With pressure from the United States, Colombia will reinstate its practice of spraying glyphosate (Roundup) to eradicate coca crops
telesur
June 26, 2018
Colombia’s Minister of Defense says the country will reinstate the policy of eradicating its coca production with glyphosate, this time with the help of drones.
Luis Carlos Villegas announced on Monday that the government will reinstate its practice of fumigating the illicit crops with glyphosate, an herbicide that Colombia’s Constitutional Court prohibited in 2015 arguing it threatens the health of local communities and the environment.
Villegas, trying to quell fears regarding the chemical’s negative health impacts, said that by using drones to disperse the Roundup creates “half the concentration of the poison that the planes had," saying that "the risks to people and the environment are quite mitigable."
In 2015 the U.N. cancer research center labeled the potent weed killer, devised by Monsanto, as a probable carcinogen.
Tractors will also be used to rid areas of the crop, said the defense minister.
Villegas added on Tuesday that the National Council of Narcotic Drugs still needs to authorize the drone use, but that 10 teams will start the practice by next Wednesday.
Even though he hasn't taken office yet, Colombia’s president-elect Ivan Duque said Monday he welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for his planned "head-on fight against drug trafficking," and eradication of the leaf.
James Carroll, acting director for the U.S. National Drug Control Policy said in a press statement Monday, "President (Donald) Trump’s message to Colombia is clear: it must reverse the record growth in cocaine production," adding that the country "must do more … to improve its eradication efforts."
The strong statements come just as the White House released a report showing that coca leaf cultivation grew by 11 percent over last year and is at an all-time high. Coca production has been on the rise since 2012.
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that "there is a smaller (coca production) increase than expected."
Referring to the 2016 accord he signed with the former FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) the head of state said, "The important thing is to have a strategy and for the first time you have something viable and effective to combat this scourge more effectively."
The Colombian president added, "For the first time we have a plan, a vision and we can be effective thanks to peace, and we have to be very honest: without that peace, a structural solution to illicit crops would not have been possible."
Santos went on to describe the fight against drugs, as a 'static bicycle', since "we fumigate one day and the next day he was back on his feet."
For decades small-scale farmers, particularly those located in Colombia's coastal regions where the state was largely absent, produced coca in order to make a living wage. Santos’ peace agreement with the FARC was supposed to provide coca farmers about US$400 a month for two years of coca-free farming followed by a one time $US3,000 lump sum to help them start a new crop or business, according to the L.A. Times.
However, his administration has hardly been able to keep up with the pledge. Neither has it been able to protect small coca farmers and activists who are being killed by paramilitaries hoping to grab their coca production and land.
The president also pointed out that the problem of drugs is not only the responsibility of Colombia but that "consumers continue to consume and now legalize the consumption of many of the drugs," which is why it must be a global struggle "to combat that scourge".
According to the L.A. Times, the U.S. government has spent some US$10 billion in its Plan Colombia to counter coca and cocaine production and trafficking in the South American country since the year 2000. At the same time, U.S. consumers make up 92 percent of Colombia’s cocaine market.
Monday, July 02, 2018
Sunday, July 01, 2018
CANADIAN STOLEN CREDIT CARD CAPER GOES WRONG
Woman's attempt to escape from RCMP ends with fall through convenience store ceiling
Spruce Grove is a small town of 34,000 Canadians just west of Edmonton in Alberta Province. When the owner of a Reddi Mart convenience store there suspected that Richard Pariseau and Brittany Burke were trying to buy a can of soda with a stolen credit card, he called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Here is the surveillance video of what happened next:
Pariseau faces eleven charges, including resisting arrest and using a stolen credit card while Burke faces three charges including obstructing an officer and mischief under $5,000.
This caper was a teaching moment for Brittany. I'm sure that by now she knows that a sheet rock ceiling won't support her ample ass.
Spruce Grove is a small town of 34,000 Canadians just west of Edmonton in Alberta Province. When the owner of a Reddi Mart convenience store there suspected that Richard Pariseau and Brittany Burke were trying to buy a can of soda with a stolen credit card, he called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Here is the surveillance video of what happened next:
Pariseau faces eleven charges, including resisting arrest and using a stolen credit card while Burke faces three charges including obstructing an officer and mischief under $5,000.
