Leon Johnson.'Young Gooch Crew'

Johnson was a known member of Manchester's 'Young Gooch Crew' who became a resident on Preston's Callon Estate.
described by a judge as "a leading light in a gang of armed thugs" has today been jailed for firearms offences.
The judge at Manchester Crown Court directed that the custodial period for Leon Johnson, of Annis Street, Preston, should be nine years and eight months.
It comes after Lancashire police carried out a covert investigation into gun crime across Preston.
Operation Decathlon was set up in February 2006 by officers from Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) who targeted 30 year old Leon Johnson.
On Bank Holiday Monday 29 May 2006, Johnson flew into Liverpool airport and, together with others, drove into the middle of a Caribbean festival which was taking place in Broadfield Park, Moss Side.
Within minutes a shooting occurred between rival gangs, including Johnson.
SOCU officers who witnessed the incident were able to provide vital evidence.
After a joint investigation between Lancashire Constabulary and GMP Johnson was arrested and charged with serious firearms offences.
Johnson was found guilty of those offences after a 14 day trial in November, during which SOCU officers from Lancashire Constabulary gave evidence.
Superintendent Dave Brian, from Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "This is an excellent result for the communities of Greater Manchester but also for the people of Preston.
"The conviction of Johnson should serve as a warning that Lancashire Constabulary will pursue vigorously those who threaten our communities by carrying and using firearms."
In summing up, Judge Gee QC, said: "Johnson was a danger to the public and it was quite clear in the evidence given that he was a leading figure of the 'Young Gooch Crew' and a soldier loyal to this gang.
"He was a significant risk who would have carried out serious harm to other gang members and more importantly to our law abiding members of the public.
"It was for pure good fortune that no members of the public were seriously injured or killed on the day in question."
Detective Sergeant Dave Rimmer, from Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, added: "I am delighted with the outcome of this trial and also the judge's comments.
"Gun crime is incredibly serious but it is being dealt with robustly by Lancashire Constabulary and this conviction reflects that.
"Today's result also highlights a fantastic joint investigation involving two North West forces who are committed to tackling gun crime."

Read More

Joshua Rocco ,Thomas Raywood :Possession of a handgun and a rifle

Two men were arrested last week after they were allegedly caught in possession of a handgun and a rifle, Mercer County Sheriff Kevin C. Larkin announced on Wednesday.
Larkin said members of Shooting Response Team 2 - a group of detectives from the sheriff's office, Trenton police, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, and the state police - spotted Thomas Raywood of Hopewell Township and Joshua Rocco of Falls, Pa., allegedly carrying out some kind of "transaction" with a third man at the corner of West Ingham Avenue and Roosevelt Street on Friday.
The third man ran off as the detectives approached, but Raywood and Rocco were stopped for questioning, Larkin said. After the handgun and rifle were found, Raywood and Rocco were each charged with obstruction, resisting arrest, and several weapon offenses, he said.

Read More

Armed robbery in Ballarat

Police have arrested a woman accused of being a getaway driver in an armed robbery in Ballarat last night.
Two women were approached by a man who allegedly produced a gun and stole their handbags in Doveton Street North about 12.20am.
Police spotted the getaway car, described as a red Ford sedan, 10 minutes later and arrested the female driver.
An imitation gun was found on the floor of the car.
The woman is assisting police and detectives hope to speak with her male counterpart shortly.

Read More

Austin M. Powell,Ronald T. Fowler

Austin M. Powell, 19, of Melbourne, and Ronald T. Fowler, 20, of Satellite Beach, were being held at the Indialantic Police Deparment, awaiting booking and transfer to the county jail, Det. Mike Connor told Local 6 News partner Florida Today.
Both are being charged with possession of methamphetamine, Connor said.
Fowler also is being charged with possession of a firearm by a person who, under the Brady Law, can't possess a firearm because he has a domestic violence injunction, Connor said. Fowler also is being charged with discharging a firearm in a municipality. Fowler is being held without bond, and Powell has a $2,000 bond.
A juvenile teenage girl was charged with two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, Connor said. She was booked and released to her parents.
A man staying at the Beach House Motel, 405 N. State Road A1A, called police about 7:30 a.m. to report shots fired from a third-floor balcony.
Indialantic police arrived shortly after the call and arrested the threesome. They also found a spent shell casing and methamphetamines on a counter in the room, Connor said. Police said they also found a .357 magnum Ruger revolver.
Apparently they had been partying the night before with some other guests at the hotel when a fight broke out, Connor said. Guests saw someone jump off the balcony onto the roof of an adjacent hotel and run but didn't call police, he said. On Wednesday morning, a guest heard a shot fired and thought it was a firecracker, he said.
When a second shot was fired 15 minutes later, they called police.

Read More

Kevin Morgan,James H. Thomas,Travis Woods, Willis J. Simmons

armed robbery investigation led to the arrests of five men Wednesday after police discovered drugs and guns in their vehicle.
Just after midnight, police were dispatched to the 7900 block of Devoe Street about a robbery at Flash Foods, according to arrest reports. Police began searching for a gold sport utility vehicle seen leaving the store.
Officers pulled over a Pontiac SUV matching the description and ordered the men outside of the vehicle. Kevin Morgan, 23, of Fort Wayne, Ind., exited wearing a gun in a holster and was ordered to the ground, the report said.
Police searched the vehicle and found $9,000 in cash, four 9 mm pistols, a .223-caliber rifle, two bags of cocaine, two bags of marijuana, Loritab pills, several pistol magazines, several boxes of live rounds and a scale with drug residue, the report said.
Police arrested Morgan, 18-year-old James H. Thomas, 27-year-old Keenan Curry, 24-year-old Travis Woods and 20-year-old Willis J. Simmons, the report said. All were listed as from Fort Wayne, except Thomas who is from Holly Hill, Fla. They were arrested on armed possession of drug charges and police are still investigating the robbery.

Read More

Shootout in Othello Drive

frightening shootout in Othello Drive on Tuesday night, which left two men hospitalised with gun shot injuries, has been confirmed as a gang-related dispute.
Counties Manukau Police say officers were alerted by nearby residents to a shooting at properties near the Dawson Rd intersection of the Otara street at 8pm.
Police say an unconfirmed number of persons arrived in vehicles and approached people at an Othello Dr house.
The two warring groups exchanged a number of firearm shots, where two men, one from each of the opposing gangs, sustained the gunshot injuries.
Yesterday, as both males were charged with offences and under police guard at Middlemore Hospital, where an armed officer patrolled on Tuesday night, properties numbered 11, 9 and 7 in Othello Dr were cordoned off, the immediate focus of investigators.
“It’s evident it is gang related,” said Superintendent Steve Shortland yesterday, the Counties Manukau District Commander.
However, while officer in charge of the Othello Dr case, detective inspector John Tims, says the targeted house was known to be a drug tinnie house with gang connections, police will not at this time publicly name the warring groups.
“Until we have reviewed all the evidence, we don’t want to prematurely name the rival parties,” says Mr Tims.
“What has happened is not a random incident targeting innocent members of the public.
“Forensically there a number of items to work through. We have recovered two firearms, one of which was discarded from a fleeing vehicle. In addition to the two vehicles, we are undertaking a forensic examination of the Othello Dr residence.”
Police say both fighting groups departed the residence before officers arrived on Tuesday night.
The injured men were dropped off at Middlemore Hospital from their respective associates vehicles, while being tracked by the police Eagle helicopter.
One male sustained a head wound. Yesterday evening, he was in a serious but stable condition. The other man has leg wounds and his condition is said to be fair.
Mr Tims says the hospitalised males are charged with being unlawfully in possession of a firearm. He says both are aged in their late 20s.
Police say they’re also heartened by the Otara and Manukau community spirit displayed since the incident.
“Our cordons kept a number of people from their homes for a few hours on what was a very warm night [Tuesday],” says Mr Tims.
“Residents were willing to assist and remained positive to each other and police. There was a strong sense of community.”
Yesterday saw the first deployment of the Counties Manukau Mobile Police Station, at Othello Dr. It’s staffed by a senior sergeant and 10 officers.
It’ll assist the investigating team with enquiries, but police are also encouraging the public to visit the new station. It’s designed to readily deploy to hot spots.

Read More

Randy Lake,Steven Murray

Steven Murray, 37, was taken to Sebasticook Valley Hospital where he was treated and released Wednesday morning.
Randy Lake, 22, who shared a Raymond Avenue home with Murray, was arrested by Pittsfield police officer Greg Sides. Lake has been charged with aggravated assault, reckless conduct, and violation of the conditions of release.
Several BB's were removed from Steven Murray's gums, cheeks and neck. None of the injuries is believed to have caused permanent damage, police say.
"The doctors said if his neck hadn't been so thick it would have been life-threatening," said Officer Jeff Vanadestine of the Pittsfield police.
The shooting took place around 2 a.m. when the men began to argue about Deeanna Murray, Steven Murray's former sister-in-law, Vanadestine said.
Both Lake and Deeanna Murray had been drinking, Vanadestine said.
"They were fighting over her," Vanadestine said. "He was shot in the face 15 times. It happened very quickly."
Lake, who was on probation, was arrested as he walked down the street not long after the shooting, Vanadestine said.
A CO2 pistol-style BB gun was found in a nearby ditch.
"He was taken into custody without incident," Vanadestine said of Wednesday's arrest.
Lake is being held at the Somerset County Jail until his court hearing, which is scheduled for March 26, Vanadestine said.
Lake was charged in November with operating under the influence and refusing to submit to arrest, Vanadestine said.
The incident could have turned out much worse, Vanadestine added.
"I'm glad he didn't have a bigger gun," the officer said

Read More

Jeffrey Bass,Jeremiah Bass

Jeffrey Bass, 31, and Jeremiah Bass, 30, both of 198 Roy El Court, Wapello, have been charged with disorderly conduct in relation to the fight that occurred Friday, Jan. 18, in an apartment building in the 300 block of North Second Street.
A man with a gun was reported at the scene of a fight involving eight people. Four people were initially arrested. Officials recovered a handgun at the scene.
Crump said more charges are expected to be filed in the case.

