Cops & Bloggers

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Tuesday 29 April 2008

Lt. William White,head of the New Haven police narcotics unit pleaded guilty

"When a police officer such as Mr. White turns into a criminal such as those he devoted his life to enforcing the law against, kids lose their hero. The public loses its trust in the police. The police department loses its reputation and judges and jurors get increasingly skeptical of the sworn statement that are given to them," Arterton said. "The bottom line is it was a cop on the take." Former Lt. William White, 64, pleaded guilty last October in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit bribery and theft of government property. The 39-year police veteran apologized to his family, the court and prosecutors that he worked with over the years before U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton sentenced him to 38 months and more than $45,000 in restitution and fines.
"I just hope everybody some way, some time, can dig deep down in their heart and forgive me for what I've done."White admitted taking $10,000 from bondsmen in return for capturing certain fugitives. In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said the arrangement "resulted in a situation in which a wealthy person was able to buy a cop." He has been free on $2 million bond since his arrest. White is scheduled to start serving his sentence on June 10. The bondsmen, Robert Jacobs, 80, of Branford and his sons, 47-year-old Philip Jacobs and 49-year-old Paul Jacobs of Woodbridge, have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. White also admitted stealing $27,500 planted by the FBI in the trunk of a car, and another $1,000 planted at a house. He split the money with another officer, who was working undercover for the FBI, authorities said. White was told the money in the car belonged to a drug dealer. He took the money, prosecutors said, even though he had expressed concerns that it could get a female informant killed. The informant turned out to be fictitious. Prosecutors said he put his own greed above the law.
White and his lawyers had argued for leniency citing his contributions over the years and the effects of a personal tragedy. More than 100 letters of support were submitted to the judge on his behalf. His wife, Nancy White, was among several supporters who spoke in court on Monday. "I have never known a single instance where he has turned away anyone in need. He was never off duty," she said. His lawyers also argued that White suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, the result of the death of a son at the hands of drug dealers. Tyler White was killed in Bridgeport in 1994 by gang members who were targeting an acquaintance. White's attorneys called the killing "an unbelievably cruel twist of fate" given White's work against gangs. White was devastated and felt guilty about his son's murder, but never sought counseling, his attorneys said. His wife said he became obsessed with caring for others in an attempt to deal with his guilt, sleeping in his clothes to prepare for emergencies and frequently having nightmares. But prosecutors argued there is no evidence linking those events to White's criminal behavior.
"The damage is that people have a reason not to trust police officers because look at what Billy White did," Acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy said.
White has been credited with helping dismantle violent drug gangs that plagued the city in the 1990s, an effort that won national praise.
"It is not an overstatement to submit that there has never been a member of the New Haven Police Department who made a more positive impact on New Haven than Billy White," his attorneys wrote in court papers.
The judge said she took White's positive contributions into consideration and opted not to sentence him near the top of the guidelines, which was 46 months in prison. But she noted that because of his arrest, citizens lost their trust in those sworn to protect them.

Saturday 26 April 2008

Manchester and Old Trafford where young people see gang life as their only choice

` gangs are running scared," insisted Chief Supt Dave Keller at the start of the meeting.He is credited with building strong relationships between the police and the community in Moss Side and Hulme. Officers have even been applauded as they carry out raids - a scene unthinkable five years ago.But there are still parts of Manchester and Old Trafford where young people see gang life as their only choice. Those drawn to this way of life are getting younger and their allegiances more chaotic. It is no longer just about men controlling the drug business, it's about boys playing around with guns.But Operation Cougar is having a surprising impact. Gang related incidents and the level of general crime in the area has declined. Senior officers describe its effects as `staggering'.Chief Supt Keller's team came up with the idea of tapping into child protection legislation after becoming con- cerned that boys associated with gangs were getting younger.Chief Supt Keller heads the weekly meeting of top officers, known as `Gold Command', at Longsight Police station which discusses progress. The determination to deal with the problem means involving parents, social services, community groups, schools -as well as the more typical police techniques.During the meeting a report suggests that the new tactic of speaking to teenagers at home with their parents is leaving youngsters confused. They feel it's `not cool' to be taken home to mummy, and it appears to be having the desired effect of keeping them off the streets.Parents, initially suspicious, are now `incredibly supportive'. This gentle approach doesn't work on its own. The number of officers around has increased, the number of `stop and searches' has gone up. There are more armed officers on patrol, and more than 300 search warrants have been executed.The knock-on effect is that the police also disrupting the drugs trade - £50,000 worth of heroin was seized last month as well as guns and ammunition.

On the wall of Chief Supt Keller's office is a copy of an M.E.N. front page which show the faces of 55 people shot dead in Greater Manchester. He says: "When I look at those faces it reminds me of the job I have to do."

What do you think? Have your say.

Thursday 24 April 2008

look for a suspect in a deadly shooting at a local park

Jacksonville Sheriff's Officers continue to look for a suspect in a deadly shooting at a local park. They say children were playing when it happened. Residents plan to meet today to talk about the violence.According to residents in one Northside community and police, someone shot a 15-year-old Wednesday night. Police found the teen in the parking lot at Panama Park around 7 o'clock. Paramedics took him to the hospital where he died. Authorities do not have a suspect. They still have many questions about the shooting. They do not know if it was random or if someone targeted the victim. At the time of the shooting, people were on the basketball court and kids were playing in the park. Police say when shots were fired, those on the court ran. They were able to talk with a few people.
The head of the Neighborhood Watch Program in the area said, "There are always children playing." She says she grew up in the Panama Park area. She has four kids and has seen the changes. She says it's sad kids can't even go out in the park and play.The community is invited to a Neighborhood Watch meeting tonight at 7 at the Charlie Joseph Center on Buffalo Avenue. Residents will be able to talk about the shooting and ways to make sure the neighborhood is safe.As for the deadly shooting, police have not released the victim's name. They need your help.

dispute over a woman may have led to the shooting death of a 49-year-old Birmingham man

dispute over a woman may have led to the shooting death of a 49-year-old Birmingham man Tuesday night, the victim's brother said. The shooting happened in the 3600 block of 42nd Avenue North at 9:33 p.m. North Precinct officers found Roderick Monday in the street and he was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police. Jones Davis Monday said he happened to see the man he believes killed his brother earlier that evening. On Wednesday morning, Monday said a friend told him the man had been walking around the neighborhood. "I heard they got into it about some woman and some licks were passed," Monday said. "Then the guy went and got a gun."Monday said he and his brother, a handyman who did roofing work, have lived in the Harriman Park community since 1963. The death of his brother is worsened by the fact that Monday will accompany his mother to the funeral of his 95-year-old uncle in Montgomery today. "All this stuff is senseless," Monday said. "I used to be out in the streets myself, but now I'm just trying to do what the Lord wants me to do." Monday was the city's 27th homicide victim of 2008. There had been 19 homicides this time last year.

Police believe Ramel Ramos shot and killed Carlos Vasquez


Police believe Ramel Ramos shot and killed Carlos Vasquez in February. But Ramos was never charged with the killing because a key witness, Javon Shelton, could not be located. Now sources close to the case say federal authorities may launch their own investigation. They will be able to cross state lines to try to find Shelton, who is from New Jersey.If charges are brought in the case, the killer could face capital murder charges.

early morning shooting outside The Palomino nightclub

City police are investigating an early morning shooting outside The Palomino nightclub at 2869 Owen Drive.It happened between 2 and 2:30 a.m. in the club’s parking lot, a police spokesman said.The identity of the victim was not available.No charges have been filed, the spokesman said.

Deshaun Miller, 24, was taken by ambulance to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center just before 7:00 p.m. after being shot in the right shoulder

Police were investigating the second shooting of the day, Wednesday evening, after a man was shot in the 700 block of Linn Street.Deshaun Miller, 24, was taken by ambulance to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center just before 7:00 p.m. after being shot in the right shoulder and upper right back.Miller was able to tell officers that the shooter was a black male, dressed in a white shirt and jeans. He was also described as driving a silver or gray Toyota Camry.No arrests have been made in this case.

shooting broke out at 2411 Elysian Fields Ave.

Gunshot wounds to the chest have left a 28-year-old man in critical condition this morning, a spokesman for the city's Emergency Medical Services said.According to the New Orleans Police Department, the shooting broke out at 2411 Elysian Fields Ave. before 6:27 a.m.Shortly thereafter, paramedics arrived and transported the victim to University Hospital's trauma center, where he was listed in serious condition, said EMS spokesman Jeb Tate.NOPD has released no other details.At the scene, a crime scene technician placed ankle-high, bright yellow cones usually used to mark evidence around several items in front of a gas station, which sits between the Carnival Club video poker truck stop and a Lowe's home improvement store. Several people sat on buckets and on the hoods of cars as they watched the technician place the cones by a black T-shirt, a black pair of shoes and a pair of blue jeans before snapping several pictures.A pair of men in the Lowe's parking lot, who spoke Spanish and said they were waiting to get picked up for work, said they had pulled up and parked in time to see the man lying down on the sidewalk before an ambulance took him away.

14-year-old boy is accused of shooting and wounding his grandfather

14-year-old boy is accused of shooting and wounding his grandfather in East St. Louis when the man confronted him about skipping school. The boy isn't being publicly identified because he's charged as a juvenile with attempted murder.
The teenager is being held at the St. Clair County juvenile lockup, pending his trial scheduled for May 17th. Authorities say the 51-year-old grandfather plans to assist in the prosecution. Police say the boy had been skipping school and was confronted by the grandfather Friday when he again was truant. That's when investigators say the shooting happened. The shotgun hasn't been found.

arrested two suspects in the fatal shooting of a Best Western clerk during a robbery early Monday.