This caper was a teaching moment for Brittany. I'm sure that by now she knows that a sheet rock ceiling won't support her ample ass.
HOW TO MAKE JURY SELECTION MORE EXCITING
A Florida woman shows up for jury selection with foil packets of coke concealed in her cargo pants
On Monday 39-year-old Kristine Mittler of New Port Richey, Florida returned to the West Pasco Judicial Center to see if she had been selected for jury duty. As Kristine passed through the security checkpoint - bzzzzz – the metal detector alarm went off. Sheriff’s deputies found two folded foil packets in the pocket of her cargo pants that had white powder inside. The powder turned out to be 0.6 grams of cocaine. A subsequent check of her straw hat tested positive for meth.
Poor Kristine was busted for possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Well now, you can’t blame a gal for trying to make jury selection more exciting. Had she used small plastic freezer packets instead of foil, she could have taken a few snorts during a piss break. If nothing else, that would have kept her awake during those dull proceedings.
Unless Kristine cops a plea, she will soon have to sit through another boring jury selection, this time for a jury that will decide her fate.
The meth possession charge seems awfully weak ….. that is unless Kristine could smoke her hat. Likewise for the paraphernalia charge. That charge usually sticks only for drug dealers caught with numerous pieces of foil, not for some user with two packets of coke.
Piling on charges is not uncommon though. It is usually done when the suspect has pissed off the arresting cops. In Kristine’s case it was probably done to get her to cop a plea with two of the charges dropped.
On Monday 39-year-old Kristine Mittler of New Port Richey, Florida returned to the West Pasco Judicial Center to see if she had been selected for jury duty. As Kristine passed through the security checkpoint - bzzzzz – the metal detector alarm went off. Sheriff’s deputies found two folded foil packets in the pocket of her cargo pants that had white powder inside. The powder turned out to be 0.6 grams of cocaine. A subsequent check of her straw hat tested positive for meth.
Poor Kristine was busted for possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Well now, you can’t blame a gal for trying to make jury selection more exciting. Had she used small plastic freezer packets instead of foil, she could have taken a few snorts during a piss break. If nothing else, that would have kept her awake during those dull proceedings.
Unless Kristine cops a plea, she will soon have to sit through another boring jury selection, this time for a jury that will decide her fate.
The meth possession charge seems awfully weak ….. that is unless Kristine could smoke her hat. Likewise for the paraphernalia charge. That charge usually sticks only for drug dealers caught with numerous pieces of foil, not for some user with two packets of coke.
Piling on charges is not uncommon though. It is usually done when the suspect has pissed off the arresting cops. In Kristine’s case it was probably done to get her to cop a plea with two of the charges dropped.
TWISTED AND MORE THAN A LITTLE SICK
by Bob Walsh
John Coltharp and Samuel Shaffer are buddies. They live in Utah and belong to what is generally referred to as a Doomsday Cult. They married each others daughters, age 7 and 8.
Shaffer, 34, has just been convicted of child rape and child sodomy. Instead of spending his later years banging his child bridge he will be spending 15-life as a guest of the people of Utah. Under current guidelines he will spend actually a minimum of 26 years in the slammer.
Shaffer, who is one of the co-poohbahs of the Knights of Crystal, a LDS church offshoot, married his 7-year old daughter off to Coltharp who is scheduled to be sentenced to prison in about five weeks.
The girls were located after Coltharp's ex-wife called the cops when he kidnapped their four children. The cops found the girls stashed inside of 55 gallon plastic barrels on the property where they were ordered to hide to avoid police. The girls were hospitalized for dehydration and exposure..
John Coltharp and Samuel Shaffer are buddies. They live in Utah and belong to what is generally referred to as a Doomsday Cult. They married each others daughters, age 7 and 8.
Shaffer, 34, has just been convicted of child rape and child sodomy. Instead of spending his later years banging his child bridge he will be spending 15-life as a guest of the people of Utah. Under current guidelines he will spend actually a minimum of 26 years in the slammer.
Shaffer, who is one of the co-poohbahs of the Knights of Crystal, a LDS church offshoot, married his 7-year old daughter off to Coltharp who is scheduled to be sentenced to prison in about five weeks.
