their Chadford Road home.
When the woman arrived around 5 p.m., Muller’s wife and the children she cares for were not there. It is unclear where they went or why, authorities said.
Muller, who was off duty, was the only person home and is accused of grabbing the woman, taking off her clothes and sexually assaulting her, Lott said.
The children under his wife’s care were unharmed, Myers said.
According to authorities, the woman went to a hospital immediately after the assault. Hospital staff members contacted the Sheriff’s Department, prompting the investigation, Lott said.
The State newspaper generally does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Speaking at Muller’s bail hearing, the woman said she had recently moved to the area and was “just trying to get myself back on my feet.”
She said she was scared and requested a no-contact order against Muller, which the judge granted. Muller is not allowed to be within 100 yards of her.
Muller’s attorney, Byron E. Gipson, said at the hearing his client has told him he is not guilty.
Gipson said Muller, a father of five, had worked for the Department of Juvenile Justice for 19 years and has been married for nearly 20 years.
“He has a record of service to the community that is impeccable.”
Gipson said Muller was not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and requested a personal recognizance bond for his client, which would mean Muller wouldn’t have to put up any money.
Judge Newsom denied the request, noting the seriousness of the charges.
Lott said anyone who breaks the law is subject to prosecution and his officers are no exception.
“We are held to a higher standard,” Myers said.
Muller has been with the Sheriff’s Department since December 2007 and has no prior disciplinary history at the department, Myers said. He does not have an arrest record, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.
Muller is the third officer this year to be fired after allegations of wrongdoing.
In May, Deputy Jerry Thomas was charged with three counts of receiving bribes, accused of accepting $10,000 over a year and a half to be a lookout for gambling houses and helping them set up.
Last month, school resource officer Eric Allen Barber was charged with misconduct in office. School officials reported he inappropriately hugged girls at Dent Middle School.
The day-care license for Muller’s wife was renewed in September 2007 and expires this September, according to Department of Social Services records. The day care, which is licensed to care for no more than six children at a time, last was inspected in May.
It is not clear how long the woman’s children have attended day care at the home.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Officer Charged with Sexual Battery
CALDWELL
A Canyon County Grand Jury has indicted a Caldwell Police sergeant for sexual battery of a 17-year-old female.
The indictment against 38-year-old Dennis Paul Schat was handed down Wednesday.
Idaho State Police investigated the incident when it was disclosed in May 2008. Investigators say the sexual battery did not occur while Schat was on duty.
The case was turned over to the Ada County Prosecutor's Office due to a possible conflict of interest in Canyon County.
Schat was arrested Thursday and bond was set at $100,000. He was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim or any other minors under 18.
"When state police detectives notified us of Dennis’ arrest we immediately telephoned all of the department employees," Caldwell Police Chief Chris Allgood wrote in a news release. "The employees took the news very hard and feel a mix of both sorrow and anger. We are still a small department and very much like a family; we have pretty much had the wind taken out of our sails."
Schat will be arraigned in Canyon County District Court at a later date.
Topeka Officer Charged in Off-duty Shooting
Jason M. Judd, one of four off-duty police officers who were at the scene in a southwest Topeka neighborhood when two brothers were shot early March 18, has been arrested on charges that he shot the men, District Attorney Robert Hecht confirmed at 5:28 p.m. today.
Judd is charged with two counts of aggravated battery, Shawnee County District Court records show.
Judd was accompanied by defense attorney Tom Lemon as he surrendered at Shawnee County Sheriff's Office headquarters, then was driven several blocks south to the Shawnee County Jail, where he was booked in.
Judd faces charges linked to the shootings of Daniel Llamas 27, and Devin Llamas, 18. The brothers required hospitalization for wounds suffered when they were shot during a confrontation with four off-duty Topeka police officers outside the Llamas home at 7418 S.W. 25th.
Judd will remain on paid administrative leave pending the criminal process, said Topeka police spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz. She said the officer is entitled to due process of the law, the same due process that all citizens are afforded.
Police said an internal investigation into the incident is now beginning.
The three other off-duty officers who were involved will remain on paid administrative leave at this time pending the completion of the district attorney’s review and an internal investigation. Their names haven't been released.
Pankratz said the department is unable to go into further details regarding the matter because it involves personnel.
Judd is charged with two counts of aggravated battery, Shawnee County District Court records show.
Judd was accompanied by defense attorney Tom Lemon as he surrendered at Shawnee County Sheriff's Office headquarters, then was driven several blocks south to the Shawnee County Jail, where he was booked in.
Judd faces charges linked to the shootings of Daniel Llamas 27, and Devin Llamas, 18. The brothers required hospitalization for wounds suffered when they were shot during a confrontation with four off-duty Topeka police officers outside the Llamas home at 7418 S.W. 25th.
Judd will remain on paid administrative leave pending the criminal process, said Topeka police spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz. She said the officer is entitled to due process of the law, the same due process that all citizens are afforded.
Police said an internal investigation into the incident is now beginning.
The three other off-duty officers who were involved will remain on paid administrative leave at this time pending the completion of the district attorney’s review and an internal investigation. Their names haven't been released.
Pankratz said the department is unable to go into further details regarding the matter because it involves personnel.
Officer Faces Charges of Sexual Exploitation of Child
DENVER
A Colorado State Patrol officer arrested Friday faces charges of sexual exploitation of a child and Internet luring of a child.
Fort Lupton police said they arrested Justin Tolman at his home in Colorado Springs. Inside Tolman’s home, investigators collected evidence in an Internet sting operation that began in early May.
A Fort Lupton police detective posed online as a 14-year-old girl and was sent sexually explicit photos of men and woman in sexual acts, allegedly by Tolman.
Tolman didn't hide he was a state trooper, said Fort Lupton Detective Crystal Schwartz.
"The first conversation he sent a picture," Schwartz said.
"The picture was of a male in a Colorado State Patrol uniform standing next to a Colorado State Patrol vehicle,” said Fort Lupton Chief of Police Ron Grannis.
"I asked if he was a cop and he said, 'guilty,'" Schwartz said.
Detectives said Tolman instant-messaged the undercover detective and made graphic sexual statements in reference to what would happen when they met.
Fort Lupton police contacted the Colorado State Patrol about their suspicions, and the patrol “cooperated on all levels with the investigation,” Grannis said.
“Our children are our most valuable resource. We must do all we can to protect them from predators. The Internet has unfortunately become the stalking grounds of sexual predators,” he said.
Tolman was booked into the Weld County Jail.
"He is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation," Colorado State Patrol Sgt. John Hahn told 7NEWS reporter Lane Lyon Friday.
Hahn said Tolman passed an extensive background check at the time he was hired in July of 2007.
Tolman graduated from CSP's training program and was assigned to the State Patrol office in Colorado Springs in December of 2007, Hahn said.
Former Trooper Pleads Guilty, Avoids Trial
A former state trooper accused of rape will not have a trial or go to jail in Clinton County.
Court officials said Richard Keener pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges just a day before he was trial was supposed to start.
Instead of sexual assault, Keener pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint and indecent assault.
A judge sentenced the former trooper to ten years probation and a $1,000 fine.
Police said keener raped a woman he met in a bar in Lock Haven.
Keener served as a state trooper in central Pennsylvania for 12 years.
Court officials said Richard Keener pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges just a day before he was trial was supposed to start.
Instead of sexual assault, Keener pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint and indecent assault.
A judge sentenced the former trooper to ten years probation and a $1,000 fine.
Police said keener raped a woman he met in a bar in Lock Haven.
Keener served as a state trooper in central Pennsylvania for 12 years.
Officer Gonzalez Not Charged with Shooting Man but Still Faces Charges of Inappropriately Touching Minor
A Marion County grand jury found that the police officer shooting of Andrew Hanlon on June 30 was a lawful use of deadly physical force.
Hanlon, 20, was an Irish citizen, and his shooting sparked an international outcry against police violence. The grand jury reviewed diagrams, autopsy reports, witness testimony, audiotapes and videotapes before making the unanimous decision.
Members of his family and friends admitted that he may have been suffering from some type of mental problems.
The Marion County District Attorney's Office put out a lengthy press release in order to "combat the accusations of a conspiracy or a cover-up that have arisen in the last three and a half weeks."
They said the incident started when Shannon Kelley heard pounding on her front door at 11:20 p.m. and saw a man, later identified as Hanlon, acting strangely.
Kelley asked him to leave, but Hanlon demanded to enter. Hanlon, according to Kelley, said he had a sword and yelled phrases such as: "Thou shalt let met in!" Though Hanlon didn't have a sword, he gestured as if he had one.
Kelley, who phoned police, said Hanlon howled at the moon and at one point screamed that he was the "angel of death." Kelley said she and her parents visiting from Montana had to put their bodies against the door to stop Hanlon from breaking it down.
Officers later found blood, blood spatter and even skin tissue on the family's front door where Hanlon had tried to knock it down, according to the report.
After repeatedly hurling his body against the door, Hanlon ran barefoot toward Oak Street, where he would meet Silverton officer Tony Gonzalez.
Gonzalez told investigators he heard the sound of shattering glass and thought Hanlon might be armed with a broken bottle. Kemmy and Hanson noted that investigators think Hanlon merely bumped into a recycling bin.
Gonzalez said he ordered Hanlon to show his hands and get down on the ground. After repeating the command, Hanlon appeared ready to comply.
But then he leaped at the officer, kicking and screaming. Gonzalez backpedaled, but could never get more than 5 feet away and started firing.
Gonzalez's version of events was backed up by Jeff DeSantis of Silverton, who was driving along Oak Street and stopped his vehicle when he saw the patrol car.
Witnesses -- including Hanlon's sister, his roommate and his best friend -- were called to testify to his character to give a better picture of whom he was as a person, according to the release.
Four officers were also called as witnesses to testify about the scene of the shooting, the proper use of force and the shooting officer's condition after the incident.
Gonzalez still faces charges from a separate incident in Salem where he is accused of touching an underage girl inappropriately.
Hanlon, 20, was an Irish citizen, and his shooting sparked an international outcry against police violence. The grand jury reviewed diagrams, autopsy reports, witness testimony, audiotapes and videotapes before making the unanimous decision.
Members of his family and friends admitted that he may have been suffering from some type of mental problems.
The Marion County District Attorney's Office put out a lengthy press release in order to "combat the accusations of a conspiracy or a cover-up that have arisen in the last three and a half weeks."
They said the incident started when Shannon Kelley heard pounding on her front door at 11:20 p.m. and saw a man, later identified as Hanlon, acting strangely.
Kelley asked him to leave, but Hanlon demanded to enter. Hanlon, according to Kelley, said he had a sword and yelled phrases such as: "Thou shalt let met in!" Though Hanlon didn't have a sword, he gestured as if he had one.
Kelley, who phoned police, said Hanlon howled at the moon and at one point screamed that he was the "angel of death." Kelley said she and her parents visiting from Montana had to put their bodies against the door to stop Hanlon from breaking it down.
Officers later found blood, blood spatter and even skin tissue on the family's front door where Hanlon had tried to knock it down, according to the report.
After repeatedly hurling his body against the door, Hanlon ran barefoot toward Oak Street, where he would meet Silverton officer Tony Gonzalez.
Gonzalez told investigators he heard the sound of shattering glass and thought Hanlon might be armed with a broken bottle. Kemmy and Hanson noted that investigators think Hanlon merely bumped into a recycling bin.
Gonzalez said he ordered Hanlon to show his hands and get down on the ground. After repeating the command, Hanlon appeared ready to comply.
But then he leaped at the officer, kicking and screaming. Gonzalez backpedaled, but could never get more than 5 feet away and started firing.
Gonzalez's version of events was backed up by Jeff DeSantis of Silverton, who was driving along Oak Street and stopped his vehicle when he saw the patrol car.
Witnesses -- including Hanlon's sister, his roommate and his best friend -- were called to testify to his character to give a better picture of whom he was as a person, according to the release.
Four officers were also called as witnesses to testify about the scene of the shooting, the proper use of force and the shooting officer's condition after the incident.
Gonzalez still faces charges from a separate incident in Salem where he is accused of touching an underage girl inappropriately.
Officer Clay Adams Charged with Various Drug Charges Remains in Jail
Master Police Officer Clay Adams was arrested and charged with various drug and weapons charges during a joint operation conducted by the The Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
A U.S. magistrate today ordered an Altamonte Springs police officer to remain in jail while authorities continue to investigate drug and weapons charges against him.
Clay Adams, 36, of Altamonte Springs, is accused of operating marijuana-grow houses. He was arrested earlier this week. According to charging documents, Adams operated two grow houses and transported the drugs, keeping his police credentials ready should he be challenged.
He also gave a police informant the identifications of Seminole County drug agents.
Adams said little at today's hearing. Adams' attorney on Tuesday asked for a detention hearing, which prompted today's hearing. However the attorney today waived his right to the hearing, and U.S. Magistrate David Baker ordered Adams to remain in custody.
Adams was suspended by the Altamonte Springs police department immediately after his arrest. His wife, Robyn Adams, 32, was arrested on similar charges on Monday night.
A U.S. magistrate today ordered an Altamonte Springs police officer to remain in jail while authorities continue to investigate drug and weapons charges against him.