Read More

Latin Kings shooting death of a Miller Brewing executive

Two Latin Kings are under arrest in the shooting death of a Miller Brewing executive.
“The Latin Kings are out there right now throwing their weight around a little bit, and we’re going to make sure they feel our attention in a very special way in the next several weeks,” said Chief Edward Flynn, adding that the effort will not be a sweep of Latino men, but arrests of specific gang members.
Flynn’s remarks came during a 5 p.m. news conference announcing the arrests earlier in the day of two suspects, ages 17 and 21, both of whom he said had prior records. The 17-year-old was on probation for a robbery, Flynn said.
The two are expected to be charged in the robbery and killing of Lodewikus “Vic” Milford, 43, after a robbery early Saturday in Walker’s Point. Milford, the director of compensation and benefits for Miller, was returning to his car with three women after they had visited a nightclub when they were robbed about 1:10 a.m. Saturday, police said. After they all gave up their wallets and purses, Milford was shot inside his SUV in a parking lot near S. 2nd and W. Walker streets.
Flynn credited the department’s homicide and gang units and District 2 police officers for arresting the suspects just a few days after the crime. He also said Miller’s $10,000 reward was a “significant factor” in helping detectives break the case.
One of the thugs arrested was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Read More

High School student charged with bringing an unloaded handgun

Jackson Central-Merry High School student charged with bringing an unloaded handgun to school Monday has been placed on house arrest until he returns to court.
According to court records, Madison County Juvenile Court Judge Christy Little released the 15-year-old male student into the custody of his mother today after a detention hearing.
The student's next court date has not been set. His name has not released because he is a minor.
Jackson-Madison County Schools Superintendent Nancy Zambito said today that the student will not attend JCM for the remainder of the school year and that he will very likely be sent to an alternative school.
JCM Principal Virginia Stackens-Crump said the student will have a disciplinary hearing next Thursday.

Read More

Ugo Mendoza,Cesar Martinez, Jose Trinidad Martinez,Gilberto Cuevas

Ugo Mendoza, 16, and an unidentified 14-year old male were charged with burglary. Cesar Martinez, 17, is charged with being an accessory to a felony.
The residents of the two homes where the guns were found are Armando Avila, 21, Jose Trinidad Martinez, 20, and Gilberto Cuevas, 28, show face charges for possession of stolen firearms.
Investigators said it appears the suspects intended to sell the guns.
Police are still looking for three missing weapons. Bellevue homeowner reported 13 stolen firearms. officers said they recovered nine handguns and an SKS assault rifle at two different homes in Omaha.

Read More

Shooting near the well-known Race Street Fish Market

San Jose police and Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies have closed West San Carlos Street near Race Street and are searching the area for suspects who fled on foot after an alleged drive-by shooting. A police helicopter is hovering overheard, aiding the search.
No one was injured in the shooting near the well-known Race Street Fish Market, but bullets fired struck the window of a nearby business, according to Sheriff's Sgt. Don Morrissey.
The incident began when two groups of neighborhood youths faced off and the argument escalated into a fight, Morrissey said. One group jumped in a car and fled and those on foot allegedly fired off shots toward the car as it sped away.
The neighborhood is where the north end of Willow Glen and unincoporated Burbank areas converge.

Read More

Jesus Flores

Jesus Flores, 25, was found by a corrections officer about 4 a.m. Tuesday at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department Crimnal Justice, home to the state's male death row.
Agency spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said Flores was pronounced dead about an hour later.
"He had lacerations on his throat and forehead," she said.
Flores apparently tried to use his own blood to scribble a message on the wall.
"It was illegible," Lyons said.
Flores was convicted of capital murder for the May 2001 death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Dennis, 35, who was shot in the head during a struggle. Flores was 19 at the time of the shooting.
Flores had been on death row since December 2001. His case was still on appeal before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which already had upheld his conviction and death sentence. He never had an execution date.
On a Web site devoted to prisoners seeking pen pals, Flores said that he was a drug addict and had smoked marijuana, drank alcohol and used cocaine when he took a car belonging to his sister, who was in the military. He said he also had taken the prescription drug Xanax and vaguely remembered the night he was arrested by Dennis.
"He spreads my legs and does a search of my body," Flores wrote. "What he failed to do was find a gun I had in my back right hand pocket... I got scared, panicked, angry. I don't know, but I wasn't myself.
"At the time he places the cuff I reach for the gun in my back pocket, pull it out and turn and raise the gun and by the time I fully turned around I had fired one shot. I just see this man fall.
"I know that I did something so bad," he added. "I took a man's life."
Flores still had the deputy's handcuffs clamped to his left wrist when he was taken into custody.
Dennis was responding to a call from Flores' own family who reported he took his sister's car without permission, kept it out all night and returned it damaged. He stopped Flores about a mile from the family home.
A day after his arrest, Flores showed up in court with his left wrist heavily bandaged because of what authorities said was a suicide attempt.
Flores is the first Texas death row suicide since October 2006, when Michael Johnson killed himself the same day he was supposed to be executed for the slaying of a convenience store clerk near Waco.
Flores becomes the eighth condemned man in Texas to take his own life since death row reopened in 1974.

Read More

Malcolm Chalmers

Malcolm Chalmers was already in custody in Durham Region on unrelated charges and was appearing in court when Toronto Police came calling. He's now been charged with attempted murder and will be in court on the new count February 11th.
Police had displayed the gun used in the crime last Thursday, and admitted they had a suspect in mind. But it turns out it wasn't the weapon that led them to Chalmers.
"We were seeking the community's help in trying to put the clues together to this, and we were very fortunate in the last few days to have the community step forward and some vital pieces of information that we simply didn't have two years ago came to light," explains Det. Mike Barsky. "And it allowed us to make the decision on laying charges."
Cops say at least 10 people were involved in the fight that night, but they're satisfied they have the only person they allege is guilty of attempted murder. They admit they had Chalmers in their sights for some time, but couldn't get enough evidence to charge him.
Their suspect was in court on other serious accusations, including attempted murder and kidnapping but that case - like the new one against him - is just starting to make its way through the system.
Pereira, whose life has been forever changed by the incident that night, is grateful the cops never stopped hunting for justice.
"My family and I would like to thank you for your continuous hours and the determination on never giving up on capturing this person who tried to take my life on October 15, 2005," he wrote police.
"Although I will be physically and emotionally never be the same, I am determined to continue a positive outlook and put this terrible incident in my past."

Read More

Marcus Lequin Payne

Marcus Lequin Payne, 23, of 101-313 S. Seventh St. was arrested Monday and charged with one count each of aggravated assault and felony theft by receiving stolen property.
The arrest came as the result of an investigation in the Friday night assault of a 28-year-old man who originally told police that he was beaten unconscious while he walked home through the alley near Second Street. Investigation by Col. Lewis Green revealed, however, that the assault took place inside the suspect’s apartment.
Payne is accused of physically assaulting the victim by striking him in the head with a loaded .357 magnum revolver. The blow caused the victim to require several stitches and hospitalization.
Green recovered the weapon used in the assault and a computer check revealed that it had been stolen in a burglary on Dec. 17, 2007 at Evans Outdoors.
Payne was processed at the police department and later transported to the Crisp County Detention Center.

Read More

Ronald Petersen

Ronald Petersen of Bigfork was arrested last night at the Fort Bragg Army base in North Carolina.
He was arrested in connection with the death of 24-year-old Clyde Wilson, who was found dead in his home on New Year's Eve from multiple gun shot wounds.
Petersen is currently awaiting extradition to Montana.
Police also arrested 19-year-old Zachary Forkin. He's in the Lake County Jail.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the shooting death.

Read More

Keith J. Truesdale.

The Woodbridge man was shot during an attempted robbery at a Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits restaurant at 13860 Smoketown Road in Woodbridge, shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday.
According to police, two men entered the restaurant through an unlocked back door.
One of the robbers demanded money, but police said Truesdale, a manager for a Popeyes in Dale City who was filling in that night, was unable to "comply with this demand."
A gunshot was fired, striking Truesdale.
He was transported to Potomac Hospital, where he died less than an hour later.

Read More

Anthony D. Burgess

Anthony D. Burgess, 25, was listed in serious condition Friday night at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.
Sgt. Clinton Kellett said a man entered the MiniT Stop. As he was entering, another man was coming out.
“Words were exchanged, and the man who was coming out was shot in the doorway,” Kellett said.
A witness said the bleeding victim went inside the Happy Wok, and the gunman fled in a light blue mid-1980s Buick traveling west on East State Street. The vehicle was later located by police.
The witness also said his wife, a certified nurse, applied pressure on the victim’s wound until an ambulance arrived. Police said the victim was not forthcoming with details about the shooting.
The suspect is described as a black male in his mid-20s, about 5-feet-10, medium build, wearing a black hat and black jacket.