The girls were located after Coltharp's ex-wife called the cops when he kidnapped their four children. The cops found the girls stashed inside of 55 gallon plastic barrels on the property where they were ordered to hide to avoid police. The girls were hospitalized for dehydration and exposure..
MORE FUN AND GAMES IN THE BRONX FOLOWING THE BUTCHERING OF 15-YEAR-OLD
Man busted for punching out pedestrian in the Bronx blames the victim
By Graham Rayman
New York Daily News
June 29, 2018
The suspect busted for punching out a 37-year-old man in the Bronx and then taking pictures blamed the victim in a statement to police, court records show.
Luis Rivera, 22, claimed in a police interview that Fernando Levano was yelling at him moments before Rivera hammered him in the head at about 6 a.m. on June 18 at Aqueduct Ave. and Buchanan Place in University Heights.
“The guy was yelling and I was like, ‘I don’t even know you,’ ” Rivera claimed to police, according to the criminal complaint. “He came back and I was like ‘That’s how it’s going to be?’ But he just kept going.”
Rivera added, “I just hit him. I was angry. The guy was laid out. I took some pictures on someone else’s phone. I know I fucked up very bad.”
His punch dropped Levano to the sidewalk, and his head hit the concrete. Levano was passed out for 10 minutes before an ambulance reached the scene, the records show.
Rivera exchanged high fives with another man in the aftermath, and they both smirked, a video shows.
As Levano was sprawled out in the crosswalk, a group of people, including a woman believed to be a local crack addict, walked over to pick the man’s pockets and take his phone and ID card.
Rivera surrendered Thursday afternoon at the 46th Precinct stationhouse after the NYPD released video that showed him attacking Levano and then taking a cell phone picture of the helpless victim as another thief combed through the man’s clothes for valuables.
Cops previously released video showing Rivera walk up and deliver a devastating right hook to Levano’s head.
Levano suffered a severe brain injury from a skull fracture and remains in critical condition at St. Barnabas Hospital.
His brother, Cesar Zuniga, 31, said Thursday that Levano had headphones on and thus couldn’t hear what Rivera was saying to him.
Rivera was charged with assault. He is being held in the city jails on $15,000 bail or $20,000 bond. His next court date is July 17.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week in the Bronx, 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz was butchered to death by at least eight machete and knife wielding thugs. Now you have bystanders rob the unconscious Fernando Levano after he had been sucker punched by another Bronx denizen.
It sure looks like that shithole, the Bronx, is inhabited by a bunch of sub-humans.
By Graham Rayman
New York Daily News
June 29, 2018
The suspect busted for punching out a 37-year-old man in the Bronx and then taking pictures blamed the victim in a statement to police, court records show.
Luis Rivera, 22, claimed in a police interview that Fernando Levano was yelling at him moments before Rivera hammered him in the head at about 6 a.m. on June 18 at Aqueduct Ave. and Buchanan Place in University Heights.
“The guy was yelling and I was like, ‘I don’t even know you,’ ” Rivera claimed to police, according to the criminal complaint. “He came back and I was like ‘That’s how it’s going to be?’ But he just kept going.”
Rivera added, “I just hit him. I was angry. The guy was laid out. I took some pictures on someone else’s phone. I know I fucked up very bad.”
His punch dropped Levano to the sidewalk, and his head hit the concrete. Levano was passed out for 10 minutes before an ambulance reached the scene, the records show.
Rivera exchanged high fives with another man in the aftermath, and they both smirked, a video shows.
As Levano was sprawled out in the crosswalk, a group of people, including a woman believed to be a local crack addict, walked over to pick the man’s pockets and take his phone and ID card.
Rivera surrendered Thursday afternoon at the 46th Precinct stationhouse after the NYPD released video that showed him attacking Levano and then taking a cell phone picture of the helpless victim as another thief combed through the man’s clothes for valuables.
Cops previously released video showing Rivera walk up and deliver a devastating right hook to Levano’s head.
Levano suffered a severe brain injury from a skull fracture and remains in critical condition at St. Barnabas Hospital.
His brother, Cesar Zuniga, 31, said Thursday that Levano had headphones on and thus couldn’t hear what Rivera was saying to him.