Clay Adams, 36, of Altamonte Springs, is accused of operating marijuana-grow houses. He was arrested earlier this week. According to charging documents, Adams operated two grow houses and transported the drugs, keeping his police credentials ready should he be challenged.
He also gave a police informant the identifications of Seminole County drug agents.
Adams said little at today's hearing. Adams' attorney on Tuesday asked for a detention hearing, which prompted today's hearing. However the attorney today waived his right to the hearing, and U.S. Magistrate David Baker ordered Adams to remain in custody.
Adams was suspended by the Altamonte Springs police department immediately after his arrest. His wife, Robyn Adams, 32, was arrested on similar charges on Monday night.
Trial Starts for Trooper Steven Garren Who Hit Suspect with his Patrol Car
The South Carolina trooper whose dash camera showed him in his patrol car hitting a fleeing suspect was in federal court Friday. Trooper Steven Garren has been suspended from the Highway Patrol, after a federal grand jury indicted him on a charge of violating the suspect’s civil rights by using excessive force. The incident happened in Greenwood in June of 2007.
The court hearing was to handle defense motions and to set a trial date. Chief U.S. District Judge David Norton decided that the trial will be held in Greenville either September 29th or October 6th, depending on when defense lawyers get the evidence they’re requesting. They want the dashcam videos from other troopers and Greenwood County deputies who were part of the chase.
Troopers and deputies had been chasing the driver when he stopped his car, jumped out and started running. In Garren’s dashboard camera video, you can see the man running down the street then cross in front of Garren. Garren hits the man, who tumbles over the hood and off to the passenger side of Garren’s car. The man continued to run and was not caught. He later came forward after the videotape was released as part of an overall investigation into accusations of trooper misconduct.
After the incident, Garren can be heard on tape talking to other officers. “He went flying up in the air,” Garren says. “You hit him?” another officer asks. Garren replies, “Yeah, I hit him. I was trying to hit him.”
The Highway Patrol had turned over the case to 8th Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace after it happened. Peace did not file charges, determining that Garren did not intend to hit the man and that the talk afterward was just Garren trying to act macho in front of other officers.
After the court hearing Friday, one of Garren’s lawyers, John O’Leary of Columbia, said that will be Garren’s defense at trial. “The argument’s pretty obvious. He didn’t do it. There’s no way it could’ve been avoided,” O’Leary says of the collision.
U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Walt Wilkins said, “I have no comment on the defense position. We...this case was indicted by a grand jury, and we’re ready for a jury to make the final decision.”
Friday, July 25, 2008
Probation Officer Daniel Hendrickson Accused of Touching Woman
GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP
A Kent County probation officer accused of inappropriately touching a woman in his office appeared before a judge Wednesday, in the same 63rd District Court building where he has worked for the past three years.
Daniel Neland Hendrickson, 35, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a prisoner or probationer, court records show. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Hendrickson remains free on a $25,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is slated for Aug. 13.
Authorities say he inappropriately touched a 24-year-old woman in his office in the court building, at 644 Kenmoor Ave. SE. The victim had to appear before Hendrickson monthly because of a drunken-driving offense.
The complaint alleges Hendrickson acted inappropriately between Feb. 1 and April 30.
Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth declined to go into detail about the allegation, but said the alleged victim did not immediately report the incident to police.
"She told somebody, who told somebody, who told somebody here, which started the investigation," Forsyth said.
That investigation led to Hendrickson losing his job last week, and to Wednesday's arraignment.
He appeared before Allegan District Court Judge Joseph Skocelas, who stepped in for 63rd District Judge Sara Smolenski.
Before working in that court, Hendrickson worked in the Kent County Prosecutor's Family Law Division and in 61st District Court in Grand Rapids.
Calls to Hendrickson's home and to his lawyer, Daniel Elwe, went unanswered.
A Kent County probation officer accused of inappropriately touching a woman in his office appeared before a judge Wednesday, in the same 63rd District Court building where he has worked for the past three years.
Daniel Neland Hendrickson, 35, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a prisoner or probationer, court records show. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Hendrickson remains free on a $25,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is slated for Aug. 13.
Authorities say he inappropriately touched a 24-year-old woman in his office in the court building, at 644 Kenmoor Ave. SE. The victim had to appear before Hendrickson monthly because of a drunken-driving offense.
The complaint alleges Hendrickson acted inappropriately between Feb. 1 and April 30.
Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth declined to go into detail about the allegation, but said the alleged victim did not immediately report the incident to police.
"She told somebody, who told somebody, who told somebody here, which started the investigation," Forsyth said.
That investigation led to Hendrickson losing his job last week, and to Wednesday's arraignment.
He appeared before Allegan District Court Judge Joseph Skocelas, who stepped in for 63rd District Judge Sara Smolenski.
Before working in that court, Hendrickson worked in the Kent County Prosecutor's Family Law Division and in 61st District Court in Grand Rapids.
Calls to Hendrickson's home and to his lawyer, Daniel Elwe, went unanswered.
Officer Pours Hot Water on Inmate
A federal grand jury in Jacksonville has indicted a state corrections sergeant on a civil rights violation stemming from an August 2005 assault on a suicidal inmate in Raiford, state and federal records show.
Paul Gregory Tillis, 43, was charged with violating the civil rights of the inmate at Florida State Prison by pouring hot water on him as he laid on a floor with a sheet tied around his neck, records show. The inmate, identified in records only by his initials, suffered second-degree burns to his upper torso and shoulder.
The indictment was handed up Wednesday. Authorities did not say if Tillis had been jailed.
The case was initially investigated by the Florida Department of Corrections Inspector General’s Office and turned over to the Jacksonville office of the FBI as a civil rights violation.
State records show that Tillis became a corrections officer in July 2001 at Florida State Prison in Bradford County. He was promoted to sergeant in July 2005 and resigned from his $38,000 a year job in April 2008, records show.
Tillis, who appealed his dismissal, worked out a settlement agreement with the state in which his dismissal letter was rescinded and he resigned. That also released the state from any liability in its action against him, records show.
Paul Gregory Tillis, 43, was charged with violating the civil rights of the inmate at Florida State Prison by pouring hot water on him as he laid on a floor with a sheet tied around his neck, records show. The inmate, identified in records only by his initials, suffered second-degree burns to his upper torso and shoulder.
The indictment was handed up Wednesday. Authorities did not say if Tillis had been jailed.
The case was initially investigated by the Florida Department of Corrections Inspector General’s Office and turned over to the Jacksonville office of the FBI as a civil rights violation.
State records show that Tillis became a corrections officer in July 2001 at Florida State Prison in Bradford County. He was promoted to sergeant in July 2005 and resigned from his $38,000 a year job in April 2008, records show.
Tillis, who appealed his dismissal, worked out a settlement agreement with the state in which his dismissal letter was rescinded and he resigned. That also released the state from any liability in its action against him, records show.
Officer Jason Barber Free Again on Bond
INDIANAPOLIS
A Metro police officer arrested, released on bond and then arrested again for violating his bond is out of jail once again.
Jason Barber, 32 -- charged with selling a gun to a known felon -- had his bond revoked earlier this month after he sent text messages from his personal cell phone to several officers asking that they pray for him, court documents show.
One of the conditions of his original $5,000 bond was that Barber would immediately sever all ties with officers from IMPD.
Thursday, Judge William Young said Barber had violated the spirit of his order, but not in an effort get information about his case, so he granted him bond once again.
The 8-year veteran officer was suspended with pay and recommended for termination from the department.
He faces up to an 8-year prison sentence if convicted of selling the gun to the felon.
Barber's trial is set to begin in September.
A Metro police officer arrested, released on bond and then arrested again for violating his bond is out of jail once again.
Jason Barber, 32 -- charged with selling a gun to a known felon -- had his bond revoked earlier this month after he sent text messages from his personal cell phone to several officers asking that they pray for him, court documents show.
One of the conditions of his original $5,000 bond was that Barber would immediately sever all ties with officers from IMPD.
Thursday, Judge William Young said Barber had violated the spirit of his order, but not in an effort get information about his case, so he granted him bond once again.
The 8-year veteran officer was suspended with pay and recommended for termination from the department.
He faces up to an 8-year prison sentence if convicted of selling the gun to the felon.
Barber's trial is set to begin in September.
Officer Charged with Sharing Classified Files
A Hayward police officer on military leave is one of two Marine Corps reservists charged with sharing classified files in a terrorist probe without authorization, authorities said Wednesday.
Master Sgt. Reinaldo Pagan, 42, was charged by military officials in connection with an investigation into the "mishandling and compromise of classified information," said Maj. Jason Johnston, a Marine Corps spokesman.
Pagan has been a Hayward police officer for nine years and most recently worked in patrol. He is on military leave from the department.
Johnston declined to elaborate on the allegations, but according to media reports in San Diego, Pagan and Gunnery Sgt. Eric Froboese allegedly shared classified files from Camp Pendleton (San Diego County) with an anti-terrorism group of law-enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported earlier this year that Marines at Camp Pendleton had stolen FBI surveillance files on Muslim religious sites in Los Angeles and the Islamic Center of San Diego. It is unclear how the Marines would have had access to the files.
Pagan was charged with dereliction of duty and orders violations. Froboese was charged with dereliction of duty, orders violations, conspiracy and wrongful transmission of classified information.
Neither reservist was available for comment, Johnston said.
Interim Hayward Police Chief Ron Ace said Wednesday that the department would take no action until after the military investigation was completed.
Master Sgt. Reinaldo Pagan, 42, was charged by military officials in connection with an investigation into the "mishandling and compromise of classified information," said Maj. Jason Johnston, a Marine Corps spokesman.
Pagan has been a Hayward police officer for nine years and most recently worked in patrol. He is on military leave from the department.
Johnston declined to elaborate on the allegations, but according to media reports in San Diego, Pagan and Gunnery Sgt. Eric Froboese allegedly shared classified files from Camp Pendleton (San Diego County) with an anti-terrorism group of law-enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported earlier this year that Marines at Camp Pendleton had stolen FBI surveillance files on Muslim religious sites in Los Angeles and the Islamic Center of San Diego. It is unclear how the Marines would have had access to the files.
Pagan was charged with dereliction of duty and orders violations. Froboese was charged with dereliction of duty, orders violations, conspiracy and wrongful transmission of classified information.
Neither reservist was available for comment, Johnston said.
Interim Hayward Police Chief Ron Ace said Wednesday that the department would take no action until after the military investigation was completed.
Officer Charles Weigold Jr Charged with Stalking
A Bethlehem police officer, after being released from an area hospital, was arrested Wednesday on charges stemming from a conflict earlier in the week with wife.
Charles W. Weigold Jr., 49, of Danielsville, is charged with stalking, harassment and terroristic threats and is free after posting $10,000 bail set by District Judge Michael J. Koury Jr. of Wilson.
Weigold's status with the Bethlehem Police Department could not be verified Wednesday.
At his arraignment Wednesday, Weigold told Koury his position with the department where he has worked for six years was ''questionable.'' Weigold also said he had voluntarily committed himself the previous night to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.
On Tuesday in Northampton County Court, Weigold and his wife, Donna, 47, who lists her address as ''confidential'' in court records, got temporary protection-from-abuse orders against one another.
She says Monday her husband jammed a clip into his handgun and told her a ''blood bath'' was imminent; he says she sprayed him in the face with bleach during another argument.
She also filed a court petition Tuesday, claiming her husband called her son numerous times in an attempt to get her to drop the protection order. That led to his arrest Wednesday on the harassment charges.
At the arraignment, Weigold used $10,000 in cash that he withdrew from an account in his and his wife's names, which sparked a heated exchange between Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner and defense attorney Bohdan Zelechiwsky of Bethlehem while Koury was out of the courtroom.
Taschner said Weigold withdrew the cash Monday and argued it was part of a pattern of ''harassment'' against his wife. Koury disagreed and permitted Weigold to use it to stay out of prison. Koury also ordered Weigold not to have any contact with his wife and required him to wear an electronic GPS monitor.
Before the arraignment began, Weigold chatted with a county detective about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and showed reporters a large tattoo of the twin towers on his leg.
Weigold told Koury he had been a sergeant in the New York City Police Department, where he served 20 years.
Zelechiwsky said Weigold never had any trouble with the law before and had now found himself in an ''unfortunate situation'' that was ''totally out of character.''
Taschner said events in the Weigold household have been escalating and repeatedly described Weigold as a manipulative person who ''thinks he is smarter than everyone else.''
Charles W. Weigold Jr., 49, of Danielsville, is charged with stalking, harassment and terroristic threats and is free after posting $10,000 bail set by District Judge Michael J. Koury Jr. of Wilson.
Weigold's status with the Bethlehem Police Department could not be verified Wednesday.
At his arraignment Wednesday, Weigold told Koury his position with the department where he has worked for six years was ''questionable.'' Weigold also said he had voluntarily committed himself the previous night to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.
On Tuesday in Northampton County Court, Weigold and his wife, Donna, 47, who lists her address as ''confidential'' in court records, got temporary protection-from-abuse orders against one another.
She says Monday her husband jammed a clip into his handgun and told her a ''blood bath'' was imminent; he says she sprayed him in the face with bleach during another argument.
She also filed a court petition Tuesday, claiming her husband called her son numerous times in an attempt to get her to drop the protection order. That led to his arrest Wednesday on the harassment charges.