Read More

Fast Food, Fast Armed Robbery

Jan. 20, 8:20 p.m. at Subway, 121 Sherron Road – A man entered the business, implied he had a gun and demanded money. The robber wore a white hooded sweatshirt and a blue bandanna over his face. He was described as a black man, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall and 185 to 200 pounds.
Jan. 20, 11:22 p.m. at McDonald’s, 102 W. Morgan St. – Two men armed with guns entered the restaurant and robbed the business and employees. They forced workers into the freezer and fled on foot. The armed men wore dark clothing and bandannas over their faces.
Jan. 21, 9:56 p.m. at Burger King, 4829 Hope Valley Road – Two masked men wearing black clothing entered the Burger King and demanded money. They fled in a red vehicle, possibly an early 1990s model Toyota Celica. One robber was described as a black man, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 170 pounds. The second robber was described as a black man, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 200 pounds.
Jan. 22, 12:06 a.m. at Church’s Chicken, 2540 Fayetteville St. – Two men wearing black, hooded jackets confronted employees as they were leaving the business and forced them back inside. The men robbed the workers and the business, and then fled on foot. One robber was described as a black man, 6 feet 1 inch tall and 150 to 170 pounds. He was wearing red checked pajama pants. The second robber was described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and thin.
Jan. 23, 12:54 a.m. at McDonald’s on Tower Boulevard – Two men armed with guns forced the manager back into the business and fled with cash. Both were described as tall, thin black men. They wore black clothing and toboggans.
Jan. 23, 2:56 a.m. at Kangaroo Express, 106 East N.C. Highway 54 – A man armed with a gun robbed the cashier and fled. He was described as a black man, 18 to 25 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall and 160 pounds. He wore a gray hooded top and a dark jacket.
Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m. at Subway, 2526 Erwin Road – A man entered the business, pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money. He was described as a black male, 6 feet tall with a slim build. He was wore a navy blue hoodie.
Jan. 23, 10:46 p.m. at Subway, 5300 North Oxbow Road – A man wearing a hooded jacket entered the business and robbed it at gunpoint. The robber was described as a black man, 18 to 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium build. He wore a black and blue hooded jacket with a yellow stripe on the hood and across the shoulders.
Jan. 24, 8:35 p.m. at Great Clips, 1827 Martin Luther King Blvd. – A man entered the business and demanded money. He implied that he had a gun, but no weapon was seen. He was described as a black man, 40 to 50 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 to 210 pounds. He had dark circles around his eyes and wore a black ball cap and a black jacket with lots of pockets.
Jan. 24, 10:04 p.m. at Bo jangles, 5425 S. Miami Blvd. – A man walked up to two women were in the drive-thru lane. He pointed a long gun at them and demanded their vehicle. The man fled in the women's black Hyundai Tucson. He wore a ski mask and dark clothing.

Read More

Kadeem Fox

Kadeem Fox, of Albany, .Police say when the officer approached him in the area of First and Quail Fox took off, throwing a .22 caliber pistol into a yard along First Street.
The gun was later found to be stolen.
Fox has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and was being held in the Albany County Jail.

Read More

Charlie McDonald

Charlie McDonald, 17, of the 9600 block of South Hoxie Avenue, Chicago, turned himself in to police Thursday and was charged with first-degree murder, prosecutors said.
On Sunday, he appeared in Cook County Bond Court, where he was ordered held without bail.
Tommy Brewer, McDonald's lawyer and a Democratic candidate for Cook County state's attorney, said no one knew where McDonald had been since Nov. 19, but that he called his mother last week, wanting to turn himself in.
"He decided it would be better just to face the charges," Brewer said.
Isaac Pink and a group of five people were walking in the 10000 block of South Oglesby Avenue about 4:30 p.m. when McDonald approached them, prosecutors said. He pointed a gun at one man in the group and demanded money, but the man swatted the gun away, said Assistant State's Atty. Maria Augustus.
McDonald aimed the gun at Pink, again demanded money and then hit him in the face with the gun, she said. Pink punched McDonald, who fired the gun once at him, she said. The group scattered, and McDonald fired again, Augustus said.
The witnesses told police on the scene that "Dirty Charlie"—McDonald's street name—was the gunman, Augustus said.
Joyce Pink said McDonald's arrest offers some comfort. Her son, who was studying art at Truman College, was a talented student whose ceramics adorn her house, she said.
He graduated from Global Visions Academy on the South Side, where he was known for his outstanding portraits, his teachers said.
She said she tried hard to shelter her son from the crime on the streets around her house, especially since his father died of lung cancer in 2003.
On Nov. 19, she had just been to the grocery, and she and her son had put up the family's Christmas tree. They were excited for the upcoming holidays, she said. When friends stopped by to ask him for a haircut, she reluctantly watched him go, she said.
"I didn't want him around none of the people around here," she said. "They were jealous that he was in college, that he was doing well.
"He was our future. I cry for my son every day."

Read More

Massacre by gunmen of a dozen people

The head of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary
Best, is treating as acts of "urban warfare" from a criminal
network, the slaughter of the 12 occurred two days after an
army patrol was ambushed in the village of Buxton and a
soldier killed during a fierce 20-minute firefight.

Guyana Gunmen stormed into a coastal village Saturday and killed 11 people, including five children, in violence blamed on a gang leader who has threatened widespread attacks. The assault sparked angry protests over rising crime in this impoverished country.

Massacre by gunmen of a dozen people, among them
three children, and a separate drive-by shooting at police
headquarters in Georgetown.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene said yesterday that his force
was on "full alert" but not yet in a position to make any
connection between the killing of the GDF corporal (Ivor
Williams) on Wednesday night; the murder of the 12 civilians
in the nearby village of Lusignan; and an earlier daring
drive-by shooting attack outside Police Headquarters in the
city that resulted in the wounding of two cops.
Disturbed and frustrated villagers were angrily blocking
traffic with drums and burning tyres up to late yesterday in
protest of the massacre that has sparked widespread of a
likely return to paralysing criminal rampage of seven years
ago.
The killings and armed clashes involving a suspected
well-armed criminal network based in the hot spot village of
Buxton and the drive-by shooting outside police headquarters
is viewed by the security forces has renewed fears of a return
to the frightening scale of sustained criminal rampage
following a jailbreak by a group of armed men from the
Georgetown Prison in February 2002.
President Bharrat Jagdeo held an emergency meeting with the
top brass of the army and police and later told a hurriedly
summoned press briefing that the murder of the dozen around
one 'o clock yesterday morning who lived in five separate
humble dwelling houses, "could not have been done by human
beings but rather by animals..."
He also noted that the massacre of the 12 had followed the
confrontation between a GDF patrol and armed criminals in
Buxton, a development that coincide with an ongoing
controversy over the disappearance of high-powered,
sophisticated weapons and a new initiative by the recently
appointed new Chief of Staff of the army, Commodore Best.
The firefight of Wednesday night between the ambushed army
patrol and armed criminals came against the backdrop of police
search for a claimed kidnapped teenaged-girl friend of a most
wanted ex-GDF soldier, Rondell Williams (alias 'Fineman').
He remains in hiding but has been reportedly making
threatening phone calls to the police unless his missing girl
friend is found.
Both Commissioner Greene and Chief of Staff Best said they
have no knowledge about the whereabouts of the missing
teenager, whose name has been given as Tenisha Morgan.
The GDF's commander has warned that he would "do whatever it
takes" to pursue the heavily armed men how terrorising East
Coast villages in an apparent new strategy to spawn "urban
warfare".
He has warned that Guyana's security and national interest
would be firmly protected and the army was "committed to
winning this fight".
Police Commissioner Greene said that robbery was evidently not
a motive for the killings of the dozen villagers, a shocking
development that had led to mass protests by villagers along
the East Coast of Georgetown who have blamed lack of efficient
and effective responses by the security forces for continuing
daring criminal attacks.

Read More

Two people are under arrest

Two people are under arrest and one person is recovering following a shooting early Sunday morning in Orlando.
The incident happened around 2 a.m. in the east part of the city at San Juan Boulevard near Semoran.
Orlando police said witnesses were able to give them a description of the car, which was later spotted on Goldenrod Road near Pershing Avenue.
Officers tried to pull that car over, but the two people inside jumped out of the car and took off.
Police were able to track the suspects down and said they had to taser one in order to subdue him.
Officers found a gun next to the car. There was not word if it was the same gun used in the shooting.