Rivera was charged with assault. He is being held in the city jails on $15,000 bail or $20,000 bond. His next court date is July 17.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week in the Bronx, 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz was butchered to death by at least eight machete and knife wielding thugs. Now you have bystanders rob the unconscious Fernando Levano after he had been sucker punched by another Bronx denizen.
It sure looks like that shithole, the Bronx, is inhabited by a bunch of sub-humans.
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY COPS SHOOT MAN TRYING TO RETRIEVE THE GUN THAT FELL OUT OF HIS WAISTBAND WHILE HE WAS TRYING TO BREAK UP A FIGHT
Associated Press
June 29, 2018
PORTLAND, Oregon -- A witness to a fatal shooting in Portland says officers shot a man who tried to break up a fight.
The gunfire happened early Friday outside the Cheerful Tortoise, a sports bar near Portland State University.
Video sent by a bystander to KOIN-TV shows university officers at the scene of a fight involving several men. During the scuffle, someone yelled that there wasa a gun. Then shots were fired.
Witness Keyaira Smith tells KGW-TV the man who died was trying to de-escalate the fight. While doing so, a gun holstered on his hip fell out. He went to pick it up and was shot.
The Portland Police Bureau is handling the investigation. Sgt. Chris Burley confirms that university officers responded to a disturbance outside the bar. He has not provided details about how the shooting unfolded.
The names of the officer and the person killed have not been released.
Against the objection of protesters, the Portland State University Board of Trustees voted in 2015 to have campus officers carry firearms.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Although a tragic mistake, this looks like a righteous shoot.
June 29, 2018
PORTLAND, Oregon -- A witness to a fatal shooting in Portland says officers shot a man who tried to break up a fight.
The gunfire happened early Friday outside the Cheerful Tortoise, a sports bar near Portland State University.
Video sent by a bystander to KOIN-TV shows university officers at the scene of a fight involving several men. During the scuffle, someone yelled that there wasa a gun. Then shots were fired.
Witness Keyaira Smith tells KGW-TV the man who died was trying to de-escalate the fight. While doing so, a gun holstered on his hip fell out. He went to pick it up and was shot.
The Portland Police Bureau is handling the investigation. Sgt. Chris Burley confirms that university officers responded to a disturbance outside the bar. He has not provided details about how the shooting unfolded.
The names of the officer and the person killed have not been released.
Against the objection of protesters, the Portland State University Board of Trustees voted in 2015 to have campus officers carry firearms.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Although a tragic mistake, this looks like a righteous shoot.
UCLA PROFESSOR MUMMIFIED BEFORE HIS DEATH
Professor Doran George, who taught in UCLA’s LGBTQ and Disability Studies program, suddenly croaked while mummified in TV exec’s sex-dungeon basement
Doran George, 47, was a professor in UCLA’s LGBTQ and Disability Studies program. George, a Brit, was also an accomplished dancer. On November 22, Doran visited the LA home of Skip Chasey, a Hollywood TV executive. Doran and Skip skipped down to Chasey’s sex-dungeon basement. Skip mummified Doran by wrapping him in plastic wrap and gaffer's tape. Whatever bondage sex play the two were engaged in came to a sudden halt when the good professor suddenly croaked.
Chasey is known in the BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism) community as Master Skip. He is a co-founder of People of Leather Among You (PLAY) which has the motto: “Blood may be thicker than water, but leather is thicker than blood.”
Master Skip has given more than 250 different speeches and workshops on BDSM. He can now tell his audiences that perhaps it is best to follow the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification after death, not before it.
LA cops found no criminal wrongdoing in Doran’s death and have closed their investigation of the bondage sex play by the two weirdos.
Alas, UCLA is now short one professor in its worthless LGBTQ and Disability Studies program.
Doran George, 47, was a professor in UCLA’s LGBTQ and Disability Studies program. George, a Brit, was also an accomplished dancer. On November 22, Doran visited the LA home of Skip Chasey, a Hollywood TV executive. Doran and Skip skipped down to Chasey’s sex-dungeon basement. Skip mummified Doran by wrapping him in plastic wrap and gaffer's tape. Whatever bondage sex play the two were engaged in came to a sudden halt when the good professor suddenly croaked.
Chasey is known in the BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism) community as Master Skip. He is a co-founder of People of Leather Among You (PLAY) which has the motto: “Blood may be thicker than water, but leather is thicker than blood.”