Fort Worth police have arrested two suspects in the fatal shooting of a Best Western clerk during a robbery early Monday.Police responded to the hotel in the 6500 block of Interstate 35W after a guest found the body of the victim, Michael Myers, 59.Myers was shot three times, once in the neck and twice in the chest

worst mass killings in Chicago Anthony Scales Jr., Donovan Richardson, Whitney Flowers and Rrs, three men and two women were found shot to death

Authorities would not identify the victims, but relatives said four of the dead were Anthony Scales Jr., Donovan Richardson, Whitney Flowers and Reginald Walker. They were in their 20s. The fifth victim's name was not known.In one of the worst mass killings in Chicago in years, three men and two women were found shot to death Wednesday afternoon in a ransacked South Side home.Police are investigating whether the two-story home in the 7600 block of South Rhodes was being used as a house of ill repute, a source saidThe victims were found on the first floor of the home, police said. At least one was shot in the head One of the women was nude and the other was partially clothed, sources said.Police said they did not have a motive for the shootings. But relatives of Richardson suspect the home was targeted for a robbery, possibly of his jewelry and art.Richardson lived in the home with Flowers and they had a 2-year-old son, relatives said.Her mother, Cheryl Flowers, arrived at the scene about 6 p.m. "That's my daughter, that's my daughter," she said, weeping and collapsing into the arms of a relative.She said her daughter did not show up for work at a suburban club where she is a dancer.Police said they did not know when the shootings happened. But Scales' girlfriend, April Rutherford, told the Sun-Times she was at the home at a barbecue until late Tuesday with Scales and Richardson. When she returned early Wednesday, music was blaring but the doors were locked.She went to Scales' home where she slept, then returned to the Rhodes address Wednesday afternoon with a relative of Scales.
They found a back door open and music blaring and saw the bodies inside. Rutherford said she called the police.A nearby day care center was closed and the children sent home as a precaution.The slayings were the deadliest in the city since 2003, when a gunman entered a South Side auto parts warehouse and gunned down six people before dying in a shootout with police.

Police arrested four people Wednesday night in connection with a bank robbery in which a teller pregnant with twins was shot

Police arrested four people Wednesday night in connection with a bank robbery in which a teller pregnant with twins was shot, but the suspected gunman remained at large.Four men were arrested on preliminary charges of conspiracy to commit robbery after police questioned people. At least three of those questioned were taken into custody after a raid at a home.The robbery occurred about Tuesday morning when a masked gunman entered a Huntington Bank branch, jumped over the counter screaming, shot teller Katherin Shuffield and grabbed cash from her drawer, police said.Shuffield, 30, is five months pregnant with twins and was shot in the abdomen. Her husband, Jason Shuffield, said Wednesday that she remained in critical but stable condition.Chief Michael Spears said the shooting was the most important case being worked on by city police.The men arrested were ages 25 to 33.

judge has named and shamed a Liverpool boy

A judge has named and shamed a Liverpool boy, 16, after sentencing him to five years' detention for gun crime.Judge Adrian Lyon lifted reporting restrictions identifying Kieran Farrell, of Croxteth.At Liverpool Crown Court Farrell, who was convicted at trial, was sentenced to five years for conspiring to possess a firearm, ammunition and silencer.

James Clayton Riach,Barry Gene Espadilla were arrested while police found eight firearms, 350 grams of cocaine, drug packaging paraphernalia

Two young Vancouver gangsters are facing weapons and drug charges after police raided their Yaletown apartment and found a cache of illegal guns, including one with a silencer. As more than 500 gang police specialists gathered in Vancouver last week for the 2008 Western Canada Gang Conference, investigators from the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, RCMP E Division Criminal Intelligence Section, National Weapons Enforcement Support Team and the Vancouver Police Department Emergency Response Team, executed a high-risk search warrant at the home in the 1200-block of Homer Street. Two residents of the suite, James Clayton Riach, 24 and Barry Gene Espadilla, 23, were arrested while police found eight firearms, 350 grams of cocaine, drug packaging paraphernalia and $22,000.00 in cash. Sgt. Shinder Kirk, gang task force spokesman, said the two men “are known to be well entrenched in the gang lifestyle, and are no strangers to police or the criminal justice system.”
Both have been detained in custody.

contraband cell phones have become a hot commodity in prisons across the country

In recent years contraband cell phones have become a hot commodity in prisons across the country—and they're posing a serious threat to security, authorities say, especially as phones get smaller and offer technologically advanced features. "It's something we're all looking into," says Moriarty, who has fielded more than 600 cell-phone smuggling cases in the past three years. In Florida, which has the country's third-largest prison system, 109 cell phones have been confiscated over the past year, a 25-30 percent increase from the previous year, and the number is expected to keep growing, according to George Sapp, Florida's assistant secretary for institutions. Seven cell phones were recently confiscated in a major drug bust in the Sunshine State's prison system; investigators believe inmates communicated on cell phones to smuggle crack cocaine and marijuana into one of Florida's higher-security units through prisoner squads working on roads. Contraband phones were found in the prison, at the work camp and in transport vehicles running to and from work sites. Elsewhere, construction materials, sneaky visitors and corrupt prison guards have proved to be reliable means of entry; in New York smugglers have even hidden phone parts inside old typewriters to evade X-ray scrutiny.Prison officials are warning states that the security risk will continue to grow as cell phones shrink in size and advance technologically. Tiny phones equipped with cameras, Internet access and GPS navigation can help orchestrate prison-break plots, drug trafficking, gang violence and harassment of former victims. The next frontier: thumbnail-size SIM cards, which inmates are now importing à la carte for use with smuggled cell phones. As an added bonus, they can easily be deactivated to avoid detection.
Besides the potentially nefarious uses to which cell phones can be put, prison cell-phone demand may be driven in part by the high rates charged to inmates for landline calls, which are set by telephone companies. In California, where over 1,000 cell phones and BlackBerrys were seized last year, landline access is considered a privilege that inmates have to earn. Texas doesn't even have a landline prison phone system, which only increases the demand for illegal means of communication among inmates. And Florida officials believe that drugs are mainly to blame; those facilities that score highest on inmate drug tests suffer most from cell-phone smuggling.To combat the problem Texas passed legislation in June to install prison landlines and make possession of mobile devices a crime. Meanwhile, Florida, New York and Oklahoma are pushing for legislation that would make smuggling a felony rather than a misdemeanor. The cheapest solution, says Moriarty, is for prisons to jam the cell-phone signals. But the FCC could respond with big fines, since cell-phone jamming is illegal in the United States. According to the FCC, cell-phone jammers interfere with commercial enterprises' right to the spectrums they have purchased. Frequent prison sweeps may be more practical, but they're also time- and staff-intensive, especially since SIM cards can be nearly impossible to find.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Jason Allen Jack Beeching the hitcher most wanted list from the state prison system

Jason Allen Jack Beeching, 28, is a level two registered sex offender and is also on the most wanted list from the state prison system, according to the sheriff’s office.
Beeching has not committed a new sex crime, or any other new crime, according to the sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Jim Chamberlain. Because of his past, the sheriff’s office just suspects he’s up to no good, Chamberlain said.The unspecified warrants are for, Chamberlain believed, failure to comply or violations of his conditions of release.“There’s nothing really new except he’s been hanging around our county, he’s wanted, and we want to catch him,” Chamberlain said on Tuesday afternoon.
Beeching frequents the Rochester and Littlerock areas as well as Lewis and Cowlitz counties, according to a news release. He was seen in Rochester last week.
The sheriff’s office says he has been violent and armed in the past.He is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 165 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair with blond tints. He travels on foot and gets rides from others.

Tuesday 22 April 2008

Rocky Pearson talked about using the gun against anyone at the residence if he needed to

Roseburg police arrested 48-year old Rocky Pearson of the Salem area after an undercover operation by Douglas Interagency Narcotics officers.
Police received a tip that Pearson was headed to a location in Douglas County to rip off a marijuana grower. Surveillance allowed police to follow his vehicle. An informant told police Pearson talked about using the gun against anyone at the residence if he needed to.
He was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon.
Pearson was arraigned in circuit court Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea. His trial date was set for June 3.

Darryl Donnell Boykin,Deandre Lamar Barnes are each charged with second-degree assault, terroristic threats, being felons in possession of a firearm

Darryl Donnell Boykin, 22, and Deandre Lamar Barnes, 24, are each charged with second-degree assault, terroristic threats, being felons in possession of a firearm and possession of a pistol without a permit.According to the criminal complaint, a patron of the Kozy Bar told police that the two men wanted $20 he owed them for crack cocaine. He said Boykin put him up against the wall and Barnes held a gun in his face and said he was going to kill him. The man broke away, ran inside the bar and told the bartender to call 911.When police arrived, the victim said Barnes tossed the gun to Boykin who hid it behind a dartboard.
According to the complaint, Barnes has been convicted of a felony drug offense in Michigan in 2006. Boykin was convicted of burglary in Arizona in 2004.In a memo to the court, Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin wrote: “Neither of the defendants has a local address. It appears as though they are in the area for the purposes of collecting debts on prior drug-related matters. There appears to be prior arrests in at least three other states.’’St. Louis County Judicial Officer Gerald Maher set bail at $50,000 for each defendant. Their next court appearance is scheduled for May 5. Both were being held this evening in the St. Louis County Jail.