Read More

Christopher A. Ridley

Christopher A. Ridley, 23, was off duty and not in uniform when he witnessed a “violent, aggravated assault” shortly before 5 p.m. near Court Street and Martine Avenue in downtown White Plains, outside the district offices of the Westchester County Department of Social Services, said Frank G. Straub, the commissioner of public safety in White Plains.
Commissioner Straub and other officials provided few new details about the shooting in a news conference on Saturday. But two witnesses, a homeless couple who gave their names only as Cathy and Brian, said Officer Ridley had tried to break up a scuffle between two men and then failed to drop his gun when the Westchester officers arrived and ordered him to do so.
The couple was outside the social services building, at 85 Court Street, before the shooting. The building until recently was the site of a county drop-in center for homeless men, and homeless people still congregate near there, waiting for a van that comes at 5 p.m. to take them to shelters.
The witnesses said the events leading to Officer Ridley’s shooting began when a homeless man began beating up another man. Officer Ridley emerged from his vehicle to try to stop the fight. He briefly chased the homeless man, and the two began fighting outside the social services building. Officer Ridley’s gun, which a third witness said the officer grabbed from his vehicle and tucked into his waistband, fell to the ground during the scuffle and discharged, with the bullet striking concrete, the homeless couple said.
The gunshot brought county police officers to the scene, and by the time they arrived, Officer Ridley had picked up his gun, the couple said.
“They told him put the gun down three times, and he wouldn’t put the gun down,” said Cathy, 44. She said that Officer Ridley might have been disoriented from the fight and unable to hear the officers’ commands. “He might have been dazed,” she said.
At that point, Officer Ridley was shot; it was not clear how many Westchester County officers had come to the scene or fired their weapons. The officials at the news conference refused to take questions, and they did not release the names of the officers involved or confirm any of the witnesses’ accounts. “We will continue to interview witnesses, and when more information becomes available, we will provide that to you,” Commissioner Straub said.
The authorities identified the man that Officer Ridley was trying to arrest as Anthony Jacobs, 39. They did not say whether Mr. Jacobs was in custody on Saturday.
Earlier, at a news conference outside the White Plains police headquarters, the Rev. Al Sharpton stood with members of Officer Ridley’s family and called for an investigation to determine whether the shooting was justified.
“Just as we are calling on the community not to rush to judgment, the police should not rush to judgment,” Mr. Sharpton said as he stood next to Stanley Ridley, Officer Ridley’s father. “There ought not to be a rush to judgment on either side.”
The authorities have not identified the races of the county officers who were involved in the confrontation. Officer Ridley was black, and Mr. Sharpton said: “I do not know if race played any issue at all as of yet. I do not know. We don’t rule it out or in.”
The chaotic scene unfolded on Friday in a bustling section of White Plains, where serious crimes like murder, robberies and assaults have dropped to their lowest levels in decades.
“I think it was simply a case where a police officer who was in the immediate area is witnessing an altercation in the street, and he did what every good policeman should do, which is to get involved and assist,” said Mayor Joseph M. Delfino of White Plains. “And after that, everything went bad.” He added, “This was a tragedy.
Mr. Jacobs is known by workers in the area for wandering the streets and rummaging through garbage. Keith Stewart, 47, who works as a medical assistant for a chiropractor, said he knew him only as “Twin.” Mr. Stewart said Mr. Jacobs got the nickname because he had a twin brother. The brother died, he said, and Twin had not been the same since.
“He’d talk to himself,” Mr. Stewart said. “He needs help. He needs to be in a hospital.”
The authorities said Mr. Jacobs’s address was 25 Operations Drive in Westchester County. That address is listed as the site of a homeless shelter in Valhalla run by the Volunteers of America.
Mr. Jacobs spent five years at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining for a 1998 felony burglary conviction and was released on parole in 2004, according to state criminal records.
Westchester County police officials and the Westchester County district attorney, Janet DiFiore, asked the White Plains police to conduct the investigation into Officer Ridley’s death because of the county officers’ role in the shooting.
David Chong, the police commissioner in Mount Vernon, which borders the Bronx in southern Westchester, said he was confident that the White Plains police and the district attorney’s office would conduct “a thorough and unbiased investigation.”
Officer Ridley joined the Mount Vernon Police Department on Jan. 9, 2006. He was assigned to the patrol division.
He was remembered by fellow officers and friends as an enthusiastic and inquisitive policeman who was a disc jockey in his free time and was active at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, where his father worked as the head custodian and Officer Ridley served as a youth mentor.

Read More

Man hit in a drive-by shooting Saturday night has died

Man hit in a drive-by shooting Saturday night has died. Grand Rapids Police are now looking for the suspect responsible. It happened around 5:30pm outside of a house on Grandville Avenue and “A” Street.
Right now police don't have a description of the suspect, but they say the car used in the drive-by was a dark colored Pontiac Grand Am or Grand Prix. The car was last seen going northbound on Grandville at a fast speed.

Read More

Vincent L. McGrath Jr

Vincent L. McGrath Jr., 37, was arrested in Schenectady and charged with second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, fourth-degree criminal weapon possession and petit larceny.
In a media release, Cobleskill police said they received a complaint from a North Grand Street resident on Jan. 18 who said two men had forcibly entered his apartment. The suspects allegedly restrained him with duct tape, struck him in the head and face, threatened him with a stun gun and took personal property. The victim said he owed the subjects money from services received from an escort service, police said.
The victim, who was not named in the release from police, was treated and released from Cobleskill Regional Hospital. Police said the investigation eventually led to McGrath, though additional arrests are expected.

Read More

John O'Keefe,Edward Paredes,Awet Zekarias

Toronto residents Edward Paredes, 22, and Awet Zekarias, 23, are each charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. They were to appear via video link to set a date for a bail hearing. A group of John O'Keefe's friends made the plea outside the Old City Hall courthouse where the victim's accused killers were appearing on Friday.
"We need to wake up here in Canada. He was shot in the heart of our city, in the heart of our country. It is unacceptable, it is ridiculous," Jennifer Allen told CTV Toronto.
"There is only one purpose for handguns, and that is to kill people ... and we need to ban handguns, not only in the city of Toronto, but in the entire country."
Allen said the federal government should also impose stiff mandatory minimum sentences for those who use guns in the commission of a crime.
"It needs to happen now. Action needs to taken, and we're not going to let this die," she said.
Another friend said any act of violence is troubling.
"I'm always surprised when someone is taken through an act of violence, whether it's (today), whether it was three years ago, 10 years ago, whether I knew them or not," said Marianna Ramacciotti. "It's something that we tend to be jaded about."
The group said they support Mayor David Miller's call for a handgun ban and federal NDP Leader Jack Layton's plan to reduce gun crimes.
Last weekend, Layton said called for on the federal government to, among other things, hire more police officers, improve witness protection problems and hold a cross-border summit to find ways to stop the flow of illegal handguns being smuggled into Canada.
O'Keefe, a 42-year-old father of a young boy, was shot in the head while walking down Yonge Street on Jan. 12. Police say two patrons who were ejected from the Brass Rail strip club that night had returned with a handgun.
A bullet fired outside the club, which investigators say was intended for a bouncer, struck O'Keefe in the head.
Their court appearances on Friday came on the day another innocent bystander killed by gunfire was laid to rest.

Read More

Basil Oates,Quandre McGhee

Basil Oates, 20, of Dorchester and Quandre McGhee, 17, also of Dorchester and charged both with Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. Suspect McGhee was additionally charged with Possession of Class D, and Possession of Class D with Intent to Distribute.
Officers were on patrol in the area of Codman Square in Dorchester when they observed a motor vehicle fail to stop for a stop sign at Wheatland Ave. and Washington Street. Officers followed the car and conducted a traffic stop on Melville Ave. There, as officers approached the car and they noticed that the rear passengers were shifting in their seats. When officers made contact with the occupants of the car, they immediately noticed a strong odor of marijuana. During the course of the traffic stop, officers initiated conversation with the occupants and noticed that they were very nervous, sweating, avoiding eye contact and shaking uncontrollably.
Based on these observations, officers asked the occupants if they had something in the car that they should not have. One of the occupants asked to speak to one of the officers in private and admitted that he had a gun on his person. The gun was recovered and the other occupants of the car frisked. Suspect, McGhee, was then discovered to have a quantity of marijuana consistent with drug sales. Both suspects listed above subsequently claimed ownership of the gun and were charged accordingly.

Read More

Darryl D. McClure

Darryl D. McClure, 38, of Boston and charged him with Armed Robbery in relation to a robbery incident that had taken place on 1/23/08 around 9:20pm. (Refer to Daily Incidents from 1/24/08.)
Officers responded to 705 Huntington Avenue yesterday around 9:45am pursuant to ongoing investigation when they learned that the other suspect from the robbery that had taken place the day before was back at 705 Huntington Avenue in Boston. During the course of their investigation, officers not only discovered the name of the other suspect involved in the robbery but the facts and circumstances leading to the robbery. Officers learned that the suspect arrested yesterday, Bobby Stevens, 36, of Roxbury and Darryl D. McClure, 38, of Boston had called the victim under the pretense of wanting to purchase drugs. Once there, the suspect robbed the victim at gunpoint and knifepoint of his money, drugs and cell phone.
During the course of their investigation, officers recovered the loaded semi-automatic gun used by the suspects and the cell phone and sidekick stolen from the victim. Suspect, McClure told officers that he smoked the drugs stolen from the victim.

Read More

Dany Velez

Dany Velez, 41, whose last known address was 282 Main St., Auburn, was arrested on a warrant for robbery and additionally was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (a felon), Waterville Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said Friday.
Velez' brother, Juan Serrano Velez, 22, of Winslow, was arrested Jan. 4 by Waterville police for his role in the armed robbery, which occurred in February 2005.
During that robbery, a male was assaulted and more than $2,000 cash, prescription pills and a small amount of marijuana allegedly were taken at gun point.
Juan Velez was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta where bail at the time was $25,000 cash. A jail spokesman said Friday he was released on bail Jan. 7.
Rumsey said police only learned last year of the armed robbery, as the victims did not tell police about it. While investigating another robbery that occurred in Waterville around the same time as the 2005 robbery on College Avenue, Detective Alan Perkins learned of the robbery, Rumsey said. Perkins obtained an arrest warrant for Dany Velez, he said.
"Definitely, any time there's a crime of violence involving a firearm and the victim is obviously put in fear for his life, we consider that to be a very serious crime," Rumsey said Friday. "And we're very glad they've (Velez brothers) have both been arrested so that the case can go forward in the court system."
The Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force, created in 1995 and based in Lewiston, is made up of federal, state and local law enforcement officials. The force seeks to reduce gun violence and illegal gun possession and hold those who violate gun laws accountable for their actions, according to the task force Web site.
Dany Velez, who had a previous felony conviction, is alleged to have held a gun to the head of a victim during the College Avenue robbery, according to Rumsey.
The firearm Dany Velez was alleged to have used in the robbery was recovered in July 2005 by Auburn police as they were investigating a report of a suicidal female at a hotel in Auburn, Rumsey said. That female, reportedly Dany Velez' girlfriend, had a handgun and told police it belonged to Dany Velez, Rumsey said.
Questioned afterward, Dany Velez admitted he owned the gun, according to Rumsey.

Read More

Matthew Lambeth

Matthew Lambeth told one of his friends he had shot up a trailer that resulted in the death of 16-year-old James Holderness.
Lambeth is facing murder charges as well as four other counts of attempted murder after he drove a green Dodge Durango through the 6300 block of 14th Street West and shot at a trailer in Wilhelm Mobile Home Park around 11:30 p.m. Jan 15, according to authorities.
Inside near a window sat Holderness, facing the road where he was playing a video game at a friend's home.
One of Lambeth's shots hit Holderness in the right side of the head. He was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he died the next day.
According to the warrant, Lambeth had borrowed the Durango from a friend and went to his home after the shooting.
He told his friend he shot up the trailer and that he had better not tell anyone, after he placed a sawed-off shotgun and .40-caliber Glock pistol under his friend's bed, according to the warrant.