At the arraignment, Weigold used $10,000 in cash that he withdrew from an account in his and his wife's names, which sparked a heated exchange between Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner and defense attorney Bohdan Zelechiwsky of Bethlehem while Koury was out of the courtroom.
Taschner said Weigold withdrew the cash Monday and argued it was part of a pattern of ''harassment'' against his wife. Koury disagreed and permitted Weigold to use it to stay out of prison. Koury also ordered Weigold not to have any contact with his wife and required him to wear an electronic GPS monitor.
Before the arraignment began, Weigold chatted with a county detective about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and showed reporters a large tattoo of the twin towers on his leg.
Weigold told Koury he had been a sergeant in the New York City Police Department, where he served 20 years.
Zelechiwsky said Weigold never had any trouble with the law before and had now found himself in an ''unfortunate situation'' that was ''totally out of character.''
Taschner said events in the Weigold household have been escalating and repeatedly described Weigold as a manipulative person who ''thinks he is smarter than everyone else.''
Officer and Wife Held in Federal Custody
WINTER PARK, Fla.
A press conference was held Tuesday afternoon regarding the arrest of an Altamonte Springs police officer.
Officer Clay Adams and his wife were arrested by federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Monday night on drugs and weapons charges.
Adams was arrested when he arrived to work for his shift Monday night.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Bodnar said most of the evidence in this case comes from audio and videotapes revealing conversations with Adams as he attempted to recruit a confidential government informant into an operation to grow and sell marijuana.
"Well it is very troubling, but right now the case is in a complaint stage, we anticipate going before the grand jury in the near future," Bodnar said.
The 36-year-old officer served for nine years in Altamonte Springs and was promoted three times, but was suspended after his arrest.
His wife is accused of ordering marijuana seeds from the Netherlands using her home computer.
The arrest affidavit reported that Adams and his wife ran a marijuana grow house, supplying distributors in Tallahassee and are also accused of dealing in illicit prescription drugs.
Adams is also accused of possession of weapons and explosives.
"To be very honest, I’m extremely disappointed in this whole situation. I’m very upset and we work very, very hard to try to build a reputation in the community, only to have it brought down by the careless actions of Officer Adams is inexcusable," Altamonte Springs Chief Robert Merchant said.
The Altamonte Springs Chief of Police and the Seminole County Sheriff also attended the conference.
The affidavit reported Adams threatened to kill a Seminole County deputy who filed a complaint of poor performance that resulted in Adams' termination from a Seminole County drug task force.
It was reported that Adams told the police informant that after the situation calmed down, he would "take the supervisor out, using a high-powered rifle and a silencer."
"Threats have been made by both of the defendants in this case, regarding the safety of a confidential informant and others involved in the investigation," Bodnar said.
It was also reported that Adams provided weapons to the police informant who was also a convicted felon and gave that informant information about the names, vehicles and techniques of undercover drug agents.
"I think the public should have trust in the fact that law enforcement has done the right thing here and caught someone that we believe is involved in a criminal enterprise, we still have to prove it of course, but they’ve done their best to remove someone who is a threat to the community off the street," Bodnar said.
Altamonte Springs Chief released Adam’s personnel record showing that while no formal punishments were issued, there were several accounts of citizen complaints stating Adams was rude and disrespectful.
Adams and his wife will remain in federal custody in jail until Friday at the least. Friday is when both the officer and his wife have another court hearing at the Federal Court House to argue for their release.
Altamonte police will investigate all cases involving Adams in the nine years he served on the Altamonte police force to ensure no cases were compromised.
A press conference was held Tuesday afternoon regarding the arrest of an Altamonte Springs police officer.
Officer Clay Adams and his wife were arrested by federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Monday night on drugs and weapons charges.
Adams was arrested when he arrived to work for his shift Monday night.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Bodnar said most of the evidence in this case comes from audio and videotapes revealing conversations with Adams as he attempted to recruit a confidential government informant into an operation to grow and sell marijuana.
"Well it is very troubling, but right now the case is in a complaint stage, we anticipate going before the grand jury in the near future," Bodnar said.
The 36-year-old officer served for nine years in Altamonte Springs and was promoted three times, but was suspended after his arrest.
His wife is accused of ordering marijuana seeds from the Netherlands using her home computer.
The arrest affidavit reported that Adams and his wife ran a marijuana grow house, supplying distributors in Tallahassee and are also accused of dealing in illicit prescription drugs.
Adams is also accused of possession of weapons and explosives.
"To be very honest, I’m extremely disappointed in this whole situation. I’m very upset and we work very, very hard to try to build a reputation in the community, only to have it brought down by the careless actions of Officer Adams is inexcusable," Altamonte Springs Chief Robert Merchant said.
The Altamonte Springs Chief of Police and the Seminole County Sheriff also attended the conference.
The affidavit reported Adams threatened to kill a Seminole County deputy who filed a complaint of poor performance that resulted in Adams' termination from a Seminole County drug task force.
It was reported that Adams told the police informant that after the situation calmed down, he would "take the supervisor out, using a high-powered rifle and a silencer."
"Threats have been made by both of the defendants in this case, regarding the safety of a confidential informant and others involved in the investigation," Bodnar said.
It was also reported that Adams provided weapons to the police informant who was also a convicted felon and gave that informant information about the names, vehicles and techniques of undercover drug agents.
"I think the public should have trust in the fact that law enforcement has done the right thing here and caught someone that we believe is involved in a criminal enterprise, we still have to prove it of course, but they’ve done their best to remove someone who is a threat to the community off the street," Bodnar said.
Altamonte Springs Chief released Adam’s personnel record showing that while no formal punishments were issued, there were several accounts of citizen complaints stating Adams was rude and disrespectful.
Adams and his wife will remain in federal custody in jail until Friday at the least. Friday is when both the officer and his wife have another court hearing at the Federal Court House to argue for their release.
Altamonte police will investigate all cases involving Adams in the nine years he served on the Altamonte police force to ensure no cases were compromised.
Chicago Officer Accused of Shaking Down Tow Operators
CHICAGO
A police officer was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of shaking down tow truck operators for payoffs of up to $400 per vehicle in exchange for steering towing business to them.
Michael Ciancio, 56, was arrested at his home without incident as part of an FBI undercover investigation of allegations that Chicago police have been getting payoffs in exchange for such referrals.
Ciancio was accused in a criminal complaint of getting repairs to his personal car as well as cash in exchange for steering the towing business to companies that paid him.
Ciancio appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason on Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance. Defense attorney James E. Thompson declined to comment on the case.
The FBI, which conducted the investigation with Chicago police, said the 21-year veteran of the force had been relieved of his police powers and is no longer on active patrol.
An FBI affidavit filed with the complaint said Ciancio got payments between $40 and $400 for each vehicle towed. It said the FBI received information as early as five years ago that police were demanding such payments of towing operators, the affidavit said.
It said a recording was made in June 2007 by a tow truck operator cooperating with the FBI as Ciancio chased him away from one towing job he had reserved for a favorite truck operator.
"Drop it, drop it and get out of here, you don't belong here, get out," the affidavit quoted Ciancio as saying. It quoted him as threatening to have the trucker "locked up for soliciting" if he didn't leave.
It also said agents made an audio recording in which Ciancio took a payoff from another cooperating witness and described it as "beautiful."
A police officer was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of shaking down tow truck operators for payoffs of up to $400 per vehicle in exchange for steering towing business to them.
Michael Ciancio, 56, was arrested at his home without incident as part of an FBI undercover investigation of allegations that Chicago police have been getting payoffs in exchange for such referrals.
Ciancio was accused in a criminal complaint of getting repairs to his personal car as well as cash in exchange for steering the towing business to companies that paid him.
Ciancio appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason on Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance. Defense attorney James E. Thompson declined to comment on the case.
The FBI, which conducted the investigation with Chicago police, said the 21-year veteran of the force had been relieved of his police powers and is no longer on active patrol.
An FBI affidavit filed with the complaint said Ciancio got payments between $40 and $400 for each vehicle towed. It said the FBI received information as early as five years ago that police were demanding such payments of towing operators, the affidavit said.
It said a recording was made in June 2007 by a tow truck operator cooperating with the FBI as Ciancio chased him away from one towing job he had reserved for a favorite truck operator.
"Drop it, drop it and get out of here, you don't belong here, get out," the affidavit quoted Ciancio as saying. It quoted him as threatening to have the trucker "locked up for soliciting" if he didn't leave.
It also said agents made an audio recording in which Ciancio took a payoff from another cooperating witness and described it as "beautiful."
Handcuffed Man Dies After Being Taser Nine Times
WINNFIELD, Louisiana
A police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron "Scooter" Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge.
Baron Pikes, 21, was Tasered nine times by a police officer in January in Winnfield, Louisiana.
He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner's report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes' January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, said the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
Williams ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study.
Winn Parish District Attorney Christopher Nevils said he will decide on any charges against the ex-officer, Scott Nugent, once a Louisiana State Police report on the case is complete.
"It's taken several months for this case to even be properly addressed, so one has to wonder, why did it take so long?" said Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for the Pikes family. "Obviously, a wrongful death occurred."
Nugent's lawyer, Phillip Terrell, said his client followed proper procedure to subdue a man who outweighed him by 100 pounds. But Williams said Pikes was already handcuffed and on the ground when first hit with the Taser, after the 247-pound suspect was slow to follow police orders to get up.
Winnfield, a sleepy lumber town about 100 miles southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana, is best known as the birthplace of legendary Louisiana governors Huey and Earl Long. It's also about 45 miles northwest of Jena, Louisiana, where a racially charged assault case sparked a September 2007 demonstration by an estimated 15,000 people. Watch racism charges fly after Taser death »
One of the teenage defendants in that case, Mychal Bell, is Pikes' first cousin -- and his lawyer was Powell Lexing.
Nugent is white; Pikes was black. His death led to demonstrations that drew several dozen people in Winnfield, where the population of about 15,000 is roughly half African-American.
"The family wants justice," Lexing said. "This is just another example of why it's very important to stay vigilant with these types of cases, on the injustice that's been perpetrated on the disadvantaged."
But Winnfield police Lt. Chuck Curry said race "isn't an issue at all" in the matter.
"This has come down to a police officer that was trying to apprehend a suspect that they had warrants for," he said. "He done what he thought he was trained to do to bring that subject into custody. At some point, something happened with his body that caused him to go into cardiac arrest or whatever."
According to police, Pikes was wanted on a charge of possession of cocaine when police tried to arrest him outside a shopping center January 12.
"He would not stop for the officer," Curry said. "At some point in there, he was Tased to bring him under control, and several hours later, died at the emergency room."
Terrell said Pikes was fighting Nugent "on uneven ground" amid obstructions such as concrete blocks and barbed wire.
"He's fighting, wrestling with an individual who weighs 100 pounds more than him," he said. "His partner had just come back to the police department from triple bypass surgery and could not assist Officer Nugent."
Terrell said his client "used every means possible" to take Pikes into custody before pulling out his Taser, a weapon Winnfield police purchased in 2007.
"The only thing he could have done other than to say, 'OK, we're going to let you go' is to beat him or Tase him. He did the right thing," Terrell said.
Williams, who ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study, said Nugent fired his Taser at Pikes six times in less than three minutes -- shots recorded by a computer chip in the weapon's handle. Then officers put Pikes in the back of a cruiser and drove him to their police station -- where Nugent fired a seventh shot, directly against Pikes' chest.
"After he was given that drive stun to the chest, he was pulled out of the car onto the concrete, " Williams told CNN. "He was electroshocked two more times, which two officers noted that he had no neuromuscular response to those last two 50,000-volt electroshocks."
Williams said he had two nationally known forensic pathologists, including former New York city medical examiner Michael Baden, review the case before issuing his conclusions. He said it's possible Nugent was shocking a dead man the last two times he pulled the trigger.
"This fellow was talking in the back seat of the car prior to shot number seven," he said. "From that point on, it becomes questionable [if Pikes was still alive]."
Curry said Pikes told officers he suffered from asthma and had been using PCP and crack cocaine. But Williams said he found no sign of drug use in the autopsy, and no record of asthma in Pikes' medical history.
In the year since Winnfield police received Tasers, officers have used them 14 times, according to police records -- with 12 of the instances involving black suspects. Ten of the 14 incidents involved Nugent, who has no public disciplinary record.
Nugent was suspended after Pikes' death, and Winnfield's City Council voted 3-2 to fire him in May. He is appealing his dismissal, and his lawyer says he followed proper procedures in Pikes' case. He was trained in the use of the Taser by a senior police officer who was present during the incident that led to Pikes' death, Terrell said.
Curry said Taser International, the device's manufacturer, indicates that "multiple Tasings do not affect a person." But he said he could not explain why Pikes was shocked so many times, and said whether Nugent followed proper procedure was "yet to be determined."
But a copy of the Winnfield Police Department's Taser training manual, says the device "shall only be deployed in circumstances where it is deemed reasonably necessary to control a dangerous or violent subject." And Williams said regulations regarding the use of Tasers were not followed.
"It violated every aspect -- every single aspect -- of the department's policy about its use," the coroner said.
Winnfield has seen a spate of high-profile corruption cases in recent years. One of Nevils' predecessors as district attorney, Terry Reeves, killed himself amid allegations of embezzlement and extortion. The town's current police chief, Johnny Ray Carpenter, is a convicted drug offender who received a pardon from former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards who himself is now serving a federal prison term for racketeering.