Jermaine F. Harris was indicted this month on gun and second-degree murder charges

Jermaine F. Harris was indicted this month on gun and second-degree murder charges.
Henrico County police have arrested a second suspect in the violent death last year of Vincent Lamont Eldridge, who was gunned down at his apartment door.
Police said Jermaine F. Harris, 21, was arrested during a traffic stop Wednesday night. Harris, who lives in the Highland Springs area, was indicted this month on gun and second-degree murder charges in the case.Eldridge, 20, lived in the 500 block of North Laburnum Avenue. Witnesses have said that two men were involved in the May 18 shooting. At the February trial of another person charged in the case, an investigator identified Harris as the second suspect.In the February trial, however, a jury deadlocked in trying to reach a verdict against the other man, Deron M. Walker, who was 18 at the time of the shooting.
Testimony at trial included statements from a jail inmate who said Walker acknowledged involvement. But Walker's lawyer argued that descriptions of the suspects were vague and that police had failed to secure DNA evidence in the case.He also argued that the trajectory of the bullet that killed Eldridge was inconsistent with Walker's height.

Three men, one armed with a gun, attempted to force their way into a couple's home

Three men, one armed with a gun, attempted to force their way into a couple's home in the 600 block of North Raguet early Saturday, a police report stated.
A woman and her husband heard a knock on their door and the wife asked who it was, the report stated.
A man outside the door said it was "Rodney." The woman cracked open the door to see who it was and three men began to force their way inside the house, the report stated. The men said they were looking for money.
As the woman's husband helped her to push the door shut, one of the men brandished a gun through the door. The men left on foot when they learned the couple had dialed 911, the report stated.

Sgt. Chris Reyka was shot to death in Pompano Beach the key missing piece of evidence in the Reyka case: the gun that killed him.

Sgt. Chris Reyka was shot to death in Pompano Beach, one path seemed promising.It led police north past the Walgreens parking lot where Reyka was ambushed to a dead-end street in Collier City. On the map, it's called Northwest Ninth Street. On the street, it's called ''The Hole'' -- one of the last pockets untouched by progress in this community that rose from Broward County's old bean fields.For months, BSO detectives, along with agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have been working these fields, hoping to harvest the key missing piece of evidence in the Reyka case: the gun that killed him.They've been in and out of this community because Timothy Johnson -- who police say masterminded a series of drugstore holdups that have made him a ''person of interest'' in Reyka's slaying -- called The Hole home.Johnson's attorney, Michael Gottlieb, has said his client denies any involvement in Reyka's killing.Gottlieb said circumstance, a checkered past and his siblings' alleged involvement in hiding the gun that shot Reyka are not enough to indict Timothy Johnson.''If the sheriff's office had gathered information and had probable cause to believe he was involved in the shooting, they would have arrested and indicted him for it,'' Gottlieb said.And for investigators, the lack of evidence has been frustrating.''The pattern of the drugstores fit perfectly with the crime,'' Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said recently. But, Lamberti has noted, without evidence linking Johnson to Reyka's shooting, the pattern is just coincidence.
In December, investigators believed they were close. Acting on a search warrant, police recovered three guns tied to Johnson's brother and are looking for a fourth. But they say they do not have the gun that killed Reyka.And so far, this lead, like Northwest Ninth itself, appears to be heading to a dead end.
Not too many people here want to talk about Timothy Johnson or his long criminal history. He has more than a dozen arrests on charges ranging from auto theft to armed robbery.Johnson's family would not speak to Miami Herald reporters, and in The Hole, friends would say only that Johnson is ``a good guy.''
This rough neighborhood is a stone's throw from the once notorious drive-by crack market near Northwest 18th Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, known as ``Ugly Corner.''

Thomas Elam ,Detravious Mills, charged with possession of a firearm under the age of 21 and violating South Carolina’s gun laws.

Detravious Mills, 17, of 825 Ferry St., and Thomas Elam, 19, of 413 Clark Lane, both of Anderson were arrested Monday after leading Anderson police officers on a high-speed chase along several city streets and a foot chase at River Oaks Apartments.
According to records at the Anderson City Jail, Mills is charged with possession of a firearm under the age of 21 and violating South Carolina’s gun laws. Elam, the driver of the car, is charged with criminal domestic violence, failure to stop for a blue light, grand larceny and violating the state’s gun laws, according to jail records.Anderson Municipal Court Judge Hugh Welborn listened Tuesday as Mills said he failed to complete Westside High School after being shot and Elam said he has a criminal record for gun violations and “all kinds of stuff.”
According to records at the Anderson County Clerk of Court’s office, Elam is awaiting trial with property bonds totaling $70,827 for three arrests.
On Tuesday, Officer Jeff Mosher testified that Mills has been “a victim or suspect in three gang crimes,” and his brother recently was arrested for a similar crime.
Saying that Detravious Mills was a passenger in the vehicle driven Monday by Elam, Officer Mosher called Mills a “threat to society,” saying he had no concern for public safety by discarding a loaded weapon on the grounds of an apartment complex.
Officer Brandon Surratt testified that he was one of several officers who chased both men on foot through River Oaks Apartments while children were playing.

Monday 21 April 2008

Dubai and Drugs

One guy ate a bun in heathrow, b4 he went to dubai, with poppy seeds on it, of which 3 got stuck in his jumper. When he got their the sniffer dogs smelt them and he got arrested and got 4 years in jail no questions asked for being a drug mule. Another guy got the same when he was caught with .003g of hashish stuck in the sole of his shoe, he never knew where it came from (thats about 1/4 of one little leaf that yould see in an average cigarrette. An english lady got it after she was found with back pain medicine in her hand bag which was prescribed by her doctor in england, but was illegal in Dubai. These are only a few of many incidents. Be very careful you know all the facs before you go there I am not winding you up check with your Home Office

Saturday 19 April 2008

Eric Burns,Kenneth Hawkins arrested Officers found a loaded handgun under a mattress inside Burns' house

Eric Burns, 26, was arrested at his house on the 1400 block of Riverside Drive on suspicion of shooting a gun in a dangerous manner, child endangerment, street gang participation and a parole violation, according to a Barstow Police Department report.Kenneth Hawkins, 54, was arrested at another house on the same block on suspicion of obstructing a police officer and on an outstanding warrant. Both were booked early Friday morning, according to the report.At about 12:23 a.m. Friday, police received a report that someone was breaking windows and shooting a gun on the 1400 block of Riverside Drive. Officers heard another shot fired as they arrived on scene. It was unclear whether the shot was fired at them, the report said.
Officers determined that a fight occurred between two houses on the block. After setting up a perimeter with assistance by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol, police surrounded Burns' house. They detained Burns in his back yard, along with another person who was later released. They arrested Hawkins from the neighboring house after he refused officers' orders to get on the ground, according to the report.Officers found a loaded handgun under a mattress inside Burns' house, with two infants sleeping on top of it.
A separate shooting happened on Joshua Street and Tara Street around 10:50 p.m. on Thursday night, the police report stated. A 16-year-old girl from Los Angeles County was arrested on an outstanding warrant after being seen in a vehicle believed to be involved in the shooting. Police are seeking two other men - juveniles or young adults - in connection with the shooting.Multiple people called to report the shots fired on Joshua Street and Tara Street. Witnesses told police that suspects had left the scene in a light brown Oldsmobile. Officers found a vehicle matching the description in the area and attempted to stop it, according to the report.
Police chased the car into the desert near the Robert A. Sessions Memorial Sportspark, where it was disabled after jumping a dirt embankment. Two young men fled on foot into a nearby county housing project. Police searched the area but were unable to find them.Police are not disclosing the victims or their relationship to the shooters.

Joel Gutierrez,,Franciso Cervantes.Luis Medina charged with trafficking methamphetamine, manufacturing the drug and possession of a firearm

Joel Gutierrez, 19, Franciso Cervantes, 32, and Luis Medina, 27, all of Fort Valley, were charged with trafficking methamphetamine, manufacturing the drug and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, Deese said.All three men were being held at the Peach County Law Enforcement Center in Fort Valley, the sheriff said.
The Peach County Drug Enforcement Unit and Sheriff's Emergency Response Team served a warrant and raided a mobile home at 3356 Peach County Parkway in Fort Valley. The small mobile home park is located off Ga. 49.Narcotics officers found what appeared to be the remnant of what was once a working meth lab, Deese said.
Officers also seized $1,500 in cash and a .22 caliber pistol, the sheriff said.

Jonathan Belvin Taylor spent most of 2007 in prison

Jonathan Belvin Taylor, 24, spent most of 2007 in prison after a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released on parole in October, the state Department of Corrections said.
Taylor, a Los Angeles resident killed in the Friday night shootout when he pulled out a handgun and fired at the two officers, was convicted in 2002 for carrying a concealed firearm in a car, was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2005 for receiving

Daniel Duran,Basilio Bron charged with three counts of assault, and one count of criminal mischief.

Bradenton Police responded to an attempted robbery in the 700 block of Manatee Avenue at about 7 p.m. Friday resulting in the arrest of two men, authorities said.A grey compact vehicle with two men and a woman coming from Lakeland were following a gold SUV with three people on Manatee Avenue.A man from the car fired a BB gun at the SUV.When the SUV spotted law enforcement, they pulled over and reported the shooting.Police pursued the vehicle, resulting in 11 officers responding to the scene including a canine unit.
The two men, whose names have not been released, have been charged with three counts of assault each. The driver, Daniel Duran, 19, of Cape Coral, was also charged with fleeing to elude law enforcement. The passenger, Basilio Bron, 27, also of Cape Coral, was charged with three counts of assault, and one count of criminal mischief.