Lambeth's friend told police he smelled fresh gunpowder on the guns.

Police searched the residence in the 1300 block of Hidden Circle East to find a shell casing in the sport utility vehicle, pistol targets, live rifle rounds as well as an empty box of .22-caliber long rifle cartridges.

According to witnesses whom detectives interviewed, Lambeth went to the trailer earlier that Tuesday to confront Holderness because he believed Holderness had stolen items belonging to him and his roommate.

About $935 worth of items including electronics, DVDs and a cell phone were reported stolen.

In a confrontation, Lambeth told Holderness he had an hour to have it back or he was dead, according to witnesses.

Lambeth is being held without bond. His court date has been set for Feb. 22.

Read More

Gustavo Fausto Tellez Jr.

A convicted felon who killed his girlfriend Monday and then turned the gun on himself had been deported to Mexico three times since 2004. Gustavo Fausto Tellez Jr., whose record includes felony assault and spousal abuse, appealed his first deportation order in 2001. He lost the appeal and was deported to Mexico in 2004, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Tuesday. In February 2005, ICE agents found Tellez in the Ventura County jail serving time for drug possession and resisting arrest, according to officials and court records. He was deported, for the second time, from Los Angeles County Jail. Days after deportation, Tellez was caught trying to cross back into the United States at San Ysidro, south of San Diego, Kice said.

Read More

Brenden Brown

Brenden Brown, is on probation for selling a handgun to Trolley Square gunman Sulejman Talovic.
Brown was to be sentenced Friday on three drug-related misdemeanor charges in an unrelated case, but the 21-year-old failed to show up in court. Judge Judith Atherton issued a $10,000 cash-only warrant for Brown's arrest.
Brown had pleaded guilty to two class A misdemeanor charges of attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and attempted illegal possession/use of a controlled substance, and a class B misdemeanor charge of illegal possession/use of a controlled substance.
Police say Brown was selling OxyContin from his apartment in January 2007.
Brown is serving one year of probation for participating in the sale of a .38-caliber handgun used by Talovic, who opened fire on shoppers at Trolley Square last year. Brown later pleaded guilty in that case to a misdemeanor charge of selling a gun to a minor. Talovic was 17 at the time of the sale.

Read More

Christopher Blank

Blank, 29, is charged with shooting two Egg Harbor Township officers and shooting at a third. But, according to Blank, he was blinded by pepper spray, gasping for breath, handcuffed to a fence and being beaten when he felt Officer Clear Costantino's gun on the ground and, "I just fired."Christopher Blank thought it was a routine traffic stop. Then he saw the spotlight - and the officer with his gun drawn.
"I'm thinking, obviously they've got the wrong person," Blank testified at his attempted-murder trial Wednesday.

"Why did you fire?" defense attorney Mark Roddy asked.
"I was (expletive) dying, man," Blank said. "I was dying."

Read More

Anuchit Lamlert

Anuchit Lamlert, 24, an unemployed man who has been arrested many times for robbing foreign tourists, The Nation reported. The suspect has confessed to the killing. However, he would not give the reason. After committing the crime, he escaped from the scene by his motorcycle and threw the gun to the bushes. Thai Police are now searching for the murder weapon.
Police tracked down Lamlert after spreading a photo robot of the gunman and set award of $15,000 for information about his whereabouts. The image was made with the help of digital procession of a security camera video. The image was completed by testimony of a crime witness. The witness said the photo robot "resembled remarkably" a man he saw fleeing the crime scene when the Russian tourists were gunned.
As Newslab reported earlier, two tourists from Kemerovo Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, and Lyubov Svirkova, 25, were murdered on the beach in front of the Thai resort hotel in Pattaya on February 24. No evidence of struggle or violence were found. There were drinks unfinished and mobile phones nearby on the sand. Thai police reported that there had been several tens of incoming calls on the mobile phones of the girls not long before their killing.
The results of a medical forensic expert examination received after an autopsy of the bodies were made public on February 28. The amount of alcohol in the girls' blood was high enough, now drugs were detected. Experts stated that the tourists had had sexual contacts within for days preceding the murder. The fact is partially confirmed by the words of their relatives, who said the girls had been a success with men in Thailand, RBC reported. Svirkova's mother told her daughter wanted to leave before the trip pass was expired because of assertive courting by local men.
Despite the confession, the investigation is continuing on the basis of other leads suggesting the motive for the killings may not have been robbery. Police is identifying the mobile callers. Police are also checking information that a European man might have been also involved in the killing. Murderers are wanted among Russian tourists, youth Thai biker groups and international criminal gangs. The girls' bodies will be taken to Novosibirsk and passed to their relatives on March 2.

Read More

Tatyana Tsimfer,Lyubov Svirkova

Tatyana Tsimfer, born 1977, and Lyubov Svirkova, born 1982, who had come from the Siberian city of Kemerovo, fell victims of the crime. Their bodies were found on a beach on Saturday morning. In the opinion of experts, the killings took place on February 24 at around four of five o’ clock in the morning.Investigators of the case on the murder of Russian tourists at the Thai resort city of Pattaya have a video clip which can help in exposing the crime, Russian Consul to Thailand Vladimir Pronin told on Sunday.
According to Pronin, the video recording was made by one of outside iconoscopes, located not far from the place of the crime. Russian Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny Afanasyev met personally senior investigators on Sunday.
In the opinion of operatives, the case looks very complicated, since reasons for the murder are murky. Over 100 policemen participate in the investigation of the crime. The investigation examines various versions, apart from robbery, since personal belongings of the girls were not stolen.
One of witnesses who turned to be not far from the place of the murder, heard shots. Then, he saw a young man, running away from the beach. The supposed criminal ran to the road and sped away on a motorcycle.
Policemen who came to the place of the accident, found out that the Russian girls were killed with four shots. There were no traits of struggle on their bodies or violence. Next to them, there were half-empty drinks, a handset and other personal belongings of the girls.
According to some information, they lived at the Dragon Beach Resort Hotel and were to leave the resort on March 3. They had been seen the last time on Friday evening, resting on the beach.
Police find leads in Russian tourists' murder
Thai police investigators have produced some clues suggesting that a gang of foreigners may have been involved in the murder of two Russian tourists at Jomtien beach in the popular seaside resort of Pattaya on Saturday morning.
Police Lieutenant General Assawin Kwanmuang, Region 2 Provincial Police commissioner, said he had instructed the police investigating team to seek an early arrest of the culprit after close examination of
the victims' holiday snapshots taken while visiting some tourist attractions as well as security camera images which found that a gang of foreigners, in particular "The Chopper Gang", a local group in
Pattaya, may have been involved in the killings.
The police officer did not provide more details about the so-called gang, but indicated that mobile phone records of the two women are being thoroughly checked for further evidence as they used local simcards to call in and out prior to the killings.
Earlier police offered a Bt100,000 (about US$3,000) reward for the capture of the gunman. They also released a video monitor sequence of a tall man aged about 30, captured by security camera, parking a
motorcycle at a beachside road, running to the two Russian women and shooting the pair before fleeing on the motorcycle.
Gen. Assawin said Sunday that the women worked as telephone operators in Russia and were visiting Thailand for the first time with a tour group. They had noting to do with illegal transnational prostitution,
according to personal records shown by a representative from the Russian Embassy.
He also ruled out the possibility of robbery as the victims' belongings were left untouched.
Pattaya, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of Bangkok, is popular among foreign holidaymakers. The beach resort attracts tens of thousands of Russian tourists every year.
Russia ready to help in Thailand investigation into tourists murder Russia is ready to render assistance for the investigation in Thailand into the murder of Russian tourists in Pattaya, a Russian embassy source in Bangkok told Itar-Tass.
All the local police forces have joined the investigation. The authorities do everything to catch the murderer. However, there is no definite circle of suspects yet. The case is very complicated, since the crime motives are unclear. Various versions are under consideration, including involvement of local and Russian criminals.
Everybody with whom the young women talked after arriving in Thailand are questioned. Russian Consul Vladimir Pronin said nobody of the Russian tourists refused to answer questions of investigators. Consulate representatives and Pronin personally are present at the questioning and help to translate documents that are needed for the investigation.
A 100,000-bat (3,000 dollars) reward is promised for information about the murderer.
Police released a sketch yesterday of a man suspected of killing two Russian women in Pattaya on Saturday.
Officers said the image was taken from video footage from security cameras at a convenience store near where Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, and Liubov Svirkova, 25, were found dead in deckchairs at 5am on Jomtien beach on February 24.
Police did not clarify whether the mugshot of the unidentified man was produced from the blurry camera image - later enhanced electronically - or if it simply matched a profile in their criminal records after the visual enhancement was done.
It shows a man who appears to be a Thai in his 20s.
Pattaya City mayor Nirand Watthanasartsathorn had said earlier that police were looking for a tall foreign man, possibly from a Middle Eastern country.
Head investigator Pol Lt-General Assawin Khwanmueng said later the sketch was drawn based on accounts of an eyewitness now under protection. The officer said the witness called the sketch a "remarkable resemblance" of the gunman he saw shooting the victims.
Prize money for information leading to the arrest of the killer/s was increased to Bt500,000 yesterday from the original Bt100,000. The police hotline is 081-875-1637.
A police source said earlier that Svirkova complained to her mother she felt uneasy being wooed by some men and had felt like going home, according to a police interview with the mother.
"She told her mum Pattaya was a nice place and Thai people were great, but she felt like returning home because some men were always trying to chat to her. Then she hung up," the source said.
The mother said Svirkova's call showed no sign of fear or worry of being followed by her admirers. However, Russian media had earlier published an interview with the father of Tsimfer, who said she had sounded scared during their last chat, saying she had had some sort of threat.
The source said police had interviewed five Russian men who had hung around with both women for several days before they were shot, and that two of the men said they had sex with the women - but had nothing to do with their murders.
The source added the women also made friends with a group of foreign chopper motorcycle riders who hang out around Marine Plaza.