And Carpenter's predecessor, Gleason Nugent -- the father of Pikes' arresting officer -- committed suicide in 2005, after allegations of fraud and vote buying in the race for police chief, an elected position in Winnfield.
Now Nevils is awaiting the state police report on Pikes' death, which will be presented to a grand jury for possible charges against Nugent -- a possibility Curry said would be a blow to the department.
"It's one of these no-win situations he said. "No matter the outcome, nobody's going to win in this case."
A police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron "Scooter" Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge.
Baron Pikes, 21, was Tasered nine times by a police officer in January in Winnfield, Louisiana.
He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner's report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes' January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, said the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
Williams ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study.
Winn Parish District Attorney Christopher Nevils said he will decide on any charges against the ex-officer, Scott Nugent, once a Louisiana State Police report on the case is complete.
"It's taken several months for this case to even be properly addressed, so one has to wonder, why did it take so long?" said Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for the Pikes family. "Obviously, a wrongful death occurred."
Nugent's lawyer, Phillip Terrell, said his client followed proper procedure to subdue a man who outweighed him by 100 pounds. But Williams said Pikes was already handcuffed and on the ground when first hit with the Taser, after the 247-pound suspect was slow to follow police orders to get up.
Winnfield, a sleepy lumber town about 100 miles southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana, is best known as the birthplace of legendary Louisiana governors Huey and Earl Long. It's also about 45 miles northwest of Jena, Louisiana, where a racially charged assault case sparked a September 2007 demonstration by an estimated 15,000 people. Watch racism charges fly after Taser death »
One of the teenage defendants in that case, Mychal Bell, is Pikes' first cousin -- and his lawyer was Powell Lexing.
Nugent is white; Pikes was black. His death led to demonstrations that drew several dozen people in Winnfield, where the population of about 15,000 is roughly half African-American.
"The family wants justice," Lexing said. "This is just another example of why it's very important to stay vigilant with these types of cases, on the injustice that's been perpetrated on the disadvantaged."
But Winnfield police Lt. Chuck Curry said race "isn't an issue at all" in the matter.
"This has come down to a police officer that was trying to apprehend a suspect that they had warrants for," he said. "He done what he thought he was trained to do to bring that subject into custody. At some point, something happened with his body that caused him to go into cardiac arrest or whatever."
According to police, Pikes was wanted on a charge of possession of cocaine when police tried to arrest him outside a shopping center January 12.
"He would not stop for the officer," Curry said. "At some point in there, he was Tased to bring him under control, and several hours later, died at the emergency room."
Terrell said Pikes was fighting Nugent "on uneven ground" amid obstructions such as concrete blocks and barbed wire.
"He's fighting, wrestling with an individual who weighs 100 pounds more than him," he said. "His partner had just come back to the police department from triple bypass surgery and could not assist Officer Nugent."
Terrell said his client "used every means possible" to take Pikes into custody before pulling out his Taser, a weapon Winnfield police purchased in 2007.
"The only thing he could have done other than to say, 'OK, we're going to let you go' is to beat him or Tase him. He did the right thing," Terrell said.
Williams, who ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study, said Nugent fired his Taser at Pikes six times in less than three minutes -- shots recorded by a computer chip in the weapon's handle. Then officers put Pikes in the back of a cruiser and drove him to their police station -- where Nugent fired a seventh shot, directly against Pikes' chest.
"After he was given that drive stun to the chest, he was pulled out of the car onto the concrete, " Williams told CNN. "He was electroshocked two more times, which two officers noted that he had no neuromuscular response to those last two 50,000-volt electroshocks."
Williams said he had two nationally known forensic pathologists, including former New York city medical examiner Michael Baden, review the case before issuing his conclusions. He said it's possible Nugent was shocking a dead man the last two times he pulled the trigger.
"This fellow was talking in the back seat of the car prior to shot number seven," he said. "From that point on, it becomes questionable [if Pikes was still alive]."
Curry said Pikes told officers he suffered from asthma and had been using PCP and crack cocaine. But Williams said he found no sign of drug use in the autopsy, and no record of asthma in Pikes' medical history.
In the year since Winnfield police received Tasers, officers have used them 14 times, according to police records -- with 12 of the instances involving black suspects. Ten of the 14 incidents involved Nugent, who has no public disciplinary record.
Nugent was suspended after Pikes' death, and Winnfield's City Council voted 3-2 to fire him in May. He is appealing his dismissal, and his lawyer says he followed proper procedures in Pikes' case. He was trained in the use of the Taser by a senior police officer who was present during the incident that led to Pikes' death, Terrell said.
Curry said Taser International, the device's manufacturer, indicates that "multiple Tasings do not affect a person." But he said he could not explain why Pikes was shocked so many times, and said whether Nugent followed proper procedure was "yet to be determined."
But a copy of the Winnfield Police Department's Taser training manual, says the device "shall only be deployed in circumstances where it is deemed reasonably necessary to control a dangerous or violent subject." And Williams said regulations regarding the use of Tasers were not followed.
"It violated every aspect -- every single aspect -- of the department's policy about its use," the coroner said.
Winnfield has seen a spate of high-profile corruption cases in recent years. One of Nevils' predecessors as district attorney, Terry Reeves, killed himself amid allegations of embezzlement and extortion. The town's current police chief, Johnny Ray Carpenter, is a convicted drug offender who received a pardon from former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards who himself is now serving a federal prison term for racketeering.
And Carpenter's predecessor, Gleason Nugent -- the father of Pikes' arresting officer -- committed suicide in 2005, after allegations of fraud and vote buying in the race for police chief, an elected position in Winnfield.
Now Nevils is awaiting the state police report on Pikes' death, which will be presented to a grand jury for possible charges against Nugent -- a possibility Curry said would be a blow to the department.
"It's one of these no-win situations he said. "No matter the outcome, nobody's going to win in this case."
Officers Dog Left in Car Dies of Heat Stroke
SAN DIEGO
The San Diego police dog left in the back of his handler's patrol car last month died of heat stroke, county investigators said Tuesday, and it will be up to the District Attorney's Office to determine whether a crime was committed.
A monthlong investigation by the county's Department of Animal Services found that the 5-year-old Belgian Malinois was left in the car with the windows rolled up.
Officer Paul Hubka told authorities he found his dog Forrest in the car parked in the driveway of his Alpine home July 20. Temperatures reached 108 degrees that day.
Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, declined to give any further statements to investigators on the advice of his attorney, Animal Services director Dawn Danielson said.
Investigators say the dog was in the car for possibly as long as seven hours, although even a half-hour could be fatal. Interior car temperatures can reach 130 degrees on such hot days.
“It's a horrific way to die,” Danielson said. “He's panting hot air, his insides heat up, he bleeds internally. He's in a state of panic, trying desperately to get out.”
The necropsy, performed by a veterinary pathologist with the county's Animal Disease and Diagnostic laboratory, found no signs of diseases or injury.
The investigation's findings have been forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to charge Hubka.
The Police Department will launch an administrative investigation into the death once prosecutors are finished with the case, said department spokeswoman Monica Muñoz.
Hubka, who also serves on the board of the San Diego Police Officers Association, is working a desk job in the meantime.
Another of Hubka's police dogs, named Rexo, died last year from gastric torsion, a condition also known as bloat, Danielson said. Deep-chested dogs are susceptible to the sudden illness, associated with the stomach filling with air and twisting.
Rexo died in the care of another officer while Hubka was on vacation in June 2007.
Every year, police dogs die from being left in squad cars or working in sweltering conditions, according to the U.S. Police Canine Association. However, no agency tracks the number of heat-related deaths.
In Chandler, Ariz., a K9 sergeant was arrested last year and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty for leaving his dog in the back of his car for 13 hours, according to news reports. A trial is pending.
In 1999, a San Diego police dog died when left in the back of a hot patrol car for 90 minutes during the summer.
Officer Lawrence Cahill said his air-conditioning wasn't working well that day but it was functioning. He chose to leave the dog in the car, with the windows rolled up, rather than put him in a kennel a few feet away.
The air-conditioning gave out, however, and the dog died of heat exhaustion.
Cahill was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, but his 2000 trial ended in a hung jury. The City Attorney's Office later decided to drop the case completely.
The San Diego police dog left in the back of his handler's patrol car last month died of heat stroke, county investigators said Tuesday, and it will be up to the District Attorney's Office to determine whether a crime was committed.
A monthlong investigation by the county's Department of Animal Services found that the 5-year-old Belgian Malinois was left in the car with the windows rolled up.
Officer Paul Hubka told authorities he found his dog Forrest in the car parked in the driveway of his Alpine home July 20. Temperatures reached 108 degrees that day.
Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, declined to give any further statements to investigators on the advice of his attorney, Animal Services director Dawn Danielson said.
Investigators say the dog was in the car for possibly as long as seven hours, although even a half-hour could be fatal. Interior car temperatures can reach 130 degrees on such hot days.
“It's a horrific way to die,” Danielson said. “He's panting hot air, his insides heat up, he bleeds internally. He's in a state of panic, trying desperately to get out.”
The necropsy, performed by a veterinary pathologist with the county's Animal Disease and Diagnostic laboratory, found no signs of diseases or injury.
The investigation's findings have been forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to charge Hubka.
The Police Department will launch an administrative investigation into the death once prosecutors are finished with the case, said department spokeswoman Monica Muñoz.
Hubka, who also serves on the board of the San Diego Police Officers Association, is working a desk job in the meantime.
Another of Hubka's police dogs, named Rexo, died last year from gastric torsion, a condition also known as bloat, Danielson said. Deep-chested dogs are susceptible to the sudden illness, associated with the stomach filling with air and twisting.
Rexo died in the care of another officer while Hubka was on vacation in June 2007.
Every year, police dogs die from being left in squad cars or working in sweltering conditions, according to the U.S. Police Canine Association. However, no agency tracks the number of heat-related deaths.
In Chandler, Ariz., a K9 sergeant was arrested last year and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty for leaving his dog in the back of his car for 13 hours, according to news reports. A trial is pending.
In 1999, a San Diego police dog died when left in the back of a hot patrol car for 90 minutes during the summer.
Officer Lawrence Cahill said his air-conditioning wasn't working well that day but it was functioning. He chose to leave the dog in the car, with the windows rolled up, rather than put him in a kennel a few feet away.
The air-conditioning gave out, however, and the dog died of heat exhaustion.
Cahill was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, but his 2000 trial ended in a hung jury. The City Attorney's Office later decided to drop the case completely.
Officer Acquitted of Posing as Deputy
BELLEVILLE, Ill.
A former Alorton and Red Bud police officer has been acquitted of felony charges that he posed as a sheriff's deputy when he tried to arrest a young woman.
But 36-year-old Jon Lair was convicted Thursday of misdemeanor drunken driving.
Authorities say Lair told a 19-year-old woman he was a sheriff's deputy when he allegedly tried to arrest her in Belleville in January of last year and tried to force her into his pickup truck.
Investigators say the woman recognized the arrest was false and managed to escape. Lair was later arrested by Belleville police.
The St. Clair County jury acquitted Lair of unlawful restraint, impersonating an officer and two counts of official misconduct. Sentencing is set for August for the DUI.
A former Alorton and Red Bud police officer has been acquitted of felony charges that he posed as a sheriff's deputy when he tried to arrest a young woman.
But 36-year-old Jon Lair was convicted Thursday of misdemeanor drunken driving.
Authorities say Lair told a 19-year-old woman he was a sheriff's deputy when he allegedly tried to arrest her in Belleville in January of last year and tried to force her into his pickup truck.
Investigators say the woman recognized the arrest was false and managed to escape. Lair was later arrested by Belleville police.
The St. Clair County jury acquitted Lair of unlawful restraint, impersonating an officer and two counts of official misconduct. Sentencing is set for August for the DUI.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Husband Charged With Kidnapping and Assaulting Wife
A Fort Bliss, Texas, soldier reported missing and possibly in danger was located by authorities Sunday after she was kidnapped and assaulted by her husband, El Paso, Texas, police said Monday.
The 34-year-old husband was arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping and is now being held on $75,000 bond, said El Paso Police officer Chris Mears.
The complaint affidavit against him says he kicked, stabbed and raped his wife, according to the El Paso Times.
CNN does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent and is not naming the husband because it could lead to the soldier's identity.
Hospital officials at Fort Bliss told The Associated Press the woman had been treated and released.
The 29-year-old private first class had been reported missing Friday when she failed to show up for work at the base.
Mears said the man had been distraught after his wife told him she would be ending their relationship, and he waited in her off-post apartment until she came home late Thursday night.
When she arrived, Mears said, he stabbed her twice and forced her to drive with him to Las Vegas, Nevada. The two returned to El Paso on a Greyhound bus, he said.
There was no indication why he chose Las Vegas as their destination, Mears said. El Paso police are working with their counterparts in Las Vegas, he added.
The man went to police after seeing a newspaper article about the disappearance, said Mears, who refused to comment on whether he had confessed to any crime.
The 34-year-old husband was arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping and is now being held on $75,000 bond, said El Paso Police officer Chris Mears.
The complaint affidavit against him says he kicked, stabbed and raped his wife, according to the El Paso Times.