A victim was found with a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Two people were arrested in the fifth district Friday night after police heard gunshots go off in the area. D.C. Assistant Police Chief Dian Groomes said 5D unites were in the area of Saratoga when they heard gunshots on Brentwood Road. Officers said they saw two males leaving the scene in a green car. The officers followed the car and the suspects bailed out, according to police. The officers chased them down on foot and arrested both of them. Police said they recovered two guns. A victim was found with a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to the hospital in stable condition. Friday nights arrests comes the same day Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes and Fifth District Commander Lamar Greene announced a plan to address a number of murders in the ward five area. The police department doubled the amount of officers in high-impact areas.

Friday 18 April 2008

Hash harvest in British Columbia generates 7 billion Canadian dollars


marijuana harvest in British Columbia generated about 7 billion Canadian dollars last year ($7 billion U.S.), making it one of the most lucrative industries in the Canadian province. But after a string of high-profile arrests and slayings -- including the execution-style murders of six people in October -- the easygoing attitude that has long surrounded marijuana in Canada is under attack.Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is calling for a cultural shift, to be enforced by what his political opponents are calling an American-style war on drugs. He has introduced legislation that would set mandatory minimum jail sentences for marijuana growers and traffickers, and stepped up enforcement of laws already on the books and is seeking more money for enforcement and prosecution."What we are up against ... is a culture that since the 1960s has at the minimum not discouraged drug use and romanticized it or made it cool, made it acceptable," Mr. Harper said when he announced his plan in October. The bill is expected to come up for legislative debate next month. Canadians use marijuana more than any country in Europe, Asia or Latin America, according to the United Nations' 2007 World Drug Report. Only people in Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Ghana and Zambia smoke more. That news in July elicited the headline "The True North Stoned and Free," in the typically staid Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail. A poll by the Angus Reid Global Monitor that month found that 55 percent of Canadians think marijuana should be legalized.
Starting with the efforts of a group of American war resisters in the 1970s, British Columbia has been at the forefront of Canada's marijuana industry. By 2000, pot was grown in 17,500 homes in the province, said a study by Simon Fraser University economist Steve Easton. In 2001, the Canadian government showed a tolerance for cannabis by becoming the first nation to regulate its consumption for medical reasons. In 2004, the government, headed then by Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, reintroduced a bill to decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana, making it subject to a fine but leaving no criminal record. The bill never came up for a vote.

Aston Martin, a Porsche, firearms, drugs, false passports and cash were confiscated during Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside raids.

An Aston Martin, a Porsche, firearms, drugs, false passports and cash were confiscated during Wednesday's raids. More than £500,000 worth of cash and property were seized when officers raided addresses in Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Durham.Those arrested were questioned in connection with financial offences. About 200 Northumbria Police and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) officers took part in the operation. Detectives also served orders on six solicitors to preserve conveyancing documents relating to property transactions. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, police can seize any cash or goods if they are believed to be criminal property or being used to commit crime.

Lt. Detective Joel T. Johnson of Kingston Police and Senior Special Agent Michael P. Cashman of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency were honored

The mother of a Kingston girl who died from a heroin overdose spoke about the dedication of the two law enforcement officers who brought to justice those that supplied the drug.Gayle Brady spoke at the Victims Rights Award ceremony, held at the Rockingham County Attorney's office Thursday morning. The two, Lt. Detective Joel T. Johnson of Kingston Police and Senior Special Agent Michael P. Cashman of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency were honored for their part in the investigation, arrests and convictions of the men involved with the death of 18-year-old Caitlyn Brady.Both men are undercover drug investigators and could not be photographed.
Caitlyn died on March 15, 2006.Gayle Brady talked first about how she believed immediately that it was Caitlyn's long-time boyfriend Dante Silva, 21 years old at the time, who had injected her daughter with the deadly dose. She said she went to Kingston Police and was elated that they believed her and said they were starting an investigation."I will be forever grateful to them for Caitlyn and for all the others they may have saved," said Gayle Brady. "You are my heroes."
Silva, Jay Simes, then 23, and Robert Drew, then 22, were convicted for their part in Caitlyn's death. Deputy County Attorney Tom Reid said they are still working on the extradition of Arturo Sanchez, a Massachusetts man, for his involvement in the crime.Victim Advocate Tara Longo said she met Caitlyn just before she died. She called her "sweet and full of life.""Gayle became Caitlyn's voice, and she put her faith in this office," said Longo. "She told me one of her fondest memories was of Caitlyn dancing with her in their kitchen. When I saw her today, that's what popped into my mind."Tim Pettigrew, DEA New England spokesperson, said they are always pleased when one of their agents gets recognized for the hard work they do every day.
"In this case Mike did a great job," said Pettigrew. "Saying that, it would not have been possible without the assistance of the Kingston Police Department and the Rockingham County Attorney's staff."Also receiving an award was Michael A. Wagner Ph.D., an assistant laboratory director at the New Hampshire State Police forensics lab.His award was for his work in the State V. Charles Ellis, a negligent homicide case.The awards are part of Victims' Rights week. County Attorney Jim Reams said this year's theme is "Justice for Victims, Justice for All."He talked about how the justice system has evolved over the years, giving victims a voice in the process."The criminal justice system focuses on the rights of the defendant and that's what they are supposed to do," said Reid. "We need to stand up for the victims. With this year's theme, we wanted to honor people who work directly with victims, those motivated with helping victims reach justice."

Aaron Washington faces 99 years in prison if convicted on 17 counts of drug trafficking and one count of leading a crime ring with Vonnie Williams, 44

Aaron Washington, 42, asked the court Wednesday to lower his bail and allow him to travel to Staten Island. Washington proposed that the court release him on a $25,000 bond -- equal to $2,500 cash -- and allow him to travel unaccompanied to New York. His mother, Mercedes Washington, remains on life support there, 10 days after a stroke.Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg denied the request.Juneau District Attorney Doug Gardner argued that if Washington was allowed to travel to New York, he would never return and Juneau authorities would be unable to retrieve him."It would send him to his lair, where he got drugs and brought them to the community," Gardner said.Washington faces 99 years in prison if convicted on 17 counts of drug trafficking and one count of leading a crime ring with Vonnie Williams, 44. The pair allegedly imported and sold pounds of cocaine and other drugs in Juneau since 2003.No connection was made in court between Washington's alleged drug business and his New York family. However, part of the alleged smuggling operation was managed through the mail, and police say at least one package containing $14,000 worth of oxycodone recently came from Staten Island.Juneau Police Investigator Dominic Branson said in 2006 Washington traveled to Staten Island, with a key witness, twice to pick up cocaine for his Juneau drug operation.Appearing in court by phone from New Jersey, James Washington, Aaron Washington's brother, promised the judge that during the visit he would remain constantly at his brother's side and would personally put Washington on a plane soon after their mother's death.James Washington said their mother would soon be pulled from life support.
"He will be back," Washington said. "I'm not going to jail for my brother."

Min Ko Naing, widely regarded as Burma’s most respected activist after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is suffering from a serious eye infection,

The activist’s family had learned of his condition during a visit to Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison, where he is being held, on April 9. She added that his eyes have been in severe pain since late March.Min Ko Naing, widely regarded as Burma’s most respected activist after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is suffering from a serious eye infection, according to a family member who says that the authorities have refused to allow him to receive treatment from an eye specialist.
“He asked prison officials for a consultation with an eye specialist, but they said that eye specialists visit the prison once a month. They told him he would have to wait at least a month and get permission from the authorities,” said the relative, adding that the pain had become so great that he was unable to sleep at night.The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a Thailand-based Burmese human rights group, said in a press release on Friday that Min Ko Naing could lose his eyesight if prison authorities continue to refuse his request for an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist. The group also attacked the regime for deliberately withholding proper treatment. “It is very clear that the military regime and prison authorities intentionally refused to provide necessary treatment in order to destroy Min Ko Naing’s eyesight,” said the AAPP statement. Min Ko Naing is one of the most widely recognized figures to emerge from Burma’s nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. He was arrested in March 1989 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment under Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act. His sentence was commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty in January 1993, but his detention was later extended under Section 10 (a) of the State Protection Act. He was released from prison on November 19, 2004 after spending 15 years in prison. After his release, he resumed his activities as an outspoken opponent of the Burmese junta, founding an influential democratic force, the ’88 Generation Students group, with some of his colleagues. In September 2006, he was rearrested along with four other prominent student leaders. He and his fellow activists were released in January 2007.Min Ko Naing and other members of the ’88 Generation Students group were detained again on August 21, 2007 after they launched a peaceful protest against the junta’s unannounced decision to drastically increase fuel prices.Many of Burma’s political prisoners have died in detention or had their health irreparably damaged by harsh conditions in the country’s prisons, where healthcare is primitive and often withheld as a form of punishment, according to critics. In its statement, AAPP expressed “concern that Min Ko Naing may lose his eye if he does not receive immediate treatment,” noting that in March 2008, 70-year-old Than Lwin, another political detainee being held in Mandalay Prison, lost his sight in one eye because he was denied medical attention until it was too late.

Journalists become targets for Killer Gangs


Thirty-three journalists have been killed during President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's rule, whose reign has been characterised by an extraordinary number of extrajudicial killings, says CMFR.