Read More

Mrs Aparna Bose

72-year-old woman, Mrs Aparna Bose, was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in the wee hours this morning at her AH-325 residence in Salt Lake. The burglars decamped with cash and ransacked her two-storeyed house. No arrests have been made till reports last came in.
The incident took place around 2.00 a.m. when the septuagenarian lady found that four people had entered into the ground floor of her house. “Their faces were covered and they had a gun. They threatened to kill me if I raised an alarm,” she said. “I remained quiet and prayed that they would not harm me. I was too afraid even to reply to their questions properly,” she added.
The burglars tied up the woman and her housemaid, Sabita, while they ransacked her house looking for valuables and ornaments. Initially, they had searched the ground floor of the house. Not finding anything they searched the first floor of the house.
“My brother and his wife used to stay on the first floor but now the floor is unoccupied. They left after finding nothing valuable in the house,” Mrs Bose said.
After an hour long burglary the gang left. However, before going, the robbers gagged the lady and stole Rs 1,700 from a tin box kept in Mrs Bose's room. “They threatened to shoot me if I complained to the police,” she said. The two ladies remained tied and gagged for some hours. Around 7.00 a.m., Sabita managed to free herself and Mrs Bose. Later, they called on a neighbour Mr Maity and narrated the entire incident to him. It was then that a complaint was lodged with the Bidhannagar police.
Mrs Bose has been living alone in Salt Lake residence of hers since 1992. She has two daughters, Mrs Susmita Ray and Mrs Sujata Dutta both of whom reside outside Kolkata after they got married. n SNS

Read More

Chet Powell

Chet Powell have missed the deadline to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that said Powell did not use excessive force when he shot and killed their son on Dec. 1, 2005.
Devin Orland, attorney with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, said the 11th Circuit Court has dismissed the matter for “failure to prosecute.”
“While I am hopeful that they will let this go, they can file a motion with the court to reopen the appeal. Such motions usually are granted ... but for right now, the case stands dismissed,” said Orland of the plantiffs.
It’s been just over two years since Chet Powell, a state park ranger at Reed Bingham State Park, shot and killed a man after a scuffle ensued during the attempted arrest of the man. Powell, early on, was cleared by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation of any alleged wrongdoing in the incident in which Curtis Wright Jr., 20, was killed. In mid-December, a federal lawsuit brought by the victim’s family was tossed out of court via a summary judgment issued by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson.
Lawson’s ruling was in great detail examining plaintiffs’ claims under the Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. But in essence, Lawson said there is no evidence to suggest that Powell used excessive force nor that his actions were racially motivated, as alleged by the victim’s family. Powell is Caucasian. The victim was African-American. Lawson also ruled that there was no evidence that would require a jury to hear the case.
The finding by Lawson stated in part that on Dec. 1, 2005, Powell was alerted to someone beating on a soft drink machine at the beach pavilion. Powell investigated and found Curtis at the scene. Curtis denied that he was tampering with the machine but as Powell saw physical damage to the machine and confronted Curtis of his alleged actions, Curtis reached into his waistband as if he was pulling something out, later to be determined to be a scewdriver.
Powell pulled his gun but then holstered it when he saw it was a screwdriver. As he tried to handcuff Curtis, the suspect knocked Powell backwards and tried to flee.

During the process, the finding showed that Powell had holstered his gun twice but that he did eventually spray Curtis with pepper spray when he continued to resist arrest. The finding also showed that in his attempt to flee, Curtis backed the car up causing Powell to struggle to keep from being run over. During that time, there was a struggle over Powell’s gun. In that struggle, Powell gained the upper hand. The gun was fired twice. One bullet hit Curtis in the thigh and the other struck him in the chest.
There were two eyewitnesses to the incident, supporting Powell’s account.
The plaintiffs argued that Powell had no authority to make an arrest, but the court established that Powell was a state conservation ranger and did have the authority to make arrests. It also noted that Curtis failed to comply with attempts to be arrested. An autopsy report showed that Curtis had used marijuana.
The lawsuit was filed by the victim’s father, Curtis Wright Sr. and his mother Wanda Denise Boston.
Powell later was promoted to superintendent at the park. Prior to his employment by the state, Powell also served as a Colquitt County deputy sheriff.

Read More

Lil Wayne,Dwayne Carter, Jr,Harold Johnson, Jr, Curtis Stewart

Rapper Lil Wayne and two others are still in custody at this hour, after appearing in court and being initialed on pending felony charges.
Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter, Jr., along with 23-year-old Harold Johnson, Jr and 24-year-old Curtis Stewart, were arrested at approximately 11:20 pm MT, at a Border Patrol Checkpoint along Interstate 8 near Dateland, AZ, about one hour east of Yuma.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration in Arizona, Lil Wayne was traveling with 11 others aboard a tour bus along I-8, the most common route between San Diego, CA and Tucson, AZ where Wayne performed on Sunday evening (Jan 20).
The rapper’s bus was flagged for inspection by a K-9 unit. After the New Orleans native consented to a search, the K-9 unit boarded Wayne’s bus to complete a full search.
"The K-9 Unit found multiple types of drugs, as well as currency, and firearms," DEA spokeswoman Ramona Sanchez told AllHipHop.com. "One of the firearms, a .44 caliber pistol was registered to Mr. Carter. He did have a concealed weapon permit from Florida, but we are investigating whether it violates any Arizona laws."
Sanchez added that the K-9 Unit recovered 105 grams of marijuana (3.7 ounces), almost 29 grams of cocaine (1.02 ounces), 41 grams of Ecstasy (1.05 ounces) and $22,000 dollars in cash.
"The two other individuals were charged with possession of marijuana," Sanchez said. "Mr. Carter was charged with possession of the cocaine and ecstasy, and possession of miscellaneous paraphernalia."
Per the Yuma County Court, the County Attorney has 48 hours to file felony complaints on these charges.
Lil Wayne’s bond was set at $10,185 dollars, while Johnson and Stewart are being held on $3,009 bond. The rapper was released today (January 23) and is due back in court January 25.
After posting $10,185 bond, the rapper signed autographs for several fans outside a Yuma bail bondsman's office.
The arrest comes as Lil Wayne prepares to release The Carter III, which is slated for a March 11 release.

Read More

Gregory Scott Hinkle,14 guns were discovered at checkpoints around the country last week. On average, screeners find two guns a day

Gregory Scott Hinkle, 53, of Davis, West Virginia, went through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, an airport spokeswoman said.
After the traveler evidently recalled having the gun, he returned to the checkpoint and disclosed the weapon, authorities said.
The TSA contacted airport police, who charged the man with possessing or transporting a firearm into an air carrier terminal where prohibited, a misdemeanor, and released him. He is scheduled to appear April 2 in Arlington County, Virginia, General District Court.
A TSA spokesman said the agency reviewed airport surveillance camera videos of the incident and removed the screener from security duties while an investigation is under way.
"Appropriate actions will be taken once the investigation is complete," spokesman Christopher White said
White said that 14 guns were discovered at checkpoints around the country last week. On average, screeners find two guns a day, he said.
"We know this is not a systemic problem in that our testing indicates TSOs [Transportation Security Officers] have a very high success rate at finding firearms. Given the high degree of reliability that our TSOs can find even carefully concealed firearms, we are evaluating every aspect of this incident," White said. E-mail to a friend

Read More

Mustafa Ali,Jason Lighty

Mustafa Ali, 36, is charged with killing armored car guards William Widmaier, 65, and Joseph Alullo, 54, on Oct. 4 as they were servicing an ATM outside a Wachovia bank in Northeast Philadelphia.
Police found the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol where Ali told them he had buried it, investigators said.
Authorities arrested Jason Lighty, 26, who they said legally bought the pistol in a gun shop in 2003. He later illegally sold it to his co-worker Eric Benson, 25, who also was arrested, Abraham said.
Lighty's attorney, James A. Funt, said his client is a churchgoing, law-abiding husband and father of two toddlers. He wanted the gun out of his house and sold it to a co-worker who said he was the victim of a robbery and assault, Funt said.
Lighty "made a very bad lapse in judgment ... but does not fit the profile (of a straw purchaser) in any way, shape or form," Funt said.
Benson did not yet have an attorney in the gun case, according to court records, and a telephone number for him could not be found.
Investigators are continuing to look into whether others had the gun before it allegedly made its way into Ali's hands.