CNN does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent and is not naming the husband because it could lead to the soldier's identity.
Hospital officials at Fort Bliss told The Associated Press the woman had been treated and released.
The 29-year-old private first class had been reported missing Friday when she failed to show up for work at the base.
Mears said the man had been distraught after his wife told him she would be ending their relationship, and he waited in her off-post apartment until she came home late Thursday night.
When she arrived, Mears said, he stabbed her twice and forced her to drive with him to Las Vegas, Nevada. The two returned to El Paso on a Greyhound bus, he said.
There was no indication why he chose Las Vegas as their destination, Mears said. El Paso police are working with their counterparts in Las Vegas, he added.
The man went to police after seeing a newspaper article about the disappearance, said Mears, who refused to comment on whether he had confessed to any crime.
Cpl Alain Boulianne Charged with Sex with Minor
A Codiac Regional Police officer who has been suspended with pay since early last fall was charged in provincial court yesterday with sexual interference with a minor.
Cpl. Alain Boulianne was not in court but his lawyer, James Letcher, elected on his behalf to be tried in provincial court. A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 18.
A judge from outside this region will hear the case.
Bouliane has most recently led Codiac's traffic division.
Codiac officials said late last year that an officer had been suspended with pay after allegations of a sexual nature were made against him by a teenaged girl. Letcher has said the charges will be vigorously defended and that his client was anxious to get to court.
The case was investigated by the Saint John Police Force.
Cpl. Alain Boulianne was not in court but his lawyer, James Letcher, elected on his behalf to be tried in provincial court. A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 18.
A judge from outside this region will hear the case.
Bouliane has most recently led Codiac's traffic division.
Codiac officials said late last year that an officer had been suspended with pay after allegations of a sexual nature were made against him by a teenaged girl. Letcher has said the charges will be vigorously defended and that his client was anxious to get to court.
The case was investigated by the Saint John Police Force.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Former Sheriff Sentenced to 210 months for Transmitting Child Porn
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, announced today that MICHAEL WADE KENT, 52, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 210 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for using the internet to transmit child pornography. Kent was a former Deputy Sheriff in Kay County who was indicted last July by a federal grand jury.
At his plea hearing in December of 2007, Kent admitted that on February 21, 2007, he sent a video clip of a 12-13 year old girl engaged in oral sex using the internet. The person to whom he sent the video was an undercover FBI agent.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Sengel.
John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, announced today that MICHAEL WADE KENT, 52, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 210 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for using the internet to transmit child pornography. Kent was a former Deputy Sheriff in Kay County who was indicted last July by a federal grand jury.
At his plea hearing in December of 2007, Kent admitted that on February 21, 2007, he sent a video clip of a 12-13 year old girl engaged in oral sex using the internet. The person to whom he sent the video was an undercover FBI agent.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Sengel.
Guilty Plea Ends Phase of Lengthy Narcotics and Public Corruption Investigation
United States Attorney David E. O'Meilia announced that a guilty plea in federal court ends a phase in a complex multi-agency investigation that spanned four years and is related to the investigation and prosecutions of at least 25 other individuals.
Kejuan Lavell Daniels, age 34, of Tulsa, pled guilty today to Conspiracy, and admitted that between December 2002 until sometime in 2006, he entered into agreements with others to import and distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine and in excess of 50 grams of crack cocaine. According to the plea agreement, the total sum of cocaine that was distributed in the Tulsa area was in excess of 100 kilograms (220 pounds).
The original investigation began in December 2004 as a narcotics matter, but it was discovered that Daniels and his organization had cultivated individuals within local law enforcement to obtain sensitive information in order to protect his drug trafficking activities and to avoid detection and apprehension. The resulting public corruption investigation resulted in the convictions of former Tulsa police officer and detective Rico Yarbrough, former Tulsa police records clerk DeShon Stanley and her mother Diana Brice. Another branch of the investigation ultimately led to the investigation, prosecution and conviction of a number of individuals on income tax fraud to include a Tulsa tax preparer. Investigators utilized three court authorized wiretaps during the probe of Daniel's organization which resulted in the interception of over 40,000 telephone calls and text messages in just over three months.
The law enforcement effort was spearheaded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (O.C.D.E.T.F.), and included agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Intelligence Division, and Task Force Officers assigned from the Tulsa Police Department Special Investigations Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert T. Raley and Joseph F. Wilson were involved in coordinating the Task Force investigation and handled the prosecution of the case against defendant Kejuan Daniels.
U.S. Attorney O'Meilia commended the outstanding efforts of all the prosecutors and law enforcement agents involved in the investigation and prosecution, further stating: A The Northern District of Oklahoma Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force will relentlessly identify, pursue, disrupt and dismantle large drug trafficking organizations. We will insure that the drug traffickers, as well as their sources of supply and anyone who furthers the enterprise, are investigated, prosecuted, and that their ill-gotten profits and property are taken away and forfeited to the government. The investigation and prosecution of the high-level members of this significant cocaine trafficking endeavor and the corrupt public servants that assisted them is just part of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies continuing coordinated efforts to make our communities in northeast Oklahoma safer by combating the distribution of illegal drugs.
Kejuan Lavell Daniels, age 34, of Tulsa, pled guilty today to Conspiracy, and admitted that between December 2002 until sometime in 2006, he entered into agreements with others to import and distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine and in excess of 50 grams of crack cocaine. According to the plea agreement, the total sum of cocaine that was distributed in the Tulsa area was in excess of 100 kilograms (220 pounds).
The original investigation began in December 2004 as a narcotics matter, but it was discovered that Daniels and his organization had cultivated individuals within local law enforcement to obtain sensitive information in order to protect his drug trafficking activities and to avoid detection and apprehension. The resulting public corruption investigation resulted in the convictions of former Tulsa police officer and detective Rico Yarbrough, former Tulsa police records clerk DeShon Stanley and her mother Diana Brice. Another branch of the investigation ultimately led to the investigation, prosecution and conviction of a number of individuals on income tax fraud to include a Tulsa tax preparer. Investigators utilized three court authorized wiretaps during the probe of Daniel's organization which resulted in the interception of over 40,000 telephone calls and text messages in just over three months.
The law enforcement effort was spearheaded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (O.C.D.E.T.F.), and included agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Intelligence Division, and Task Force Officers assigned from the Tulsa Police Department Special Investigations Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert T. Raley and Joseph F. Wilson were involved in coordinating the Task Force investigation and handled the prosecution of the case against defendant Kejuan Daniels.
U.S. Attorney O'Meilia commended the outstanding efforts of all the prosecutors and law enforcement agents involved in the investigation and prosecution, further stating: A The Northern District of Oklahoma Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force will relentlessly identify, pursue, disrupt and dismantle large drug trafficking organizations. We will insure that the drug traffickers, as well as their sources of supply and anyone who furthers the enterprise, are investigated, prosecuted, and that their ill-gotten profits and property are taken away and forfeited to the government. The investigation and prosecution of the high-level members of this significant cocaine trafficking endeavor and the corrupt public servants that assisted them is just part of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies continuing coordinated efforts to make our communities in northeast Oklahoma safer by combating the distribution of illegal drugs.
Former Officer Charged with Embezzlement
Oklahoma
A former Moffett police officer was charged Wednesday for embezzlement for allegedly failing to return police-issued weapons belonging to the town.
Larry G. Ruiz Jr., 36, of Sallisaw was charged in Sequoyah County District Court in Sallisaw with one count of embezzlement relating to a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol, worth over $1,000, owned by the town, court records indicate.
Moffett Police Chief Charles Miller wrote in a statement that Ruiz was employed as a police officer by the town on Jan. 8, 2006. On Oct. 1, 2007, Ruiz was laid off from his position. Since that time, Miller wrote that Ruiz has been verbally asked to return any items issued to him that are property of the police department. Several attempts by Miller and other officers were made by the town to obtain the items, Miller said.
Miller spoke to Ruiz on two occasions. Ruiz allegedly told Miller that he had possession of the duty weapons, including pistols, a shotgun and Taser. Ruiz allegedly told Miller that he sold one of the pistols believing to be a gift personally to him. Miller told Ruiz to make an effort to get the pistol back and return all the items issued to him.
Ruiz allegedly told Miller that his wife, from whom he was separated, had possession of his other items. Miller told Ruiz on June 6 that he had 48 hours to return the items. Ruiz allegedly agreed to return the weapons and his police officer badges.
On July 11, Miller spoke with Ruiz again, who allegedly said he would turn in his items on the following Sunday.
Miller wrote that all efforts to get the property back have been ignored. Ruiz has a commission card that is not in effect and several deadly weapons, along with all his badges and uniforms, Miller reported. Miller wrote that Ruiz has also been enrolling in training classes as an officer for the town without Miller's permission.
Miller said his office has received a copy of a Tulsa County petition for a protective order concerning Ruiz's wife and children, filed June 6. There is also allegedly a misdemeanor warrant for Ruiz's arrest for misdemeanor harassing and threatening communication by phone, Miller wrote.
A former Moffett police officer was charged Wednesday for embezzlement for allegedly failing to return police-issued weapons belonging to the town.
Larry G. Ruiz Jr., 36, of Sallisaw was charged in Sequoyah County District Court in Sallisaw with one count of embezzlement relating to a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol, worth over $1,000, owned by the town, court records indicate.
Moffett Police Chief Charles Miller wrote in a statement that Ruiz was employed as a police officer by the town on Jan. 8, 2006. On Oct. 1, 2007, Ruiz was laid off from his position. Since that time, Miller wrote that Ruiz has been verbally asked to return any items issued to him that are property of the police department. Several attempts by Miller and other officers were made by the town to obtain the items, Miller said.
Miller spoke to Ruiz on two occasions. Ruiz allegedly told Miller that he had possession of the duty weapons, including pistols, a shotgun and Taser. Ruiz allegedly told Miller that he sold one of the pistols believing to be a gift personally to him. Miller told Ruiz to make an effort to get the pistol back and return all the items issued to him.
Ruiz allegedly told Miller that his wife, from whom he was separated, had possession of his other items. Miller told Ruiz on June 6 that he had 48 hours to return the items. Ruiz allegedly agreed to return the weapons and his police officer badges.
On July 11, Miller spoke with Ruiz again, who allegedly said he would turn in his items on the following Sunday.
Miller wrote that all efforts to get the property back have been ignored. Ruiz has a commission card that is not in effect and several deadly weapons, along with all his badges and uniforms, Miller reported. Miller wrote that Ruiz has also been enrolling in training classes as an officer for the town without Miller's permission.
Miller said his office has received a copy of a Tulsa County petition for a protective order concerning Ruiz's wife and children, filed June 6. There is also allegedly a misdemeanor warrant for Ruiz's arrest for misdemeanor harassing and threatening communication by phone, Miller wrote.
Exercise in Police Corruption
MADISON, Conn.
It can be tough to be one of those too-perfect Connecticut towns.
In Greenwich, Wifflegate came to a rancorous, well-publicized close on Friday morning as a town demolition crew using sledgehammers and crowbars knocked down the offending Wiffle ball park built by local youths, providing ample grist for meditations on suburban mores, modern parenting, the tyranny of lawyers and the phrase Greenwich Mean Time.
Sixty-three miles up Interstate 95, in this affluent little seaside town, which some locals like to think of as Greenwich in a lower gear, the fly in the punch bowl is a sprawling exercise in police corruption that’s been dragging on for almost two years. In a town of 18,000 with virtually no violent crime, 8 officers, so far, on a force of 24 have been accused of taking part in or turning a blind eye to crimes including burglaries, the electronic stalking of women, sex with prostitutes and worker compensation fraud. It’s like a low-life Elmore Leonard novel transported from Detroit to Martha’s Vineyard that began when an officer was caught on a surveillance camera removing bags of lobsters from Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale, a popular local restaurant.
It’s a reminder that, as any marketing person will tell you, the glossier the brand, the farther the bad news travels.
“The first feeling people have is betrayal that people we trusted have dishonored us and stabbed us in the back,” said Alfred J. Goldberg, a former hospital administrator and a Democrat, elected first selectman, a post akin to mayor, a year ago in this heavily Republican town, partly in response to the police scandals.
“The second is that they’re upset by the besmirching of this community’s reputation. They hate it when they go someplace and people say, ‘Oh, you’re from Madison. Those guys grab any butter to go with the lobster?’ Or ‘You don’t have to pay those cops a lot with those fringe benefits.’ People hate it. They’re so proud of this town, they hate having to suffer the slings and arrows of cheap insults.”
At least Greenwich usually gets in the news for mini-dramas bordering on self-parody — asking the state for emergency aid because of the influx of cars from New York coming to buy Powerball tickets, civic hysteria over goose droppings, keeping outsiders off the town beach, knocking down a Wiffle ball field.
Madison, settled in 1641, is a much more low-key place, known for its New England atmospherics and its lovely beaches, where some are happy to be compared with Greenwich and many are not. The coffee shops on Boston Post Road tend to be local and independent. One of the nation’s most admired independent bookstores, R. J. Julia Booksellers, sits across the street from the esteemed Madison Art Cinemas (coming Aug. 1: “Brideshead Revisited”). The local library has a big sign out front reading “Art to Benefit the Blind.” On the other hand, the most conspicuous local industry is wealth management.