Then just yesterday, a journalist was killed in the unstable province of Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan. Khadim Hussain Sheikh, a stringer for Sindh TV and a local bureau chief for the national Urdu-language daily "Khabrein", was shot by unidentified gunmen as he and his brother left his home by motorbike in the town of Hub, just north of Karachi, reports CPJ. The motive for the killing is unknown. Pakistani authorities and ethnic Baloch militants have been involved in a long and violent fight for control over Balochistan province, which is rich in natural gas reserves. "We urge the newly elected government to demonstrate its commitment to protecting the press by vigorously investigating this case, which would help break the cycle of impunity that surrounds the killing of journalists," says CPJ. Demands to fight impunity can be heard not only in Pakistan but worldwide - in one of the deadliest weeks for journalists so far this year.
Last week, two young, female radio broadcasters from the Triqui indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico were on their way back from covering a local assignment. But they never made it home. Their vehicle was ambushed on a local highway, instantly killing the two reporters and wounding four other passengers. The police found at least 20 spent AK-47 bullet cartridges at the scene.
Their deaths kicked off perhaps the bloodiest week for journalists in 2008, and illustrated some telling trends when it comes to violence against the media: all the reporters killed last week were covering news in their own countries, and so far, as with 90 percent of journalists' murders, their killers have not been found.
Before they met their deaths, Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 21, and Teresa Bautista Merino, 24, worked as announcers for La Voz que Rompe el Silencia, a community radio station serving the Trique indigenous community in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, report the National Center for Social Communication (CENCOS) and ARTICLE 19. The station has been broadcasting since January, a year after the municipality was given administrative autonomy. Oaxaca has been wracked by intense political confrontations in which journalists often pay the price. Indigenous community radio stations are particularly at risk, says the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), as proven by the recent assaults on members of Radio Nandia and Radio Calenda radio stations, also based in Oaxaca. The attacks on both stations and their staff are still unpunished. ARTICLE 19, AMARC and RSF have appealed to the Mexican government for clarification around the deaths of Bautista and Martínez, punishment for those responsible and protection for the witnesses. But more than that, they "demand an end to the climate of impunity that is allowing such acts of aggression, disappearances and murders to continue to be committed against members of community media, as well as journalists and media outlets in general." Elsewhere in Latin America, a television cameraman was killed while covering a gang fight in Panama City, reports the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Eliécer Santamaría died on 8 April after he was stabbed while covering a story about gangs exchanging gunfire in the capital, according to new reports.



"This killing highlights the dangers that journalists face when they cover news in their own countries," says IFJ. "While war reporting takes many lives, our colleagues are often much more vulnerable when reporting on criminal activity in their own communities." The same day, a radio journalist was seriously wounded and his wife was killed in a shooting attack in Curuguaty, Paraguay, report the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Alfredo Tomás Avalos was shot in the head and his Brazilian wife, Silvana Rodrígues, was killed by two men on a motorcycle. RSF says that Avalos, a local politician who had a regular public affairs programme on FM radio, often spoke out against drug trafficking on the Paraguay-Brazil border and this would have made him a target for the drug gangs. Last year he was the target of a kidnapping attempt in 2007 and is being sued by suspected drug cartel boss Aristeu Falkenbak.
A popular writer in Bulgaria who wrote a series of books on the rise of Bulgaria's criminal underworld was shot and killed in the country's capital on 7 April, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Georgi Stoev, a former bodyguard and a retired member of the notorious racketeering group VIS, was on a busy Sophia street when two unidentified men fired at him at close range. He died of his wounds in hospital later that day. Shortly before his death, Stoev had given a series of interviews to the Bulgarian press, announcing his willingness to testify against a well-known mafia boss and complaining about a lack of interest by prosecutors to follow up on the revelations in his books, according to local press reports. And in Asia, a journalist in a Manila suburb was murdered on 7 April, the first journalist to be killed this year in the Philippines, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, CPJ and IFJ. Benefredo Acabal was shot five times at close range by an unidentified gunman who fled the scene on a motorcycle. Acabal, publisher and columnist for the local paper "Pilipino Newsmen" in Cavite province, south of Manila, died while en route to the hospital. Police are still investigating whether Acabal had been targeted for his journalism, or for his involvement in a trucking business.

Alex Kwong Wong was convicted in June 2006 on charges of importing methamphetamine, supplying the drug, and money laundering.

Alex Kwong Wong was convicted in June 2006 on charges of importing methamphetamine, supplying the drug, and money laundering.The Supreme Court has ordered the re-trial of a man on drug dealing and money laundering charges because too few jurors decided his case.The court says the single appeal issue was whether exceptional circumstances existed to allow the trial to continue with 10 jurors when the defence did not agree.One juror had been discharged because he had exams to sit and the second because she was verbally abused, intimidated and spat at by a man near the court.The Supreme Court has decided there were no exceptional circumstances for carrying on with 10 jurors and says a substantial miscarriage of justice has therefore occurred.It has quashed the convictions and ordered a re-trial.

Wayne Thomas Black should be released on licence, after serving less than half his sentence.results of appeal to European courts.

Wayne Thomas Black should be released on licence, after serving less than half his sentence. The Home Secretary intervened, arguing that Black was likely to reoffend. However, in a hearing this week, the Appeal Court decided that Home Secretary Jack Straw was in breach of Article Five of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states in Article V (4) that "Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful."The "speedily by a court" phrase was the clincher here: Mr Straw is clearly not a court; the Parole Board is not either, but in the words of its Chief Executive Christine Glenn, "I think we should be."
Conservatives argue that the ruling means that the public will lose whatever faith they have left in the justice system if the government is unable to make the final decision on the release of potentially dangerous criminals. It is argued that ministers must be able to take into account public outrage in a way that unelected judges cannot. The opposite view is that few politicians are willing to risk public ire by releasing criminals early, and so those serving long sentences have become victims of political populism and opportunism, even when Parole Boards argue the time is right for them to be released.To make matters worse for the government, the next section of the ECHR states that "Everyone who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of the provisions of this article shall have an enforceable right to compensation", so it is probable that Black and any others like him who have had their demand for parole rejected by the Home Secretary will be suing for compensation for those months and years they have remained behind bars on his orders.Well, despite the government's embarrassment, it only has itself to blame. One of New Labour's earliest acts was incorporating the ECHR into British law via the Human Rights Act of 1998. Since then, a series of wacky "politically correct" rulings which have appeared to favour criminals, terrorists and the deliberately obtuse at the expense of the wider public have led to calls for the Act to be abolished.EURSOC doesn't agree with calls to abolish the Act; a sensible reading of the European Convention on Human Rights suggests no outlandish claims or bias towards criminals. The Convention was pieced together in the aftermath of the Second World War and under the shadow of Soviet Imperialism - it lays out important western liberties which had been ignored by Nazis and were still being abused by the various dictatorships which blighted countries such as Portugal and Spain as late as the 1970s. Moreover, it was a declaration of intent and solidarity with the people of eastern Europe, who suffered under Soviet Communist oppression.No one seriously believes that anyone in western Europe today is having their human rights breached in the way that rights were abused by the Russians, the Nazis or the Dictators. Yet despite our advances, the Convention has never been invoked more frequently, at least in Britain.Why should this be? Certainly, many in Britain's parole boards and legal offices are gripped with radical fervour and see abuse of rights even where there are none. But there must be more to it than this. The Americans have a similar conflict between those who believe that the US Constitution should protect ancient freedoms and those who want it to be interpreted to right perceived wrongs in the here and now.Yet the Americans have powerful figures on both sides of the argument. In Britain, those who believe that the ECHR should be used to free prisoners early, or to keep terrorists in Britain argue with the most conviction and most often win rulings in their favour.The current government has never been shy of using new legislation to redraw Britain's constitutional map or to redefine British history and identity: They find all manner of experts from every walk of life willing to give a radical retelling of tradition. So why is the government so pathetic when it comes to defending a common sense reading of the Human Rights Act, one which the vast majority of people would have no trouble with?You'd think they were putting up a false fight, or pulling their punches. Surely there must be some expert out there who can argue for moderation in the face of radical demands.The government, or the opposition had better find one and soon. "Human Rights" are fast becoming a laughing stock in Britain. We can't be put in the situation where we lose them thanks the the government's wilful neglect.

Thursday 17 April 2008

Thomas Lockett ,Randy Foreman arrested

After reports of shots being fired at Village Green, Bibb County deputies stopped a vehicle last week and found 2 heavily armed men, one a convicted felon. An array of guns & bottles of alcohol were visible on the seat of the SUV. Thomas Lockett & Randy Foreman, were arrested, but both bonded out of jail.

Cory Cline Charged with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and possession of a controlled substance

Two Grimsby men are facing weapons and drug charges after members of the Niagara Regional Police Service responded to a firearms call in an apartment complex in Grimsby. On April 14, at about 2:30 p.m. uniformed police officers responded to a complaint of a gun being fired from the seventh floor of an apartment building on Slessor Boulevard in Grimsby. Upon entering the apartment police located and seized a pellet rifle that one of the apartment occupants was allegedly using to shoot at attendees of the apartment complex. During their investigation into the alleged shooting police also discovered a large quantity of marijuana, and six people in the apartment were arrested for drug possession. Detectives from the No. 8 District Criminal Investigations Unit attended the scene and their investigation led to the
search of another apartment on the sixth floor where more marijuana and drug paraphernalia was seized.
As a result of the police investigation two men were formally charged with criminal offences.
Charged with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and possession of a controlled substance is Cory Cline, 23 of Grimsby.
Charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance is Terry Disher, 19, also of Grimsby.
Both men have been released from police custody with court dates of June 12.
No people were injured by the shooting. The drugs seized had an estimated street value of approximately

The suspects ''fired several shots at them with a high-powered weapon,''

A 22-year-old man sitting in a car with his girlfriend and 2-month-old baby was shot in the neck in a drive-by Tuesday, police said.A car, possibly a gold Saturn, with several men inside drove up to the couple at Northwest Second Avenue and 53rd Street.
One man got out and opened fire just before 3 p.m.
The suspects ''fired several shots at them with a high-powered weapon,'' said Napier Velazquez, a department spokesman.The victim put the car in reverse out of the area and then ran inside the nearby Chef Creole restaurant at 200 Northwest 54th St., where people called 911.The man was taken to Ryder Trauma Center in very critical condition, Velazquez said.''Given what happened, it's a miracle that the child and the girlfriend weren't hit,'' said Martha Carbana, a department spokeswoman.
Police did not have a description of the shooter or shooters and did not know a motive.