Master Skip has given more than 250 different speeches and workshops on BDSM. He can now tell his audiences that perhaps it is best to follow the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification after death, not before it.
LA cops found no criminal wrongdoing in Doran’s death and have closed their investigation of the bondage sex play by the two weirdos.
Alas, UCLA is now short one professor in its worthless LGBTQ and Disability Studies program.
SANDWICH DELIVERY GUY DELIVERS BAD NEWS
Jimmy John's delivery guy reveals to girl that her long-distance boyfriend is CHEATING after she put in a special surprise order for him and the eagle-eyed fast food man spotted a naked woman on his couch
Daily Mail
June 29, 2018
One Jimmy John's customer in Iowa is thanking a delivery guy from the sandwich chain for catching her cheating boyfriend in the act.
Kayla Speer, 23, wanted to surprise her long-distance boyfriend of three months with a sandwich delivered to his home while he was 'studying' for finals.
However, when the delivery guy arrived to the boyfriend's home three hours away from Kayla, he got more than he bargained for. He caught him with a naked woman - who wasn't his girlfriend.
Kayla took to Twitter Wednesday night to share her story about how the sandwich giant helped expose her cheating boyfriend.
Kayla, who works as an exercise specialist in West Burlington, Iowa, said she was in total shock when the delivery guy came over the phone to deliver the news.
In her series of tweets she wrote that she texted her unnamed boyfriend saying 'hey, foods on the way for you. Please leave a tip,' but he did not reply and she assumed he was sleeping.
She later received a text from her boyfriend thanking her for the food.
However, the Jimmy John's delivery boy called her and asked if the order was for her boyfriend.
When she responded that the man the food was delivered to was indeed her boyfriend, the delivery driver responded: 'Look, we usually don't do this, but I think you would like to know... when we walked up to the door to your bf's place we were able to see into his apartment and he was in his boxers with a naked woman on top of him on the couch.'
Kayla said that she was extremely upset and confused.
In her tweets, Kayla thanked Jimmy John's and the delivery driver for exceptional customer service.
'Not many would do what that delivery driver did, and I’m very grateful he called me and was honest about the situation,' she wrote.
The official Jimmy John's Twitter account read Kayla's story and even offered to cater her 'break up party'.
'I’d love to cater your breakup party! Let me know when and where! Please DM me your address and contact info and I’ll make it happen!' the sandwich company wrote.
As for Kayla and her boyfriend, it's safe to say they are no longer together.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Come on Kayla, give the guy a break. He was obviously just studying for his Anatomy and Physiology exam. Why else would he have a naked woman on his couch?
Daily Mail
June 29, 2018
One Jimmy John's customer in Iowa is thanking a delivery guy from the sandwich chain for catching her cheating boyfriend in the act.
Kayla Speer, 23, wanted to surprise her long-distance boyfriend of three months with a sandwich delivered to his home while he was 'studying' for finals.
However, when the delivery guy arrived to the boyfriend's home three hours away from Kayla, he got more than he bargained for. He caught him with a naked woman - who wasn't his girlfriend.
Kayla took to Twitter Wednesday night to share her story about how the sandwich giant helped expose her cheating boyfriend.
Kayla, who works as an exercise specialist in West Burlington, Iowa, said she was in total shock when the delivery guy came over the phone to deliver the news.
In her series of tweets she wrote that she texted her unnamed boyfriend saying 'hey, foods on the way for you. Please leave a tip,' but he did not reply and she assumed he was sleeping.
She later received a text from her boyfriend thanking her for the food.
However, the Jimmy John's delivery boy called her and asked if the order was for her boyfriend.
When she responded that the man the food was delivered to was indeed her boyfriend, the delivery driver responded: 'Look, we usually don't do this, but I think you would like to know... when we walked up to the door to your bf's place we were able to see into his apartment and he was in his boxers with a naked woman on top of him on the couch.'
Kayla said that she was extremely upset and confused.
In her tweets, Kayla thanked Jimmy John's and the delivery driver for exceptional customer service.
'Not many would do what that delivery driver did, and I’m very grateful he called me and was honest about the situation,' she wrote.
The official Jimmy John's Twitter account read Kayla's story and even offered to cater her 'break up party'.