But Madison’s bad news has had real-world consequences — consequences that include the $337,420 in legal fees last year alone relating to the eight officers fired, suspended or facing charges; the residents who think twice before calling the police; and the effects on the justice system. One man involved in a drunken-driving death avoided possible prison time in April because a police officer who investigated the case had been recently fired in the wake of the prostitution investigation. The prosecutor figured the officer would not make much of a witness.
Mr. Goldberg, who was elected after riding his bicycle to knock on 1,523 doors, said it had been painful, but people expect the town to uncover every stone, and the end of the investigation is in sight. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a hearing at the end of the month will examine the actions of a widely admired police lieutenant. And the hearing after that concerns the suspended police chief, Paul Jakubson, and will probably reprise every bit of dirty laundry and then some. Mr. Goldberg said that Chief Jakubson, like all the others under investigation, deserved the presumption of innocence and that it would be a mistake to lump the town’s good officers with the dishonorable ones. But he also said there was no guarantee other officers wouldn’t be implicated.
Still, in town, the police scandals have dragged on for so long, and enough new officers have been hired, that many people seem to have already moved on. “People are disgusted, but there’s a sense it’s being taken care of,” said Arnold S. Gorlick, owner of the cinema.
Mr. Goldberg, a history buff with a picture of James Madison behind his desk, frets about the scandal’s legs. “People have had friends and relatives as far away as New Zealand who’ve heard about the Madison police,” he said. “They come back from Asia and say it was on Bloomberg Asia that day.”
It’s all pretty mortifying. Still, he sighed, “It was the lobster that really got everyone’s attention.”
Maybe if they’d stolen plumbing supplies, no one outside town would have paid much attention.
It can be tough to be one of those too-perfect Connecticut towns.
In Greenwich, Wifflegate came to a rancorous, well-publicized close on Friday morning as a town demolition crew using sledgehammers and crowbars knocked down the offending Wiffle ball park built by local youths, providing ample grist for meditations on suburban mores, modern parenting, the tyranny of lawyers and the phrase Greenwich Mean Time.
Sixty-three miles up Interstate 95, in this affluent little seaside town, which some locals like to think of as Greenwich in a lower gear, the fly in the punch bowl is a sprawling exercise in police corruption that’s been dragging on for almost two years. In a town of 18,000 with virtually no violent crime, 8 officers, so far, on a force of 24 have been accused of taking part in or turning a blind eye to crimes including burglaries, the electronic stalking of women, sex with prostitutes and worker compensation fraud. It’s like a low-life Elmore Leonard novel transported from Detroit to Martha’s Vineyard that began when an officer was caught on a surveillance camera removing bags of lobsters from Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale, a popular local restaurant.
It’s a reminder that, as any marketing person will tell you, the glossier the brand, the farther the bad news travels.
“The first feeling people have is betrayal that people we trusted have dishonored us and stabbed us in the back,” said Alfred J. Goldberg, a former hospital administrator and a Democrat, elected first selectman, a post akin to mayor, a year ago in this heavily Republican town, partly in response to the police scandals.
“The second is that they’re upset by the besmirching of this community’s reputation. They hate it when they go someplace and people say, ‘Oh, you’re from Madison. Those guys grab any butter to go with the lobster?’ Or ‘You don’t have to pay those cops a lot with those fringe benefits.’ People hate it. They’re so proud of this town, they hate having to suffer the slings and arrows of cheap insults.”
At least Greenwich usually gets in the news for mini-dramas bordering on self-parody — asking the state for emergency aid because of the influx of cars from New York coming to buy Powerball tickets, civic hysteria over goose droppings, keeping outsiders off the town beach, knocking down a Wiffle ball field.
Madison, settled in 1641, is a much more low-key place, known for its New England atmospherics and its lovely beaches, where some are happy to be compared with Greenwich and many are not. The coffee shops on Boston Post Road tend to be local and independent. One of the nation’s most admired independent bookstores, R. J. Julia Booksellers, sits across the street from the esteemed Madison Art Cinemas (coming Aug. 1: “Brideshead Revisited”). The local library has a big sign out front reading “Art to Benefit the Blind.” On the other hand, the most conspicuous local industry is wealth management.
But Madison’s bad news has had real-world consequences — consequences that include the $337,420 in legal fees last year alone relating to the eight officers fired, suspended or facing charges; the residents who think twice before calling the police; and the effects on the justice system. One man involved in a drunken-driving death avoided possible prison time in April because a police officer who investigated the case had been recently fired in the wake of the prostitution investigation. The prosecutor figured the officer would not make much of a witness.
Mr. Goldberg, who was elected after riding his bicycle to knock on 1,523 doors, said it had been painful, but people expect the town to uncover every stone, and the end of the investigation is in sight. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a hearing at the end of the month will examine the actions of a widely admired police lieutenant. And the hearing after that concerns the suspended police chief, Paul Jakubson, and will probably reprise every bit of dirty laundry and then some. Mr. Goldberg said that Chief Jakubson, like all the others under investigation, deserved the presumption of innocence and that it would be a mistake to lump the town’s good officers with the dishonorable ones. But he also said there was no guarantee other officers wouldn’t be implicated.
Still, in town, the police scandals have dragged on for so long, and enough new officers have been hired, that many people seem to have already moved on. “People are disgusted, but there’s a sense it’s being taken care of,” said Arnold S. Gorlick, owner of the cinema.
Mr. Goldberg, a history buff with a picture of James Madison behind his desk, frets about the scandal’s legs. “People have had friends and relatives as far away as New Zealand who’ve heard about the Madison police,” he said. “They come back from Asia and say it was on Bloomberg Asia that day.”
It’s all pretty mortifying. Still, he sighed, “It was the lobster that really got everyone’s attention.”
Maybe if they’d stolen plumbing supplies, no one outside town would have paid much attention.
Two Greensboro Officer Fired for Sexual Assault
GREENSBORO
Two of the three Greensboro police officers accused of sexual assault by a female officer were recommended to be fired today, according to City Manager Mitchell Johnson. Both can appeal.
Sgt. A.S. Wallace and Officer J.O. LeGrand had been on paid leave while police and prosecutors investigated the complaint filed in December. Guilford District Attorney Doug Henderson decided in May not to prosecute the three officers, citing a lack of evidence.
The employment status of the third officer -- C.S. Stevens -- has not changed, Johnson said. Stevens was put on administrative leave in December.
After the decision not to prosecute, the police department's professional standards division continued an administrative investigation into whether any officers violated the department's rules.
Police employees who are "recommended for termination" may typically pursue one of three options:
They may accept the recommended punishment
They may appeal the punishment to the police chief
They may request a general board of inquiry, which is an internal departmental hearing that includes command level personnel and peers of the accused, as well as the police chief.
In December, a female police officer reported being sexually assaulted after she got into a vehicle with three on-duty police officers near the Four Seasons Town Centre.
Two of the three Greensboro police officers accused of sexual assault by a female officer were recommended to be fired today, according to City Manager Mitchell Johnson. Both can appeal.
Sgt. A.S. Wallace and Officer J.O. LeGrand had been on paid leave while police and prosecutors investigated the complaint filed in December. Guilford District Attorney Doug Henderson decided in May not to prosecute the three officers, citing a lack of evidence.
The employment status of the third officer -- C.S. Stevens -- has not changed, Johnson said. Stevens was put on administrative leave in December.
After the decision not to prosecute, the police department's professional standards division continued an administrative investigation into whether any officers violated the department's rules.
Police employees who are "recommended for termination" may typically pursue one of three options:
They may accept the recommended punishment
They may appeal the punishment to the police chief
They may request a general board of inquiry, which is an internal departmental hearing that includes command level personnel and peers of the accused, as well as the police chief.
In December, a female police officer reported being sexually assaulted after she got into a vehicle with three on-duty police officers near the Four Seasons Town Centre.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Police Sergeant Arrested for Racketeering and Forgery Charges
A former Gwinnett County police sergeant has been arrested on racketeering and forgery charges related to a used-car selling scheme, authorities announced Friday.
Michael James Saunders, who resigned from the department last month after 18 years of service, was allegedly buying and selling used vehicles without a dealer's license, said Cpl. Illana Spellman, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Police Department. Georgia allows a maximum of five vehicles to be sold privately each year without a license.
Saunders, 48, is also accused of forging signatures on documents involving the ownership of his vehicles.
Police said a citizen complaint to the internal affairs unit prompted an investigation which lasted two months, culminating in Saunders' arrest Thursday at his home in Duluth.
Saunders is charged with one count of first-degree forgery, two counts of violation of oath of office, one count of racketeering, one count of false statement in application and three counts of illegally selling used vehicles.
Saunders was a shift supervisor for the South precinct in Lilburn. The South Precinct serves a 116 square mile area in the the southwest corner of Gwinnett, which includes the city of Grayson as well as unincorporated areas of Tucker, Lilburn, Stone Mountain, Centerville, Snellville, Loganville, and Lawrenceville.
He is being held on $103,900 bond at the Gwinnett jail.
Michael James Saunders, who resigned from the department last month after 18 years of service, was allegedly buying and selling used vehicles without a dealer's license, said Cpl. Illana Spellman, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Police Department. Georgia allows a maximum of five vehicles to be sold privately each year without a license.
Saunders, 48, is also accused of forging signatures on documents involving the ownership of his vehicles.
Police said a citizen complaint to the internal affairs unit prompted an investigation which lasted two months, culminating in Saunders' arrest Thursday at his home in Duluth.
Saunders is charged with one count of first-degree forgery, two counts of violation of oath of office, one count of racketeering, one count of false statement in application and three counts of illegally selling used vehicles.
Saunders was a shift supervisor for the South precinct in Lilburn. The South Precinct serves a 116 square mile area in the the southwest corner of Gwinnett, which includes the city of Grayson as well as unincorporated areas of Tucker, Lilburn, Stone Mountain, Centerville, Snellville, Loganville, and Lawrenceville.
He is being held on $103,900 bond at the Gwinnett jail.
Probe Finds Violations at Sandy Springs Police Department
An investigation into wrongdoing in the Sandy Springs Police Department turned up numerous violations of policies and has resulted in the police chief's resignation and the departure of three other supervisors.
Sandy Springs released the investigative report Friday, which details officers working off-duty jobs when they were assigned to work city shifts. It also criticized the chief and another commander for accepting guns as a gift.
The report was prepared at the city's request by a private investigator, and it concludes a culture developed within the department in which some supervisors condoned the rule violations and failed to report inappropriate behavior. City officials received the report on July 10.
Since the report was released, Chief Gene Wilson and Maj. James Moore, who oversaw the special operations unit, have resigned. Two supervisors, Sgt. Tanya Smith and Lieutenant Trudi Vaughan, have been fired.
Wilson said this week he did nothing wrong. But in his resignation letter, which the city quoted in its documents, he said: "It has become apparent recently that I no longer have the confidence of the Mayor and the Council."
Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos said Friday she didn't believe the investigation represented a wide-spread problem with the department, and she felt the city could move past the issue.
"We've got 120 (police) positions, and we've got about three people in trouble," Galambos said. "We have isolated the problem, we have identified the culprits and we have cleaned house."
City Attorney Wendell Willard could not be reached for comment Friday night. The city's acting police chief, David Bertrand, declined to comment.
According to the nearly 900-page report - prepared for the city attorney by James Walker, an investigator for the Charlotte-based U.S. ISS Agency - both Wilson and Moore had accepted gifts from Bruce Weiner, a Sandy Springs businessman, who is chairman of a non-profit organization that provides financial support for the police department.
Although neither Wilson nor Moore violated city policy in accepting firearms and knives from Weiner, a federally licensed firearms dealer, the investigator found Wilson "should have exercised better judgment, when he accepted the gifts." Wilson later returned the handguns and a rifle he had received, the city report indicates.
Moore, who acknowledged receiving two handguns and a knife, "should have recognized" the perception of receiving the gifts, the report says.
When asked about any perceived wrong-doing on the part of chief Wilson, Mayor Galambos demurred.
"I'm going by what the investigator put in his report that [Wilson] did not specifically break the rules," Galambos said. "We appreciate what he did to build up the department." But she acknowledged that by accepting the gifts, Wilson may have cast a pall around himself within the department.
"I think a lot of other police felt uncomfortable about it," Galambos said.
The report concludes the department, which was led since 2006 by Wilson, had numerous incidents in which officers violated city policy relating to how they could perform privately paid assignments in their off hours.
Smith, who was fired Friday, was found to have violated city policy by adjusting her regular schedule as a patrol supervisor at least twice to work an off-duty job, according to a termination letter released by the city.
On Friday, Smith said she had received permission to adjust her schedule from a supervisor, because otherwise she would have exceeded her city hours.
" I was given permission to come in late," she said. "I got permission from my lieutenant. They said I did not have approval."
According to her dismissal letter, Vaughan, who was fired Wednesday, was found by the city to have violated policy in numerous decisions, including directing officers on duty to fill off-duty jobs in traffic detail, which she coordinated.
Among the criticisms leveled at Vaughan was that she made poor decisions as the senior officer at a training session April 10 at which officers fired weapons they had not been trained to use, and rode all-terrain vehicles without helmets.
The report describes 20 officers participating in a training exercise at Weiner's property in Madison. The officers were allowed to select weapons from his collection, with his permission, the documents state. They later fired them on a private range.