Armed with a handgun and the knowledge he was a marked man, Bandidos member Francesco "Cisco" Lenti fired five shots at the four Hells Angels

Armed with a handgun and the knowledge he was a marked man, Bandidos member Francesco "Cisco" Lenti fired five shots at the four Hells Angels surrounding him before stepping over a felled man and firing a fatal bullet.
Lenti took responsibility yesterday for the chilling snapshot of violence that erupted at a Vaughan strip club in 2006. The 60-year-old pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the shooting of Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms David (White Dread) Buchanan and the aggravated assault of then Hells Angels prospect Carlos Verrelli (now a full member) and full-patch member Dana Carnegie. Lenti will be sentenced May 12. Court heard a detailed account of the fatal shooting and the biker politics that fuelled it as Assistant Crown Attorney David Moull read an agreed statement of facts into the record. Lenti was working his job at Club Pro in Vaughan the night of the shooting. Working at the strip club for 20 years, his role was to keep drugs out of the business and to act as a peacekeeper. When Lenti came downstairs Dec. 2, 2006, at 12:53 a.m., he saw four Hells Angels members sitting in the club who quickly surrounded him and began arguing, the statement said. The Hells Angels objected to Lenti's Bandidos loyalties and the fact he was trying to establish the gang in Ontario. "Lenti said he felt threatened and that something was about to happen," the statement said. "He said he saw the butt of a gun in Mr. Verrelli's jacket." He moved to the front lobby of the club where two security cameras captured the escalating argument. Buchanan advanced on Lenti, punching him in the face and giving him a black eye. Lenti shoved Buchanan back, pulled out a 9-mm handgun from his waistband and shot Buchanan, Carnegie and Verrelli. A fourth biker took cover in a utility closet when he saw the gun. Carnegie fled the club as Buchanan and Verrelli collapsed on the lobby floor. Lenti turned his attention to Buchanan who was still alive but bleeding and trying to pull himself off the floor. "At that point Mr. Lenti shot Mr. Buchanan through his left cheek, killing him," the statement said. As Lenti made his way to the door, he fired one final shot at Verrelli. Seven shots were fired within six seconds. "At no time during the incident were any of the Hells Angels seen to be in possession of or to produce a firearm," the statement said. Lenti turned himself in the same day but his gun was never recovered. He was originally charged with second-degree murder. The statement of facts also detailed how a member of the Oshawa chapter of the Hell Angels serving as a civilian police agent came across a plot to kill Lenti for refusing to be recruited from the Bandidos in June 2006. Two Hells Angels were assigned the job of killing Lenti to stop him from expanding the Bandidos. The third biker recruited for the murder was a paid police informant. "It was proposed the agent kill Lenti and leave him in the middle of the highway in his colours," said the statement. "Lenti couldn't just disappear; he had to be found to prove a point." When police warned Lenti about the murder plot, he began carrying the gun and assured the officer delivering the message that he was keeping a low profile and watching his back.
"He felt he was a target because he was trying to get the Bandidos Motorcycle Club 'off the ground,' " the statement said. The court heard Lenti had faced danger before. In August 1995, the 35-year veteran of outlaw motorcycle gangs was aligned with Satan's Choice and starting a new club called the Diablos when he was the victim of a car bombing in his driveway. The bomb put him in hospital for several months with life-threatening injuries.

man was shot in the stomach and was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center.

Police were called to an alleyway on Bridge Street about six o'clock Tuesday night for a report of shots fired.Neighbors tell us it was a driveby shooting and one person was taken away by ambulence.Police tell us a man was shot in the stomach and was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center.
The victim of the shooting has not been identified. We do not have a report yet on his condition.The shooter fled westbound on Bridge Street.

Jonathan Belvin Taylor killed in the Friday night shootout when he pulled out a handgun and fired at the two officers


Jonathan Belvin Taylor, 24, spent most of 2007 in prison after a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released on parole in October, the state Department of Corrections said. Taylor, a Los Angeles resident killed in the Friday night shootout when he pulled out a handgun and fired at the two officers, was convicted in 2002 for carrying a concealed firearm in a car, was sentenced Lt. Raymond Garcia was shot in the face and is recovering. to 16 months in prison in 2005 for receiving stolen property, and served seven months of a 16-month sentence for carrying a gun in 2007, county and state records show.
He also was arrested in 2004 for carrying a loaded gun. El Segundo police on Monday released more details of what led to the shooting, including the fact that both officers were already wounded when they fired the bullets that struck Taylor as he tried to escape out the lobby doors. Detective Scott O'Connor and Lt. Raymond Garcia were working an overtime shift at the movie theater. The Pacific theater chain, which operates the Beach Cities 16 on Rosecrans Avenue and Nash Street, contracts with the city to pay for the police presence on weekends.
Taylor arrived at the theater with a woman and two other couples about 20 minutes earlier to see the last showing of "Street Kings," a movie about a Los Angeles police detective played by Keanu Reeves on a quest to find the killers of his former partner. Taylor's female companion was inside the theater when he approached the guest services counter and demanded a refund, El Segundo police Lt. Bob Turnbull said. An employee denied his request because he did not have his ticket
Detective Scott O'Connor was shot in the left shoulder and is recovering. stub. It was not clear why Taylor wanted his money back, but Turnbull said movie patrons sometimes ask for refunds when a theater is filled and they are unable to sit with their companions. Had he carried the stubs, he probably would have received his money back, Turnbull said. A manager asked the officers - who were standing at the entrance to a long hallway that leads to the theaters - to intervene when Taylor became belligerent. The manager wanted Taylor removed from the lobby because he was creating a disturbance, Turnbull said. "Witnesses described his demeanor as abnormal and his physical appearance to be sweating profusely," Turnbull said.
The shooting began when the officers approached him. "As Officer O'Connor made contact with the individual, Taylor spun around and produced a handgun and just began firing," Turnbull said. About 75 to 100 people in the lobby, many buying popcorn and sodas at the concession stand, dropped to the ground or ran. "It became a chaotic scene," Turnbull said. "He fired off five or six rounds. He was at the same time trying to flee out the doors." Both officers returned fire. A bullet hit Garcia in the face, just above his lip. It broke his jaw, struck his tongue, tore his esophagus and lodged near his spine. A bullet struck O'Connor in the chest area of his bullet-proof vest. Another missed the vest and penetrated his upper left shoulder. Despite their wounds, both officers fired at Taylor, killing him. He died just outside the glass doors facing Nash Street. One bullet fired in the exchange struck a 20-year-old "innocent bystander," police said. The man was taken to a hospital with a leg wound. The investigation will try to determine whether Taylor or the officers fired the round that hit the man. Police from throughout the South Bay swarmed in, closing the theaters. Garcia and O'Connor, along with a theater security guard, had seen Taylor arrive earlier with the other couples. Police special weapons teams went from theater to theater checking patrons to determine if Taylor had acted alone.
During the search, police detained the girlfriend and the other couples, who were trying to leave even though their friend lay dead on the concrete. Officers also arrested two people after finding a discarded handgun in theater 15. The people and gun were unrelated to Taylor, Turnbull said. They were released pending more investigation. The wounded officers are recovering.
O'Connor, who received a Medal of Valor award in 2000 for rescuing three neighbors from a burning home, has been released from a hospital and is recovering at home.
Garcia, head of the department's Special Operations Division and commander of the Traffic and Animal Control Section, remained hospitalized Monday.
"He is responsive and alert, still in ICU, being monitored," Turnbull said.
Garcia received a Medal of Valor award in 2001 for preventing a woman from jumping from a freeway overpass.
"Both are very lucky," Turnbull said. "Ray is a good friend of mine - not only a colleague but a peer. Officer O'Connor is one of my investigators. This is a difficult time."

Monday 14 April 2008

officers saw the passenger throw something out the window before they could pull the vehicle over, The item turned out to be a sawed off shotgun

Alejandro Ramirez, 26 of Parma, and Anthony Bernal, 18 of Nampa, were placed in the Canyon County jail and charged with possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, an illegal firearm, stolen property and burglary tools. They were also charged with felon in possession of a firearm and destruction of evidence.officers saw the passenger throw something out the window before they could pull the vehicle over, authorities said. The item turned out to be a sawed-off shotgun.The suspects were placed in custody while there car was searched, officers said, revealing a second loaded shotgun, ammunition for pistols and shotguns, a stun gun, a bullet proof vest, stolen property and two bandannas with a receipt from a local business.

Gunpoint home invasion in Westbury

Gunpoint home invasion in Westbury three men pushed through the front door of a residence where a 17-year-old girl was home alone, then handcuffed the girl and searched the house, the police said.
The girl's older sister, 25, came home with a male friend during the 4 p.m. burglary and they were both held at gunpoint, police said. No one was injured.
Detectives said the men rang the doorbell of the Marietta Drive home and when the girl opened the door, a man with a gun pushed through and let the other two burglars in.A police report said the burglars searched the house, but the report did not say whether they took anything.The victims saw the men escape in two cars. They drove off in a newer-model silver Nissan Maxima and an older-model green car, possibly a Nissan Maxima or Honda Accord.In addition to describing the cars, the three victims also gave the police detailed descriptions of the suspects.One suspect -- the one with the gun -- was described as a dark-skinned black male about 30 years old, 6 feet tall with heavy build; and wearing a white-collared, long-sleeved shirt with blue vertical pinstripes and embroidered letters on the left breast pocket.Another suspect was described as a light-skinned black male about 30 years old, 5 feet 6 inches, with a thin build, short-cropped hair and a dark T-shirt with unknown lettering.The third suspect was described as a dark-skinned black man about 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches, with a medium build, wearing a dark T-shirt with unknown lettering.