'I’d love to cater your breakup party! Let me know when and where! Please DM me your address and contact info and I’ll make it happen!' the sandwich company wrote.
As for Kayla and her boyfriend, it's safe to say they are no longer together.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Come on Kayla, give the guy a break. He was obviously just studying for his Anatomy and Physiology exam. Why else would he have a naked woman on his couch?
Saturday, June 30, 2018
TRUE STORY FROM A FORMER CAR DEALER
The Po-Lice
By Jerry Reynolds
Car Pro
June 29, 2018
Early in my career running dealerships, the first one I worked at was in a somewhat rough part of town in Dallas. There were only two dealerships on the street where the dealership was located: the Ford store I worked at and a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership next door that eventually closed.
We had more than our fair share of thefts, so typically when I had to call the police, our beat officer, Jerry, came to take the report. Jerry and I became very good friends. One of the first lessons he taught me was that in Texas, there were no police officers, they were all the po-lice (po-lease). I suspect it is still that way today.
The year was 1979 and the Dallas Police and Firefighters were upset over their lack of pay and were at odds with the Mayor and City Council. They gathered enough signatures to get a 15% pay raise on the ballot for the citizens to vote on. The city establishment fought them tooth and nail, buying ads and billboards encouraging people to vote no.
At the time, I was doing some writing for a local newspaper called the Suburban Tribune. I got permission to do some ride-alongs with Jerry as well as with the fire department and wrote about my experiences. I saw many things that most people never knew went on.
I was very vocally in support of the pay raise and made a lot of friends with the officers in the area. The election came and the voters approved it. I was elated for them, they deserved it. As a side note, now almost 40 years later, they still haven’t collected all the back pay, but as recently as this month, the City of Dallas agreed to pay out 235 million dollars, but I digress.
One day Jerry called and told me the Dallas Police Southeast Division Police Chief, Don Stafford, wanted to see me in his office at 3:30 one day. My mind raced, wondering if I screwed something up when I was riding with Jerry. In actuality, the Chief wanted to give me a plaque for helping and they presented it to me during a shift change, so all the 3rd shift officers were there for the presentation.
I found the police work to be very rewarding but loved the car business too. Jerry suggested I apply to go through the Dallas Police Academy and become a police Reserve officer. I did that and graduated later that year. It was a great experience. I stayed on for 10 years until I just didn’t have the time for it.
I got a reputation for taking care of Dallas Police Officers’ vehicle needs. Police are clannish; if you take good care of them, they tell everybody. If they get screwed, they tell everyone as well, maybe even more people. I sold hundreds of officers’ cars. When I would go to report for duty as a reserve officer, just about every vehicle in the parking lot was a Ford I sold.
At the next dealership I worked at, many of them followed me there. One evening as I was coming around a Dallas freeway, a motorcycle officer pulled me over. I wasn’t worried about it, this had happened several times. I kept my driver license under my badge holder and took plenty of time digging for it, just to make sure he saw it.
Officer Ron was about 6’5” and much to my surprise, he started writing me a ticket. In amazement, I said: “are you writing me?” to which he simply said: “yep”. I asked around about him and everyone said he’d write his own mother a ticket and I felt better. The Chief of Police in charge of the reserve officers called me a few days later just to talk, and I told him that Ron wrote me a ticket. Somehow the ticket magically went away.
Several years later, a 6’5” guy walked into my office. He said: “I’m Ron, I understand you take good care of the po-lice.” I recognized him, but he didn’t remember me. I said: “Oh, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for years!” Yes, it was the Ron who wrote me the ticket. I helped him and we became really good friends and are still today. I helped his ex-wife a couple of times, and then he married another Dallas officer and I have helped her with a number of vehicles.
I made a lot of Dallas Police friends over the years, and with the help of Facebook, I’ve kept in touch with many of them. I have a special admiration for these guys and gals. My experience as a reserve officer gives me a realization that they put their lives on the line every day. Of course, like people in the car business, doctors, engineers, and all other professions, there are good and bad. As I always ask, what do you call the student who finishes last in medical school? A doctor.
As a Reserve Police Officer, we wore the same uniform as regular officers. If a bad person was going to shoot, he or she was as likely to shoot me as the officer I was working with. For that reason, I wisely chose the officers I worked with.