In a dismissal letter released by the city Friday, Acting Police Chief David Bertrand said Vaughan "should have recognized the magnitude of danger the officers were placed in," and the liability for the city.
Vaughan is challenging her firing, and said it is politically motivated. Her attorney, Edwin Marger, said the incident has been exaggerated and that the officers were not injured. The independent review by Walker began with an internal police investigation initiated in mid-June.
This is the second internal investigation that has been made public by the 2-year-old department.
In January, Roberto Alvarado was fired and charged after being accused of sexual assault against a woman he pulled over. He fled the state and was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Mobile, Ala.
Sandy Springs released the investigative report Friday, which details officers working off-duty jobs when they were assigned to work city shifts. It also criticized the chief and another commander for accepting guns as a gift.
The report was prepared at the city's request by a private investigator, and it concludes a culture developed within the department in which some supervisors condoned the rule violations and failed to report inappropriate behavior. City officials received the report on July 10.
Since the report was released, Chief Gene Wilson and Maj. James Moore, who oversaw the special operations unit, have resigned. Two supervisors, Sgt. Tanya Smith and Lieutenant Trudi Vaughan, have been fired.
Wilson said this week he did nothing wrong. But in his resignation letter, which the city quoted in its documents, he said: "It has become apparent recently that I no longer have the confidence of the Mayor and the Council."
Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos said Friday she didn't believe the investigation represented a wide-spread problem with the department, and she felt the city could move past the issue.
"We've got 120 (police) positions, and we've got about three people in trouble," Galambos said. "We have isolated the problem, we have identified the culprits and we have cleaned house."
City Attorney Wendell Willard could not be reached for comment Friday night. The city's acting police chief, David Bertrand, declined to comment.
According to the nearly 900-page report - prepared for the city attorney by James Walker, an investigator for the Charlotte-based U.S. ISS Agency - both Wilson and Moore had accepted gifts from Bruce Weiner, a Sandy Springs businessman, who is chairman of a non-profit organization that provides financial support for the police department.
Although neither Wilson nor Moore violated city policy in accepting firearms and knives from Weiner, a federally licensed firearms dealer, the investigator found Wilson "should have exercised better judgment, when he accepted the gifts." Wilson later returned the handguns and a rifle he had received, the city report indicates.
Moore, who acknowledged receiving two handguns and a knife, "should have recognized" the perception of receiving the gifts, the report says.
When asked about any perceived wrong-doing on the part of chief Wilson, Mayor Galambos demurred.
"I'm going by what the investigator put in his report that [Wilson] did not specifically break the rules," Galambos said. "We appreciate what he did to build up the department." But she acknowledged that by accepting the gifts, Wilson may have cast a pall around himself within the department.
"I think a lot of other police felt uncomfortable about it," Galambos said.
The report concludes the department, which was led since 2006 by Wilson, had numerous incidents in which officers violated city policy relating to how they could perform privately paid assignments in their off hours.
Smith, who was fired Friday, was found to have violated city policy by adjusting her regular schedule as a patrol supervisor at least twice to work an off-duty job, according to a termination letter released by the city.
On Friday, Smith said she had received permission to adjust her schedule from a supervisor, because otherwise she would have exceeded her city hours.
" I was given permission to come in late," she said. "I got permission from my lieutenant. They said I did not have approval."
According to her dismissal letter, Vaughan, who was fired Wednesday, was found by the city to have violated policy in numerous decisions, including directing officers on duty to fill off-duty jobs in traffic detail, which she coordinated.
Among the criticisms leveled at Vaughan was that she made poor decisions as the senior officer at a training session April 10 at which officers fired weapons they had not been trained to use, and rode all-terrain vehicles without helmets.
The report describes 20 officers participating in a training exercise at Weiner's property in Madison. The officers were allowed to select weapons from his collection, with his permission, the documents state. They later fired them on a private range.
In a dismissal letter released by the city Friday, Acting Police Chief David Bertrand said Vaughan "should have recognized the magnitude of danger the officers were placed in," and the liability for the city.
Vaughan is challenging her firing, and said it is politically motivated. Her attorney, Edwin Marger, said the incident has been exaggerated and that the officers were not injured. The independent review by Walker began with an internal police investigation initiated in mid-June.
This is the second internal investigation that has been made public by the 2-year-old department.
In January, Roberto Alvarado was fired and charged after being accused of sexual assault against a woman he pulled over. He fled the state and was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Mobile, Ala.
Trial Starts for Officer Accused of Soliciting a Minor
The trial of a San Jose police officer accused of soliciting nude photos from a Scotts Valley High girl he mentored and coached began Friday, more than 2 1/2 years after the allegations surfaced.
Kenneth Williams Sr., 50, exploited and victimized the girl, who was 15 and 16 at the time, prosecutor Jeff Rosell told jurors during his opening statements.
"He convinced her to take naked photographs and send them to him," Rosell said. "(He) was entrusted to take care of her and help her but instead he betrayed her and he had her betray her own dignity."
He is charged with four felony counts of soliciting lewd matter from a minor and two misdemeanors: possessing the lewd matter and destroying evidence.
Williams met the victim when he helped his wife, Yolanda, coach the Scotts Valley High girls' basketball team. The girl, who was on the team, was having trouble at home and her parents asked Williams to counsel her. They admired him because of his strong Christian beliefs and because the girl's father is also in law enforcement, Rosell said.
Williams and the girl talked a lot, texted each other thousands of messages, went to lunch and sometimes spent time alone without her parents knowing, Rosell said.
Defense attorney Paul Meltzer said helping youth was what Williams, a police officer for 27 years, devoted his life to and his interactions with the girl were not unlike what he'd done for thousands of other children - talking to them, taking them
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on trips, making sure they had food and clothing - and had never been accused of inappropriate conduct until the girl's allegations came to light in December 2005.
"We've all heard the statement 'Let no good deed go unpunished,' " Meltzer said. "Well I think that's really what this case is all about."
Williams and the girl had words about her sneaking out and drinking with members of the football team - an interaction that Rosell described as inappropriate and that Meltzer said fell within the bounds of mentoring - the girl's parents began to suspect Williams' relationship with their daughter had crossed a line. In mid-December they contacted Scotts Valley High administrators, then Scotts Valley police, Rosell said.
That's when the girl revealed to Scotts Valley police detective Mark Lopez that Williams had asked for inappropriate photos of her and, when shots taken on her cell phone camera were too fuzzy, he bought her a digital camera and several memory cards so she could pass the photos to him, Rosell told jurors.
The photos went from an "innocuous" shot of the girl's tan lines to semi-nude and nude photos - Williams allegedly told the girl he intended to use them as models for sketching - to explicit images, according to Rosell. He said nude photos of the girl were mixed with nude photos of Williams' wife, shots of the basketball team and commercial pornography in files on Williams' computers.
"Why do good people do bad things? Sex. Sex," Rosell said.
However, Meltzer pointed out that there was never an allegation that Williams had any sexual contact with the girl, despite the amount of time they spent together.
"This good man didn't do any bad thing," Meltzer told jurors. "If this was all done by Ken Williams for sex, there's no evidence it ever happened."
The defense attorney said Williams is "a very spiritual, deeply religious man," and listed Williams' many awards and accomplishments, including a proclamation from the mayor of San Jose commending his work with kids. Meltzer said Williams, who has three children and has been married for 30 years, was active in his church, the president of the Black Peace Officers Association and established the Operation Jump Start, which gives at-risk kids tutoring, counseling and scholarships to help them get to college.
"He gets close to kids, that's what he does," Meltzer said.
The case largely hangs on the testimony of the victim, who is now 19. Meltzer told jurors that she is the only person who has seen the text message that reportedly requested nude photos.
Several computer forensic specialists also will provide key information about how the photos, many of which were deleted before police recovered Williams' PDA, iPod, iMac and Toshiba laptop. Meltzer said that many people had access to Williams' electronics, including the girl and her basketball team, and that there's no evidence Williams uploaded or ever viewed the photos that were recovered.
But Rosell said Williams' efforts to delete the photos - he allegedly purchased file-destroying software for the iMac and physically broke the hard drive of the laptop - point to his guilt.
Both the victim and Williams are expected to testify during the trial, which will last two to three weeks. He could be sentenced to state prison and would have to register as a sex offender.
Kenneth Williams Sr., 50, exploited and victimized the girl, who was 15 and 16 at the time, prosecutor Jeff Rosell told jurors during his opening statements.
"He convinced her to take naked photographs and send them to him," Rosell said. "(He) was entrusted to take care of her and help her but instead he betrayed her and he had her betray her own dignity."
He is charged with four felony counts of soliciting lewd matter from a minor and two misdemeanors: possessing the lewd matter and destroying evidence.
Williams met the victim when he helped his wife, Yolanda, coach the Scotts Valley High girls' basketball team. The girl, who was on the team, was having trouble at home and her parents asked Williams to counsel her. They admired him because of his strong Christian beliefs and because the girl's father is also in law enforcement, Rosell said.
Williams and the girl talked a lot, texted each other thousands of messages, went to lunch and sometimes spent time alone without her parents knowing, Rosell said.
Defense attorney Paul Meltzer said helping youth was what Williams, a police officer for 27 years, devoted his life to and his interactions with the girl were not unlike what he'd done for thousands of other children - talking to them, taking them
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on trips, making sure they had food and clothing - and had never been accused of inappropriate conduct until the girl's allegations came to light in December 2005.
"We've all heard the statement 'Let no good deed go unpunished,' " Meltzer said. "Well I think that's really what this case is all about."
Williams and the girl had words about her sneaking out and drinking with members of the football team - an interaction that Rosell described as inappropriate and that Meltzer said fell within the bounds of mentoring - the girl's parents began to suspect Williams' relationship with their daughter had crossed a line. In mid-December they contacted Scotts Valley High administrators, then Scotts Valley police, Rosell said.
That's when the girl revealed to Scotts Valley police detective Mark Lopez that Williams had asked for inappropriate photos of her and, when shots taken on her cell phone camera were too fuzzy, he bought her a digital camera and several memory cards so she could pass the photos to him, Rosell told jurors.
The photos went from an "innocuous" shot of the girl's tan lines to semi-nude and nude photos - Williams allegedly told the girl he intended to use them as models for sketching - to explicit images, according to Rosell. He said nude photos of the girl were mixed with nude photos of Williams' wife, shots of the basketball team and commercial pornography in files on Williams' computers.
"Why do good people do bad things? Sex. Sex," Rosell said.
However, Meltzer pointed out that there was never an allegation that Williams had any sexual contact with the girl, despite the amount of time they spent together.
"This good man didn't do any bad thing," Meltzer told jurors. "If this was all done by Ken Williams for sex, there's no evidence it ever happened."
The defense attorney said Williams is "a very spiritual, deeply religious man," and listed Williams' many awards and accomplishments, including a proclamation from the mayor of San Jose commending his work with kids. Meltzer said Williams, who has three children and has been married for 30 years, was active in his church, the president of the Black Peace Officers Association and established the Operation Jump Start, which gives at-risk kids tutoring, counseling and scholarships to help them get to college.
"He gets close to kids, that's what he does," Meltzer said.
The case largely hangs on the testimony of the victim, who is now 19. Meltzer told jurors that she is the only person who has seen the text message that reportedly requested nude photos.
Several computer forensic specialists also will provide key information about how the photos, many of which were deleted before police recovered Williams' PDA, iPod, iMac and Toshiba laptop. Meltzer said that many people had access to Williams' electronics, including the girl and her basketball team, and that there's no evidence Williams uploaded or ever viewed the photos that were recovered.
But Rosell said Williams' efforts to delete the photos - he allegedly purchased file-destroying software for the iMac and physically broke the hard drive of the laptop - point to his guilt.
Both the victim and Williams are expected to testify during the trial, which will last two to three weeks. He could be sentenced to state prison and would have to register as a sex offender.
Officer Suspended for Not Arresting Woman
GREENFIELD, Ind.
A Greenfield police officer is serving a 45-day unpaid suspension resulting from his handling of a traffic stop and narcotics investigation.
Policeman William Phillips decided not to arrest a Greenfield woman on a charge of impaired driving, even though she had failed field sobriety tests, according to a Greenfield Police Department report of the incident that began about 3:45 a.m. June 19.
Greenfield city officials have refused to release documents or other information relating to the disciplinary action, saying only that the reason is failure to follow standard operating procedures.
But authorities have confirmed the suspension is connected to that incident.
The woman involved in the traffic stop, Jessica Bewley-Johnson, was fatally injured in a traffic accident June 21, two days after she was stopped and released. According to a Greenfield police report, Bewley-Johnson was driving south on Broadway Street in Greenfield when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck a northbound dump truck.
Authorities discount the connection between Phillips' actions and Bewley- Johnson's death, saying she was not impaired at the time of the accident and would have been free on bond at the time of the accident even had she been arrested.
Greenfield Police Chief John Jester forwarded information about the traffic stop to Hancock County Prosecutor Dean Dobbins in case the prosecutor wanted to pursue criminal charges. Dobbins, however, said he has seen no evidence indicating to him the police officer broke any laws.
Both Jester and Greenfield Mayor Brad DeReamer defended their decision not to release details on the specific reasons for Phillips' suspension.