Bruce Jones who's lucky to be alive after 4 laser-guided shots from the citizen's gun missed him


Bruce Jones, 26 who's lucky to be alive after 4 laser-guided shots from the citizen's gun missed him was only charged with aggravated assault and carrying a concealed weapon, and was jailed on a total of $6,000 bond on both charges.

Gregory Hughes charged with armed robbery was Gregory Hughes


8th District detectives yesterday arrested a suspect in a robbery in that same notorious 500 block of Burgundy on 3.2.08. Charged with armed robbery was Gregory Hughes, 35, a black guy, 6'1" tall, weighing 180 pounds. He was positively identified in a photo lineup by the white victim who was walking down the street at 11:25 p.m. when he was robbed by a black guy with a pistol. Hughes is being held on $100,000 bond

Officers also seized drugs, a .380-caliber handgun and $827 in cash.

Akron police said a gun violence reduction sweep resulted in the arrest of 15 people on 29 charges.The sweep was conducted by the Akron Police Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives diversion and the U.S. Marshal's Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force.
The charges include 14 felony arrests, 12 misdemeanor arrests and three warrant arrests.Officers also seized drugs, a .380-caliber handgun and $827 in cash.

Petro Canada gas station a male produced a hand gun


three males entered the Petro Canada gas station kiosk at 1123 Dorval Drive in Oakville. One male produced a hand gun and told the clerk to look at the ground. All three males then proceeded to open the cash register and remove an undisclosed amount of money. The three males used a garbage bag to collect a large amount of cigarettes. There were no injuries during the robbery. The suspects were seen leaving the area in dark vehicle displaying blue headlights.
Suspect 1: White, approximately 5’6", average build, wearing black baseball cap with white buttons, black bandana covering lower half of his face, dark plaid jacket with light stripes and grey jeans.
Suspect 2: White, approximately 5’6," heavy build, wearing a white baseball cap with black “NY” on the front left of the cap, black bandana covering the face and lime green t-shirt.
Suspect 3: Not-white, approximately 5’6", heavy build, wearing a white baseball cap with an unknown design on the front, cap was very low over the top portion of his face with a dark bandana and white design covering the lower part of his face, white t-shirt.

Since the murders of Mark Moloney and James Cronin six homes had just been hit by machine gun fire

The garda crack squad, the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), were drafted into Limerick over two weeks ago to quell the trouble and augment armed patrols and checkpoints.
Six homes had just been hit by machine gun fire after a stolen car with a false taxi sign fixed to the roof entered St Mary's Park. The Collopy gang were the intended targets but neighbouring adults and children had to dive for cover.
Residents in socially deprived estates believed that the arrival of the ERU would put a halt to gun crime. However, since the ERU arrived, the gangland violence has been defiantly stepped up.Drugs well in excess of €1m have been seized in the past three weeks. Firearms and ammunition have been seized on a regular basis in waste ground or at the rear of homes.
Crime and gang-related activity in Limerick is rarely out of the headlines, but it exploded this week.
Since the murders of Mark Moloney (40) and James Cronin (20), every person in Limerick has been made well aware of their city's lethal underworld.

Chief Superintendent Willie Keane has appealed for the gangs to step back from the brink but the violence shows no signs of subsiding.

A man had to brought to the ground by a taser gun by ERU officers on Thursday night. He was subsequently found to be armed with a loaded Glock 9mm handgun.

Yesterday, less than two hours after mourners made their way home from the grave of James Cronin, Garda reinforcements had to race to Delmege Park, Moyross, after firemen tending to a derelict house fire were stoned by a gang of youths in broad daylight.

A black week for Limerick. Now the debate is about whether the worst of the violence has been left behind, or if further horror lies around the corner.

Lamont McCray, 30, of Oakwood Road in Kingstree is charged with possession of a stolen gun

Lamont McCray, 30, of Oakwood Road in Kingstree is charged with possession of a stolen gun, Ford said.The father of a boy who police say brought a loaded gun on a school bus is charged in connection with the case, Kingstree Police Chief Robert Ford said.The 13-year-old Kingstree Elementary School student brought the gun on the bus Tuesday afternoon, pointed at a 7-year-old girl and threatened to kill her, Ford said.Police ran a background check on the gun soon after the incident and discovered the .9 mm semi-automatic pistol was reported stolen in Laurens County, Ford said. The suspect told police he didn’t know the gun was stolen.McCray turned himself into police Friday and has cooperated with investigators, Ford said.
McCray appeared before a judge for a bond hearing Friday afternoon where he posted a $5,000 cash or surety bond.

Stun gun used to subdue two people at a Westchester County wedding reception

Police are acknowledging they used a stun gun to subdue two people at a Westchester County wedding reception after a ruckus erupted over the band. The two _ the groom and the couple's daughter _ were arrested at Saturday's event, as was the bride.
Port Chester Police Lt. James Ladeairous says officers followed department guidelines allowing them to use a Taser stun gun when they can't otherwise get control of a suspect. The 21-year-old daughter says she and her father were left with bruises. Both were arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. The bride was arrested on a felony criminal mischief charge. The daughter says the couple was legally married 22 years ago but had a long-delayed church wedding Saturday.

One officer was shot in the jaw, another in the shoulder

One officer was shot in the jaw, another in the shoulder, police Lt. Walt Krumbach said. Both were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and are said to be stable. Neither of the injuries are believed to be life threatening.Two police officers wounded in a shootout at a movie theater that killed a suspect are recovering, authorities said Saturday.The wounded officers' names have not been released.
The shooting broke out Friday night at the Pacific Beach Cities Stadium 16. Officers had gone in to escort a young man out and he opened fire. Police shot and killed the gunman outside the theaters.Officers searched in and around the theater for companions of the gunman and took two men into custody at a nearby parking structure.
At first, police said the pair were being considered "persons of interest" in the case. But authorities later said the pair are not believed to have been involved in the shooting.It wasn't immediately clear what triggered the shootout, which a witness told KNX radio started inside one of the theaters and continued outside.
Video taken from a news helicopter shows a man being wheeled out of the theater complex on a gurney.

David Welker is accused of raping a woman in broad daylight at a Wal-Mart parking lot located on John Young Parkway after forcing her into her car

A 24-year-old man held a gun to the head of a 15-month-old girl while he raped her mother for 25 minutes in a Wal-Mart parking lot, according to an arrest report.
David Welker is accused of raping a woman in broad daylight at a Wal-Mart parking lot located on John Young Parkway after forcing her into her car at gunpoint.
The gun was placed against the child as Welker raped the woman twice, Thursday's arrest report said.The document also said "he ordered her to dump out her purse. He then took her cellular phone, her debit card" and $70 in cash.Crimeline tips led detectives to Welker after photos apparently showing him at an ATM were released to the public earlier in the week."This is huge," Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Rich Mankewich said. "Obviously, he caused fear in a lot of people over the last day and a half. We needed him off the streets."....Deputies said Welker was sitting around the Wal-Mart looking for a target before the attack."We have him on video up to a half-hour before this crime occurred just sitting in front of the store looking around, checking out his surroundings, then he chose his victim that he wanted," Mankewich said.Welker robbed the woman, locked her in the trunk of her vehicle and drove off in a sport utility vehicle, deputies said. The woman escaped from the trunk, drove home and called 911, deputies said.....Meanwhile, Local 6 has learned that Welker has been arrested 27 times before being taken into custody in connection with the Wal-Mart attack.When he was 18-years-old, he was arrested twice on theft charges.Other charges include battery on an elderly or disabled person and grand theft auto. But this is Welker's first sex crime arrest.

High commission issued Gary Robb with a replacement passport


Four years ago, unknown assailants sprayed Gary Robb's luxury villa with bullets and raked his car with machine gunfire, an attack he only narrowly survived.,he has adopted citizenship of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, although Turkey is the only place in which he can use his new passports. Robb, 40, now lives a "quiet family life", running a construction firm.The British fugitive living in Northern Cyprus was able to remain on the run after the high commission there mistakenly issued him with a replacement passport.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office admitted yesterday that it had given a 10-year passport to Gary Robb, a former nightclub owner from Stockton-on-Tees, even though he had fled the UK in 1997 to avoid a drugs trial and was the subject of an arrest warrant. Robb settled in Northern Cyprus after 200 police in riot gear raided his Colosseum nightclub in Stockton. Northern Cyprus does not have an extradition treaty with the UK and Robb successfully applied for a new passport in 2001, allowing him to remain in the country."I can confirm that a passport was issued to Robb in 2001 and yes he was the subject of an arrest warrant," a spokesman for the FCO said. "It was an error and procedures have been put in place to make sure this does not happen again."
"I must say I was a bit nervous when I went to apply for it," Robb said. "But my old passport was about to expire and it was the only way of renewing my residence permit here. I've travelled everywhere on that passport: Thailand, Singapore, Florence, France, Cambodia, Istanbul. In fact, anywhere you can think of, except the UK. If I was such a bad man, why would they issue me with one?"
The authorities in Northern Cyprus are understood to have taken Robb's passport away but he declined the offer of emergency documents to get him back to the UK. "We understand that authorities have confiscated the 2001 passport," the FCO spokesman said. "He applied for a new passport in 2007 and was told that he could not be issued with one since he was subject to an arrest warrant."
Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, head of crime operations for Cleveland police, which conducted the raid on Robb's nightclub, said it was "a good question" why Robb had been allowed the passport.
"Normally in a case like this, where there's a European arrest warrant, there are alerts," he said. "As far as we are concerned Gary Robb is unfinished business. There is an arrest warrant out for him and it remains very active.
"With proceedings still outstanding, we would seek to arrest him immediately, if he returned either voluntarily or entered a jurisdiction that had an extradition treaty with the UK."A British court recently froze £1.5m of Robb's assets on the ground that he was suspected of money laundering.