Read More

Lawrence Brinley Wilson ,Scarpino Killing Hells Angels, the Independent Soldiers and the United Nations gang connection

47-year old Lawrence Brinley Wilson of Vancouver, was charged Monday with three weapons offences and possession of cocaine after police arrested him at Gotham's.
Vancouver investigators continue to pore over surveillance tapes of the shooting scene in the 600 block of Seymour, trying to find clear images of the two shooters, who fled on foot after killing Scarpino and a friend sitting behind him in his car. Police have not released the name of the second victim, but said he was not known to them.
Scarpino had been renting a house in West Vancouver. He owned no property, according to land title records.
Property records show Scarpino had a four-year-lease on the Mercedes, which expires in June.
"When I play poker, I sometimes have a good windfall and I usually buy expensive jewelry, expensive clothing, expensive cars with the winnings," he said. "I used to wear my jewelry all the time, but recently I realized that people were paying special attention to my jewelry when I was in a bar or a nightclub. In one instance, a couple of black guys followed me to my car after I left the bar and asked me if they could look at my watch. It made me nervous and I pepper-sprayed them."
Scarpino also claims in the civil suit not to have any "financial difficulties" but a few months before he sued the insurance company, the Royal Bank won a default judgment against him for a debt of more than $50,000 owed on a line of credit.
He had been out of jail for just a week when he was killed, having completed a sentence for carrying a nine-millimetre handgun in Vancouver in August 2005.
Scarpino was ordered not to possess firearms for life after a December 2000 conviction for an Abbotsford robbery and unlawful confinement, for which he got a three-year sentence.
But the biggest criminal case against him -- a 1996-97 cross-border cocaine trafficking conspiracy -- ended up collapsing after he and other accused were convicted in 1999. They won a new trial on appeal in 2001, but the Crown stayed the charges without explanation.
High school friends of Scarpino told The Vancouver Sun he had been a popular, outgoing teen and volleyball and basketball star at Belmont secondary when he quit school in Grade 11 to move to Vancouver and do some modelling. Instead, he got hooked up with the wrong crowd and began his immersion in the world of organized crime.
"He has certainly been involved in organized crime and gang activity," said Supt. John Robin, of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force. "He has been on our radar for a number of years."
Despite Scarpino's statements to the contrary, he had many enemies, including some members of the Hells Angels, the Independent Soldiers and the United Nations gang.
"He has been associated to a number of groups that we are aware of," Robin said. "He has been a bit of a freelancer."

Read More

Edward Garcia

Edward Garcia, of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Garcia, 41, faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McBryde on May 2, 2008
The government presented evidence at trial that on April 15, 2007, Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) officers responded to a report of a shooting on West Hammond Street in Fort Wort Worth. When officers arrived at the scene, they were met by Lucia Garcia, Edward Garcia’s wife. She told officers that Garcia had shot himself in the leg. Officers observed Edward Garcia lying in the living room floor with a gunshot wound to his inner left thigh. Officers were taken to a bedroom where they recovered a loaded .22 caliber, semi-automatic pistol.
Further evidence offered by the government showed that when officers interviewed Lucia Garcia, she told them that her husband was drinking beer so she went inside and locked the door, leaving him outside on the west side of the residence. At approximately 8:30 p.m. however, after hearing banging at the front door the front door glass breaking, she went to the front door and saw Garcia standing with the pistol. She opened the front door and took the pistol from Garcia.
The jury heard testimony from a FWPD officer that when he went to John Peter Smith Hospital to interview Edward Garcia, he found that Garcia had an entry wound on his upper left inner thigh and an exit wound on the same leg approximately 12-16 inches lower than the entry wound. When the officer asked Garcia at the hospital what had happened, the officer testified that Garcia said, “Isn’t it ******* obvious. I was putting the gun in my waist and shot myself. If you want to know anything else speak to my lawyer.”
If the Court finds at sentencing that Garcia has three or more prior felony convictions for crimes of violence, he will be sentenced as an Armed Career Criminal to up to life in prison.
The case was adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a nationwide effort which targets gun crime.
U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the FWPD and the ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Michael Worley and Josh Burgess are prosecuting the case.

Read More

William Widmaier, Mustafa Ali

Mustafa Ali, 36, is charged with killing armored car guards William Widmaier, 65, and Joseph Alullo, 54, on Oct. 4 as they were servicing an ATM outside a Wachovia bank in Northeast Philadelphia.
Police found the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol where Ali told them he had buried it, investigators said.
Authorities arrested Jason Lighty, 26, who they said legally bought the pistol in a gun shop in 2003. He later illegally sold it to his co-worker Eric Benson, 25, who also was arrested, Abraham said.
Lighty's attorney, James A. Funt, said his client is a churchgoing, law-abiding husband and father of two toddlers. He wanted the gun out of his house and sold it to a co-worker who said he was the victim of a robbery and assault, Funt said.
Lighty "made a very bad lapse in judgment ... but does not fit the profile (of a straw purchaser) in any way, shape or form," Funt said.
Benson did not yet have an attorney in the gun case, according to court records, and a telephone number for him could not be found.
Investigators are continuing to look into whether others had the gun before it allegedly made its way into Ali's hands.
Felons are prohibited from owning firearms. Those trying to get guns typically enlist straw purchasers, who then commonly report the guns as stolen in an attempt to avoid liability if the weapons are used in crimes, authorities say.
The alleged straw buyers _ two of whom are women accused of buying guns for their boyfriends _ face felony charges including making false statements in connection with a firearm, transfer of a firearm to an ineligible person and other counts. Abraham said in cases when the straw purchaser knew the gun would be used in a crime, they could be charged as an accessory before the fact.
"We want to send a message to the straw purchasers that this is something you don't want to do," Corbett said.
Straw purchasers should serve time in state prison, not simply be sentenced to probation, because they are "aiding in the violence that is striking this city," Corbett said.
In all, 112 arrests have been made and 190 firearms seized since the December 2006 creation of the task force, which includes 27 investigators and about five prosecutors working with city police.
Abraham said the task force existed largely through the efforts of state Sen. Vincent Fumo, who worked to get $5 million from the Legislature for 2007 and is seeking the same amount for this year.

Read More

Bank, Nakhon Kwaenkhetgun, Mongkol Yatra,

Police denied killing the three and suspect their deaths resulted from "silence killing" among criminals.
The discovery of three dead bodies on Ban HipUthai Road in Ayutthaya's Uthai district at 4.20am yesterday brought an end to the police manhunt for Akkharapol "Bank" Sampaoyoung, accused of killing three policemen on duty in Ayutthaya on New Year's Eve
Bank, 22, was found dead with multiple bulletwounds in his back along with Nakhon Kwaenkhetgun, 18, and Mongkol Yatra, 20. Bank carried a loaded 11mm pistol while Mongkol carried a loaded .22 pistol. Their two motorbikes were found nearby.
Provincial Police Region 1 commissioner, Pol LtGen Rachata Yensuang, identified one of the body's as Akkharapol. Rachata offered an initial suspicion that Akkharapol, who was wanted on many criminal charges, might have run out of money so he returned to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. He said Akkharapol had narrowly escaped from police in Phetchabun on Wednesday, leading to incorrect news reports that police had taken him into custody.
He affirmed the police did not kill the three men and that their cause of death would be investigated.
However, Akkharapol's mother Rattana Sampao said she did not believe her son was killed by his own fellows or "gangsters". Rattana said her son had contacted police to turn himself in through a Bang Pain policeman.
She said Akkharapol was supposed to turn himself in on Wednesday morning, when she and Akkharapol's wife were accompanied by Bang Pain policemen to a resort in Lop Buri for them to wait for the news. She said she also informed reporters at 8am on Wednesday about Akkharapol's appointment to turn himself in with police in Ban Nong Lai in Petchabun's Ban Phai district.
Rattana said she lost contact with her son at about 5pm on Wednesday, after which the Bang Pain officers were told via a phone call from some police to take her and daughterinlaw home. She said police must have lured her son and abducted him to another location before he was shot dead.
Rattana said she would not file a compliant against police out of concern for her family's safety but just wanted society to know that her son tried to turn himself in but was extrajudicially killed.
Chamnan Ponsaard, the owner of "Jae Taew Restaurant", where Akkharapol was reportedly arrested according to a Thai newspaper, or was appointed to meet with police according to Rattana, recalled an incident at about 9.30am on Wednesday when three men on two motorbikes came to order some food. After serving them, Chamnan and his mother went back to the kitchen.

They heard a truck with people making a loud noise arrived, so Chamnan and his mother hid at the back of restaurant until everything went quiet, he said. They then found that the three customers and their motorbikes had disappeared without paying the bill, he added.
"We didn't think much about that because it (customers running away without paying bills) happens often. After we heard the news that the three might be the copkiller suspects, we were in shock but we cannot confirm if they are the copkiller suspects because we don't notice their faces. We cannot remember the faces of those driving them either, but they shouldn't be police," he added.
However, Colonel Kornek Petchchaiwes who led the manhunt aid that his team had learned that Akkharapol was hiding in Petchabun's Nong Phai district so they went there but found nothing so they returned to Ayutthaya.
"All day long there were rumours that police had arrested this suspect (Akkharapol), but I confirm that my team did not arrest him and did not extrajudicially kill him," he said
Later Thursday, Dr Suranong Srisuwan from Thammasat Hospital in Pathum Thani's Khlong Luang district revealed that Akkharapol died from some 50 shotgun bullets in his back, destroying all his internal organs. There was no sign of other physical abuse on him, he added.
Akkharapol and his friends were wanted for allegedly killing three Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police officers - Pol Lance Coperal Sila Waenngern, 25, Pol SgtMaj Preeda Joijutha, 35, and Pol Snr SgtMaj Kosin Manprom, 41, on December 31, 2007.
The officers reportedly tried to arrest Akkharapol while he was celebrating the New Year holiday at a relative's home in Bang Pahan district, but were met with a hail of gunfire, after which Akkharapol and his friends fled. Police set a reward of Bt500,000 for information leading to their arrest.
In related news, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police and the three officers' family members yesterday morning held a merit making ceremony. Pol Snr SgtMaj Kosin's wife Sunthri Manprom said she was glad that Akkharapol died, no matter who killed him, as he was repaid the bad karma he gave. If he were alive, she would file a lawsuit against him, she said, but since he was dead, she forgave him.