"I believe in openness, and I campaigned on it," DeReamer said. "But our attorney (Gregg Morelock) advises me that I have been wrong since I took office in discussing personnel matters so freely. If we open up (certain details), the employee has a right to sue us."
Bewley-Johnson, 26, Greenfield, had left a party where police believed drugs and alcohol were being used, and the homeowner was a passenger in her car.
According to the police report, another officer performed field-sobriety tests in which Bewley-Johnson showed evidence of intoxication. Phillips then took Bewley-Johnson to the Greenfield police station for additional tests and questioning.
"Ms. Johnson was asked several questions (about) the residence she left and did not wish to answer the questions," the report states. "Ms. Johnson requested to have a lawyer with her during questioning. Ms. Johnson was given a ride back to her residence with no further incidents that occurred."
Dobbins said Phillips might have a valid reason for not making an arrest, suggesting that he might have wanted to get back to the residence on the west side of Greenfield where the party was occurring in order to pursue possibly more serious criminal activity.
Police eventually did confiscate drugs found at the home and arrested the homeowner, Christina Helsley, 28, on a charge of possession of illegal drugs.
To judge whether Phillips' suspension was proper, the public needs more information, said Steve Key, legal counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association.
"Public policy calls for information to be made available as a protection to the public so they know disciplinary actions are being handled correctly and also as a protection for the employee to make sure they're not being made a victim of political retribution," Key said.
Phillips, 30, joined the department in 2006. He began serving the suspension July 12.
A Greenfield police officer is serving a 45-day unpaid suspension resulting from his handling of a traffic stop and narcotics investigation.
Policeman William Phillips decided not to arrest a Greenfield woman on a charge of impaired driving, even though she had failed field sobriety tests, according to a Greenfield Police Department report of the incident that began about 3:45 a.m. June 19.
Greenfield city officials have refused to release documents or other information relating to the disciplinary action, saying only that the reason is failure to follow standard operating procedures.
But authorities have confirmed the suspension is connected to that incident.
The woman involved in the traffic stop, Jessica Bewley-Johnson, was fatally injured in a traffic accident June 21, two days after she was stopped and released. According to a Greenfield police report, Bewley-Johnson was driving south on Broadway Street in Greenfield when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck a northbound dump truck.
Authorities discount the connection between Phillips' actions and Bewley- Johnson's death, saying she was not impaired at the time of the accident and would have been free on bond at the time of the accident even had she been arrested.
Greenfield Police Chief John Jester forwarded information about the traffic stop to Hancock County Prosecutor Dean Dobbins in case the prosecutor wanted to pursue criminal charges. Dobbins, however, said he has seen no evidence indicating to him the police officer broke any laws.
Both Jester and Greenfield Mayor Brad DeReamer defended their decision not to release details on the specific reasons for Phillips' suspension.
"I believe in openness, and I campaigned on it," DeReamer said. "But our attorney (Gregg Morelock) advises me that I have been wrong since I took office in discussing personnel matters so freely. If we open up (certain details), the employee has a right to sue us."
Bewley-Johnson, 26, Greenfield, had left a party where police believed drugs and alcohol were being used, and the homeowner was a passenger in her car.
According to the police report, another officer performed field-sobriety tests in which Bewley-Johnson showed evidence of intoxication. Phillips then took Bewley-Johnson to the Greenfield police station for additional tests and questioning.
"Ms. Johnson was asked several questions (about) the residence she left and did not wish to answer the questions," the report states. "Ms. Johnson requested to have a lawyer with her during questioning. Ms. Johnson was given a ride back to her residence with no further incidents that occurred."
Dobbins said Phillips might have a valid reason for not making an arrest, suggesting that he might have wanted to get back to the residence on the west side of Greenfield where the party was occurring in order to pursue possibly more serious criminal activity.
Police eventually did confiscate drugs found at the home and arrested the homeowner, Christina Helsley, 28, on a charge of possession of illegal drugs.
To judge whether Phillips' suspension was proper, the public needs more information, said Steve Key, legal counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association.
"Public policy calls for information to be made available as a protection to the public so they know disciplinary actions are being handled correctly and also as a protection for the employee to make sure they're not being made a victim of political retribution," Key said.
Phillips, 30, joined the department in 2006. He began serving the suspension July 12.
Officer Pleads Guilty to Attempted Kidnapping of 13-year-old
NEW YORK
Prosecutors say a New York City police detective accused of forcing a 13-year-old runaway into prostitution has resigned from the force and pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping.
Wayne Taylor initially said he was "100 percent innocent" of keeping the teen as a captive and compelling her to sell herself at parties last winter.
But Queens prosecutors say the 35-year-old officer and 29-year-old accomplice Zelika Brown pleaded guilty to the same charge Thursday. They face 3 1/2-year prison terms.
Brown also originally contested the charges. Her lawyer challenged statements authorities said she made to them.
Prosecutors say about 20 men paid Taylor and Brown $40 to $80 for sex with the girl.
Taylor was an officer for about 14 years.
Prosecutors say a New York City police detective accused of forcing a 13-year-old runaway into prostitution has resigned from the force and pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping.
Wayne Taylor initially said he was "100 percent innocent" of keeping the teen as a captive and compelling her to sell herself at parties last winter.
But Queens prosecutors say the 35-year-old officer and 29-year-old accomplice Zelika Brown pleaded guilty to the same charge Thursday. They face 3 1/2-year prison terms.
Brown also originally contested the charges. Her lawyer challenged statements authorities said she made to them.
Prosecutors say about 20 men paid Taylor and Brown $40 to $80 for sex with the girl.
Taylor was an officer for about 14 years.
Sgt. Allen Wallace, Officer John LeGrand Fired After Being Accused of Sexual Assault
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Two of the three Greensboro police officers who were accused of sexual assault by a female officer have been fired.
City Manager Mitchell Johnson said the department fired Sgt. Allen Wallace and Officer John LeGrand.
Wallace, LeGrand and Officer Calvin Stevens were all suspended with pay December 18 after the off-duty officer accused them of sexually assaulting her. All three were members of the Tactical Special Enforcement Team.
On May 9, Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson announced in a press release that no criminal charges would be brought against the three officers. He cited a lack of evidence.
The department's professional standards division then continued an investigation into whether any officers violated department rules.
The off-duty officer alleged that the three officers picked her and a friend up at the Four Seasons Town Centre on Dec. 14 and sexually assaulted her.
Wallace was a vice and narcotics detective who had been with the department for eight years. He was promoted to sergeant on March 1, 2007. LeGrand joined the department in 2001.
Two of the three Greensboro police officers who were accused of sexual assault by a female officer have been fired.
City Manager Mitchell Johnson said the department fired Sgt. Allen Wallace and Officer John LeGrand.
Wallace, LeGrand and Officer Calvin Stevens were all suspended with pay December 18 after the off-duty officer accused them of sexually assaulting her. All three were members of the Tactical Special Enforcement Team.
On May 9, Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson announced in a press release that no criminal charges would be brought against the three officers. He cited a lack of evidence.
The department's professional standards division then continued an investigation into whether any officers violated department rules.
The off-duty officer alleged that the three officers picked her and a friend up at the Four Seasons Town Centre on Dec. 14 and sexually assaulted her.
Wallace was a vice and narcotics detective who had been with the department for eight years. He was promoted to sergeant on March 1, 2007. LeGrand joined the department in 2001.
Officer Michael King Charged with Bookmaking and Racketerring
Authorities around the country have not only been targeting slot machines, but also illegal sports gambling rings. Their latest investigation has led them to one of their own.
A warrant has been issued for Miami-Dade police officer Michael King, 42. He is being charged with Bookmaking, Racketeering, and Conspiracy to Racketeer. He has been an officer since 1989.
Forty individuals will be arrested in the drug and gambling sting. A second police officer will also be arrested, although his name has not yet been released. The gambling activity took place sometimes while in police cars.
The arrest warrant claims that April 2nd of this year, King was videotaped paying a client his winnings while sitting in his patrol car. The amount of the transaction was not released.
King was caught on tape after a routine stop in which he pulled over a car that was marked as an undercover vehicle. The officer inside was Sgt. Trujillo. When he approached the car, King was told that Trujillo was doing surveillance on a heroin drug hole.
Once Trujillo pulled away, King called fellow accomplice Ricardo Munoz, who is also known to be a bookmaker. "I just stopped one of my lieutenants at the corner watching ya'lls s**t, man," he told Munoz. Wire taps have confirmed that King took illegal bets on basketball games.
A warrant has been issued for Miami-Dade police officer Michael King, 42. He is being charged with Bookmaking, Racketeering, and Conspiracy to Racketeer. He has been an officer since 1989.
Forty individuals will be arrested in the drug and gambling sting. A second police officer will also be arrested, although his name has not yet been released. The gambling activity took place sometimes while in police cars.
The arrest warrant claims that April 2nd of this year, King was videotaped paying a client his winnings while sitting in his patrol car. The amount of the transaction was not released.
King was caught on tape after a routine stop in which he pulled over a car that was marked as an undercover vehicle. The officer inside was Sgt. Trujillo. When he approached the car, King was told that Trujillo was doing surveillance on a heroin drug hole.
Once Trujillo pulled away, King called fellow accomplice Ricardo Munoz, who is also known to be a bookmaker. "I just stopped one of my lieutenants at the corner watching ya'lls s**t, man," he told Munoz. Wire taps have confirmed that King took illegal bets on basketball games.
Officer Charged with Assaulting Inmate
SPRINGFIELD
A Springfield police officer lost his job and is charged with assault for the way that he handled an arrested man at the Greene County jail on May 29. Investigators and the police chief think Officer Morris Taylor used excessive force against an inmate whom he was booking into jail.
Police Chief Lynn Rowe fired Taylor on July 11. Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore charged him with third-degree assault on Thursday.
"I can understand the officer being upset because booking took longer than usual, because this guy lied to him originally about who he was and the booking had to be done again, but that is no excuse to go around hitting on people," said Moore.
Before being fired, Taylor had been with the department for 11 years.
"No law enforcement officer, especially anyone with any experience, should look at this and say this is okay," said Moore.
Rowe agrees.
"By policy and law, officers use force necessary to overcome force being presented. That's very clear but we also ask: don't go beyond what's necessary to overcome that force,” said Rowe.
Rowe says Taylor crossed the line in how he treated the inmate.
According to a detective’s probable cause statement filed in court with the charge, jail employees say they saw Taylor hit inmate John Sedersten with a closed fist, use his knee to strike Sedersten in the side, knocked the inmate to the floor, hitting Sedersten’s head on the floor, and then “had his knee on the side of Sedersten’s face/head and then struck him on the right side of his face/head after he (Sedersten) responded to several questions.”
The prosecutor says this was all caught on tape.
"Most of the jail staff was just horrified,” said Moore.
In the probable cause statement, there are witness accounts from four jail employees but none of them stepped in.
"One of my concerns is why would an officer ask for a special cell to take someone. If that is granted, then why, in the middle of the beating, why isn't there immediate intervention?" Moore asks.
Related to that, Moore says he recommended the sheriff take a look at one jailer's behavior, adding it wasn't criminal but it was questionable.
Sheriff Jack Merritt refused to comment.
Taylor is scheduled to be in court in a couple months.
When asked why the officer was fired before he went through the court process, Rowe said he looked at the video of the incident, thought it was unnecessary force, and fired him. Now, he says, the burden of proof for the criminal side lies with the prosecutor.
A Springfield police officer lost his job and is charged with assault for the way that he handled an arrested man at the Greene County jail on May 29. Investigators and the police chief think Officer Morris Taylor used excessive force against an inmate whom he was booking into jail.
Police Chief Lynn Rowe fired Taylor on July 11. Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore charged him with third-degree assault on Thursday.
"I can understand the officer being upset because booking took longer than usual, because this guy lied to him originally about who he was and the booking had to be done again, but that is no excuse to go around hitting on people," said Moore.
Before being fired, Taylor had been with the department for 11 years.
"No law enforcement officer, especially anyone with any experience, should look at this and say this is okay," said Moore.
Rowe agrees.
"By policy and law, officers use force necessary to overcome force being presented. That's very clear but we also ask: don't go beyond what's necessary to overcome that force,” said Rowe.
Rowe says Taylor crossed the line in how he treated the inmate.
According to a detective’s probable cause statement filed in court with the charge, jail employees say they saw Taylor hit inmate John Sedersten with a closed fist, use his knee to strike Sedersten in the side, knocked the inmate to the floor, hitting Sedersten’s head on the floor, and then “had his knee on the side of Sedersten’s face/head and then struck him on the right side of his face/head after he (Sedersten) responded to several questions.”
The prosecutor says this was all caught on tape.
"Most of the jail staff was just horrified,” said Moore.
In the probable cause statement, there are witness accounts from four jail employees but none of them stepped in.
"One of my concerns is why would an officer ask for a special cell to take someone. If that is granted, then why, in the middle of the beating, why isn't there immediate intervention?" Moore asks.
Related to that, Moore says he recommended the sheriff take a look at one jailer's behavior, adding it wasn't criminal but it was questionable.
Sheriff Jack Merritt refused to comment.
Taylor is scheduled to be in court in a couple months.
When asked why the officer was fired before he went through the court process, Rowe said he looked at the video of the incident, thought it was unnecessary force, and fired him. Now, he says, the burden of proof for the criminal side lies with the prosecutor.
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