Friday 11 April 2008

public’s help needed in locating five men wanted for failing to register their addresses with authorities.

Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball is asking for the public’s help in locating five men wanted for failing to register their addresses with authorities.
Each man has previously been convicted of a sex crime, and allegedly all have failed to register.Recent changes in state law require convicted sex offenders to register their addressees quarterly, not just when they move.The list, first published on Wednesday, included two others, but one turned himself in and the other was picked up early Thursday in Lewis County.The men’s pictures are being circulated because the sheriff’s office found there were several sex offenders whose addresses were unknown, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy. They may no longer live in Thurston County.It is a class C felony for a convicted sex offender to fail to properly register his or her address with the sheriff’s office in the county in which they reside.Six hundred and eighty-eight people are registered as sex offenders in Thurston County.Fifty-eight of them are designated as level three sex offenders, those believed most likely to reoffend. Roughly 300 are level ones, least likely to reoffend. The rest are labeled level two.Anyone with information on these men is asked to call the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 786-5500 or Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222. Collect calls are accepted.
Dennis T. Doelman, age 24, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 195 pounds, black hair and brown eyes, level two offender.
William David Gibb, age 27, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 155 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes, level two offender.
Frank H. Perkins, age 51, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 219 pounds, brown hair and eyes, level one offender.
Jesse L. Aiken, age 27, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 145 pounds, brown hair and eyes, level two offender.
Tyler G. McGee, age 23, 6 feet 3 inches tall, 212 pounds, brown hair and hazel eyes level one offender.

Violence Suppression Team was formed by municipal police forces and the RCMP after the unprecedented gangland slaughter of six people

Violence Suppression Team was formed by municipal police forces and the RCMP after the unprecedented gangland slaughter of six people in a Surrey highrise last fall.
Since then, the team has pulled over gangsters in 2,334 cars, some multiple times, and seized 20 guns, Robinson told reporters on the last day of the Western Canada Gang Conference.The street-level uniformed team has also made 34 arrests, laid 52 charges and seized five sets of body armour since its formation Nov. 14.But more important, Robinson said, are the 1,234 "high-value intelligence reports" the team has developed. These aid beat cops in the areas where gangsters party."It is highly successful," said Robinson, who heads the team. "The highest priority we have as a police community in Canada right now is the gang problem."Metro Vancouver has been plagued by gangland slayings in recent months, many of them unsolved. Brazen shootings have taken place in restaurants, outside nightclubs and on busy streets.Robinson said the benefit of the conference, which brought together 560 investigators from across Canada, was the sharing of intelligence and policing strategies, particularly because of the fluidity of gangs.Supt. John Robin, head of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, said most of the 129 gangs operating in the province have shifted demographically. They have become multi-ethnic.




Robin confirmed that police here have seen several cases in which members of violent Central American gangs, like the Mara Salvatrucha 13, have settled in B.C. and become involved in criminal activity.The Vancouver Sun revealed this week that a refugee claimant living in Surrey, Jose Francisco Cardoza Quinteros, admitted to the Canada Border Service Agency after arriving last September that he had been a member of MS-13, killed at least four people and was present for the beheading of a woman by a member of his gang.Robin said police were aware of Quinteros' presence in the community.He said most of the MS-13 members who have shown up in B.C. are not working together as a group here."What we are seeing is individual gang members that are tied back and have ties back to gangs in the United States, gangs in Central America that are involved in criminal activity in Canada," Robin said.
Robin said investigators work closely with the CBSA to share intelligence about the cross-border movements of suspected gangsters and criminals like those in the Mara Salvatrucha.He said he was pleased gang specialists from Honduras and Guatemala attended this week's conference and shared their strategies with police here, as well as intelligence about gang members, who number more than 150,000 in that region and are trickling into Canada."It has been a growing trend over the last number of years," Robin said of the notorious gangsters showing up in B.C.
"We want to make sure that it doesn't develop into a huge significant problem here in Canada. We have enough problems with gang violence as it is."

Christopher Stella raised his off-duty Glock 9 mm pistol to his head and shot himself, according to law-enforcement sources.

It was unclear why Christopher Stella, of Great Kills, took his own life, and law-enforcement sources said it appeared he left no note.
Stella first smashed his own car into two parked vehicles at the King Kullen supermarket in Greenridge Plaza at about 3:30 a.m., cops said.
He then raised his off-duty Glock 9 mm pistol to his head and shot himself, according to law-enforcement sources. "He was a good kid, quiet kid, no problems," said one colleague in the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Officials also noted that Stella was not under departmental investigation.

investigation into the conduct of a Thai policeman who shot dead Leo Del Pinto


Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej today (Thursday) formally ordered an investigation into the conduct of a Thai policeman who shot dead a Canadian tourist and injured a second.The Thai Premier, in his role as the Chairman of the Department of Special Investigations, ordered the DSI to formally investigate charges of murder and attempted murder.The move comes in the midst of allegations that police in Pai, a picturesque tourist village in northern Thailand, deliberately attempted to cover up the actions of one of their own officers, whom they had to investigate.
The case was taken up by the Thai Human Rights Commission. Commissioner Saisuree Kosolnavin and a team found evidence that completely contradicted the investigation conducted by Police Colonel Sombat Panya of the local Pai police.Colonel Panya claimed that Canadian Leo Del Pinto, 24, from Calgary and Carly Reisig, 24, from Chilliwack, B.C. had made an unprovoked attack on Police Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat after he broke up a fight between them in January this year.
Uthai, he claimed, shot in self defence as he fell to the ground. His automatic hada hair trigger.The police story was subsequently published in the local press and the wire stories and transmitted worldwide.Police further said that nevertheless Sgt Uthai had been charged with murder and attempted murder but on investigation there was no court record of such charges.Witnesses and forensic evidence examined by Thailand’s leading pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasund however totally contradicted the police story. Forensic evidence showed that the policeman shot down into Del Pinto’s head. Witnesses said that Sergeant Uthai pistol whipped Ms Reisig before shooting her under her left breast.The conduct of the police had earlier been referred by the TNHRC to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
Dr. Saisuree said: “This development is very encouraging. The process has already started as Ms. Reisig and another witness have been allowed to give evidence in court.”

We had heard he had multiple weapons in the residence, including a high-powered rifle and sawed-off shotgun," Commander Lt. Dino Sgambellone s

Jesse Bishop, 22, of 3224 Park Avenue West, was arrested late Wednesday night after the METRICH Enforcement Unit raided his house. He was charged with felony possession of drugs.METRICH planned to raid Bishop's residence Tuesday night, but he wasn't home. Ontario police had contacted the regional drug task force after getting reports of drug trafficking and weapons at Bishop's residence.
"I don't want people to think it's a safe haven," Ontario police Chief Rodney Smith said. "We're going to continue to hunt where these places are at and try to take them down."
Bishop's case presented a challenge for local authorities."We had heard he had multiple weapons in the residence, including a high-powered rifle and sawed-off shotgun," METRICH Commander Lt. Dino Sgambellone said.
METRICH detectives, Ontario police and the Allied Special Operations Response Team convened Wednesday at WMFD-TV's parking lot on Park Avenue West, just east of Bishop's home, while awaiting word on Bishop's movements. The suspect was in Mansfield. METRICH detectives Perry Wheeler and Dawn Brown called Sgambellone on his BlackBerry with an update."At least we know where he's at," Sgambellone said. "Keep me posted."A couple of Ontario police officers got out of their vehicles and talked while things were in a holding pattern. Soft rock from WVNO played on the outside speakers.The ASORT members opened the back of their van, battering rams in hand. They later got out to stretch their legs. Gary Foster prepared for the possibility they might not be needed."It's kind of disappointing," he said. "Oh, well. You don't always get to play."Just before 11, Mansfield police officers pulled Bishop over on U.S. 30 for a traffic violation."He had some weed (marijuana) and a bunch of money on him," Sgambellone said. "We're going to bring him back here and talk to him and then determine if we need (ASORT)."
Police recovered a bag of marijuana and $1,826 from Bishop's pocket, as well as 369 grams of marijuana in the trunk of his 1998 Cadillac. Bishop's explanation?
"You got me," he said.
Authorities determined they would take Bishop back to the house before entering. They had heard someone was in the residence, along with a dog.
"Given the circumstances, it was a safer play," Sgambellone said. "He's saying nobody's in there, and the dog is in a cage.
"We're not just going to lolligag up to the residence, but the threat level is not as high as we initially anticipated."
Sgambellone, looking like a baseball umpire making a home run call, waived his right index finger in the air to signal it was time to move.
As ASORT gained entry, little traffic went past on the starlit night, highlighted by a crescent moon. A sign at neighboring Faith Baptist Church read, "Everybody is somebody that Jesus died for."
An outside dog barked at police, while a dog chained on a side porch didn't appear aggressive. Wheeler greeted the dog as he walked out back.

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