Read More

John 'Leo' Del Pinto,Carly Reisig

Autopsy shows both shots would have been fatal
An autopsy carried out in Canada on the body of John 'Leo' Del Pinto, who was gunned down by a policeman in Pai earlier this month has revealed both shots would have been fatal.
The Medical Examiner's office in Calgary, Alberta, has completed a report which says he was killed instantly by the bullet to his head.
But the second shot pierced both his liver and kidney and would also have been fatal.
Ross Fortune, a spokesman for the Del Pinto family said last night personal belongings that which 'Leo' was carrying at the time of death had not been returned.
"This was heartbreaking news for a family, who are already struggling to cope with the loss of their only son."
Meanwhile the full autopsy report is expected to be ready in three days.
A memorial service will be held in Calgary today.
Meanwhile, Canadian Secretary of State, Helena Guergis, has written to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing Canada 's concern and calling for a transparent investigation into the shootings of Del Pinto and his companion Carly Reisig, 24, from Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Read More

Hou Chang Mao

Hou Chang Mao, 47, was working at Fu Yao Supermarket, at 643 Gerrard St. East, near Broadview Avenue, when he was hit in the chest by a stray bullet shortly after 6 p.m. He was taken to hospital but could not be revived.
Homicide investigators said Hou, who has a 23-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter, was an innocent bystander.
"He didn't walk in the way. He was working," Det. Sgt. Pauline Grey said at a press conference. "He wasn't walking in the path of gunfire. He was going about his everyday business."
Grey said at least two people were involved in the gun battle and two handguns were used as different shell casings were found at the scene.
Investigators are urging two young men who witnessed the shooting to contact police.
"These two gentlemen know what's happened, they know why it happened, and this is their opportunity to come to the Toronto Police Service homicide squad and tell us that information," Grey said.
The witnesses are described as two young black men, about 6-feet-tall, who fled in a small, silver-coloured vehicle that had a "very shiny" front grill.
Grey said officers are poring over surveillance camera footage in the area.
She also appealed to anyone who was in the area during the shooting to call police and tell them what they heard or saw.
"It was very busy at 6 p.m. I can tell you that the streets were full -- it was like Manhattan, and there are many, many people out there who saw what happened," Grey said. "They don't have to know the whole story, they just have to see one little, tiny piece."
Grey, who wouldn't comment on the specifics of the investigation or a possible motive, said the culprits must know they've committed a terrible act.
"Even they have to understand the depth of what they've done. They cannot, in all good conscience, walk away and know that they've killed an innocent man who was doing his job," she said.
"That has to touch somewhere, that they've been involved in something truly horrific."
Police say the incident was sparked by an argument between several people, which resulted in guns being drawn. Several shots were fired. One shop had a bullet hole in its front window and the windshield of a parked car was also hit.


Those who knew Hou described him as a hard-working, honest man who was well liked in the neighbourhood. Just last week, he helped hang Chinese New Year banners in the area, friends said.
Hou came to Canada from China two years ago, and has worked at the store for that time. His wife lives in China.
Hou lived with his daughter Yun Yam and son Zoo-Zee just a 10-minute walk from where he worked. Other relatives, who also lived at the home, are "extremely upset and extremely distraught," police told CTV Toronto.
The city is setting up a trust fund at Scotiabank to help the family pay for the funeral.
Local residents said they were shocked by the death and shaken by the frightening incident.
"I shop there all time," said one woman. "It could have been me -- I went home from work early yesterday."
"I think there were two bangs, and then four," one witness said. "I wondered what it was. I could have been right there."
The slaying marks the city's third so far this year, and the second time in one week that an innocent bystander has been shot dead on a busy Toronto street.
Early Saturday morning, 42-year-old John O'Keefe was caught in a deadly crossfire as he walked on Yonge Street. O'Keefe, a father of one, was not the intended target. He was shot once in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Two men have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the slaying.

O'Keefe was laid to rest on Friday. Those in attendance expressed disbelief that it could happen again so soon.

"It's so very tragic for everybody. And I wish they could do something, because guns kill people. That's what they do," one woman said.

Read More

Michael Clatts

Michael Clatts, an AIDS researcher at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health and the National Development and Research Institutes. arsenal of weapons and explosive devices was found in the Brooklyn Heights apartment of a Columbia University professor yesterday morning after the professor's roommate accidentally shot himself, police said.

The arsenal was discovered after a man who also lived in the one-bedroom attic apartment, identified by sources as Ivaylo Ivanov, 31, shot himself in the hand.
After telling police officers on patrol on Montague Terrace that someone had shot him at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, he was taken to Long Island College Hospital, where he later admitted to police that he had shot himself.
A downstairs neighbor, Penny Kaufman, said she escorted police to the fourth floor apartment at around 3:30 a.m. yesterday to help them subdue the two men's dog. Through the door of the apartment, Ms. Kaufman, a legal secretary, said she saw a handgun and several bullets lying on a desk chair near the door. She also saw blood smeared on a wall near the light switch and towels balled up in the sinks and bathtub.

Read More

Tony T. Hill

Tony T. Hill of Bartlett was arrested for having an unregistered 9 mm fully automatic grease gun.
In addition to the fully automatic, Hill had a Colt .45 handgun which was stolen from a Hocking County home in April 2006.
Hill allegedly purchased the weapons from Martin Welch of Hocking County who officers said confessed to the burglary.
"We consider this as a dangerous ordinance. It is classified in the statutes as that because it is fully automatic. It's a weapon that all you have to do is pull the trigger once and it completely discharges all the ammunition inside of it," said Washington County Sheriff Larry Minks.
Hill is facing two felony charges. A third degree charge for the automatic weapon and a fourth degree charge for receiving stolen property.

Read More

Richard Lee Beall

Richard Lee Beall, 42, of 425 Oak Ridge Drive was charged with assault by pointing a gun, resisting arrest and three counts of assault on a law-enforcement officer with a gun.
Surry County sheriff’s dispatchers got a call at 8:11 p.m. reporting a domestic assault at Beall’s home.
The caller said that everyone but Beall was out of the house.
When officers got to the house about 9:20 p.m. to serve arrest warrants, they saw him looking out a window pointing a pistol.
A few minutes later, Beall fired the gun at them. Nearby houses were evacuated, and neighbors were not allowed in the area.
Beall finally surrendered to officers at 4:13 a.m. yesterday.
He was being held in the Surry County Jail last night. His bond has been set at $500,000.

Read More

Ricardo Francis Scarpino

Bodies lie on the pavement beside a Range Rover outside a popular restaurant on Seymour Street in Vancouver early Sunday.
The victims had been on their way to a private party at the Gotham Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar when two assailants gunned them down before horrified pedestrians thronging Seymour Street in the heart of downtown Vancouver, an area packed with bars, coffee shops and late-night grocery stores.
The private party, booked into a secluded downstairs room at the restaurant, was to have celebrated the recent engagement of one of the victims, 37-year old Ricardo Francis Scarpino of West Vancouver.
One of the invited guests dropped a loaded semi-automatic handgun when stopped by police as he attempted to leave the premises, moments after the shootings. He was arrested and is facing charges of having an illegal weapon and cocaine possession.
Constable Fanning said Mr. Scarpino was familiar to police for his criminal associations and was almost certainly the prime target of the well-executed hit.
“He was obviously on somebody's list to kill…. They lay in waiting and picked their opportunity to do this.”

Mr. Scarpino was convicted and served time for heading up a huge cocaine smuggling ring based in Victoria in the late 1990s.
But the convictions were subsequently stayed several years later by the Crown for undisclosed reasons, and Mr. Scarpino was soon released.
In 1993, Mr. Scarpino killed a man in a busy Los Angeles restaurant, while acting as a bounty hunter. He was not charged with murder, however, because investigators could not disprove Mr. Scarpino's claim that he acted in self defence.
He had also served time for property theft.
Constable Fanning said the second victim, a 38-year West Vancouver resident described as a friend of Mr. Scarpino, was not known to police. His identity is being withheld, pending notification of next of kin.
The attack took place while Mr. Scarpino and three passengers were still inside his black 2007 Land Rover that had pulled up to the restaurant.
A pair of black-clad gunmen ran up and pumped numerous bullets at the victims, before dashing off down a nearby alley. Two handguns were found a block away.
Mr. Scarpino was killed right beside his fiancée, who had been sitting in the front seat of the Land Rover.
“She is very, very distraught, as you can imagine,” said Constable Fanning. “It was an absolutely horrific thing to happen on what was supposed to have been a very joyous evening.”

The Gotham Steakhouse, located in a refurbished art deco building beside the Hudson's Bay store, is often a dining retreat for celebrities, attracted by its dark, secluded interior and reputation for good wines and excellent cuisine.
Past guests have included Halle Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Mark Wahlberg, Nicolas Cage, Hugh Jackman, Kid Rock and Michael Buble.

General manager Christopher Langridge said that, as far as he knew, members of the private party had not eaten previously at the restaurant.
“We've had prime ministers and so many celebrities here. This was a very rare situation. It's certainly not an everyday event for our staff and our guests,” Mr. Langridge said.

A woman who lives in the area told reporters that she rushed to the scene after hearing as many as six shots.
“I'd never seen dead people before. It was horrible,” said the woman, who identified herself only as “Charm.”
“One of the bodies was pulled onto the sidewalk. You don't expect to have people being gunned down on your back door step. It's really shocking.”
The killings were the first serious gang-related violence since Lower Mainland police formed a highly publicized Violence Suppression Team in early November, in the wake of a raft of gangland homicides in the city and surrounding suburbs, including the slaying of six people in a Surrey apartment.
Police suggested that gangs were lying low because of their stepped-up anti-gang activities.
“It's been pretty quiet for a long time,” said Constable Fanning, “But sadly, we were not able to prevent this double homicide. There are a lot of guns out there and a lot at stake in the criminal world…. Complete eradication is almost impossible.”
Reacting to the weekend homicides, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan stopped short Sunday of endorsing Toronto Mayor David Miller's call for a complete ban on handguns.
“My understanding is that these handguns are being smuggled into Canada, so they are not legal to begin with,” Mr. Sullivan said. “But I certainly support anything that will be effective against these gangs.”
A better way, the mayor argued, is to consider legalizing drugs or giving the green light to his plan to wean addicts off drugs by prescribing legal alternatives.
“If you eliminate profits from illegal drugs, there would be no violence,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Read More