One of my favorites was named Ron Baker (not the one who wrote me the ticket). I learned a lot from Ron. He had a cool head, I never saw him abuse anyone, and you could tell he had compassion in his heart. We made a good team. Ron was only 24 but seemed to have the experience of an officer on the job for 20 years or more.
On May 1, 1983, Ron came to me to get a new vehicle. He and his wife Laurie were expecting their second child, Heather. I got him fixed up, and while he was in the finance office, he had my finance manager page me to his office. Ron said to me: “I don’t need this credit life stuff, do I?” I said: “Ron, you’re a cop with a baby on the way, and it’s a couple of dollars per month. If something happens, the car is paid off.”
On May 2, 1983, I was scheduled to do a shift with Ron, but I wasn’t feeling well and begged off. That day, Ron conducted a traffic stop, was overpowered, and shot and killed with his own gun. If that was not bad enough, the murderers backed over him with a van, then ran over him again. They later died after a shootout.
The haunting question for me was always and still is, whether things had been different if I had been with him. Would he still be alive, or would we both be dead?
The following day, Laurie called me and asked if she could bring the new car back, that she couldn’t afford it. Ron had not explained that he bought the credit life insurance.
All I said was: “Don’t worry about the car, the next thing you’ll see is a clear title”.
This story is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Ronald Dale Baker.
By Jerry Reynolds
Car Pro
June 29, 2018
Early in my career running dealerships, the first one I worked at was in a somewhat rough part of town in Dallas. There were only two dealerships on the street where the dealership was located: the Ford store I worked at and a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership next door that eventually closed.
We had more than our fair share of thefts, so typically when I had to call the police, our beat officer, Jerry, came to take the report. Jerry and I became very good friends. One of the first lessons he taught me was that in Texas, there were no police officers, they were all the po-lice (po-lease). I suspect it is still that way today.
The year was 1979 and the Dallas Police and Firefighters were upset over their lack of pay and were at odds with the Mayor and City Council. They gathered enough signatures to get a 15% pay raise on the ballot for the citizens to vote on. The city establishment fought them tooth and nail, buying ads and billboards encouraging people to vote no.
At the time, I was doing some writing for a local newspaper called the Suburban Tribune. I got permission to do some ride-alongs with Jerry as well as with the fire department and wrote about my experiences. I saw many things that most people never knew went on.
I was very vocally in support of the pay raise and made a lot of friends with the officers in the area. The election came and the voters approved it. I was elated for them, they deserved it. As a side note, now almost 40 years later, they still haven’t collected all the back pay, but as recently as this month, the City of Dallas agreed to pay out 235 million dollars, but I digress.
One day Jerry called and told me the Dallas Police Southeast Division Police Chief, Don Stafford, wanted to see me in his office at 3:30 one day. My mind raced, wondering if I screwed something up when I was riding with Jerry. In actuality, the Chief wanted to give me a plaque for helping and they presented it to me during a shift change, so all the 3rd shift officers were there for the presentation.
I found the police work to be very rewarding but loved the car business too. Jerry suggested I apply to go through the Dallas Police Academy and become a police Reserve officer. I did that and graduated later that year. It was a great experience. I stayed on for 10 years until I just didn’t have the time for it.
I got a reputation for taking care of Dallas Police Officers’ vehicle needs. Police are clannish; if you take good care of them, they tell everybody. If they get screwed, they tell everyone as well, maybe even more people. I sold hundreds of officers’ cars. When I would go to report for duty as a reserve officer, just about every vehicle in the parking lot was a Ford I sold.
At the next dealership I worked at, many of them followed me there. One evening as I was coming around a Dallas freeway, a motorcycle officer pulled me over. I wasn’t worried about it, this had happened several times. I kept my driver license under my badge holder and took plenty of time digging for it, just to make sure he saw it.
Officer Ron was about 6’5” and much to my surprise, he started writing me a ticket. In amazement, I said: “are you writing me?” to which he simply said: “yep”. I asked around about him and everyone said he’d write his own mother a ticket and I felt better. The Chief of Police in charge of the reserve officers called me a few days later just to talk, and I told him that Ron wrote me a ticket. Somehow the ticket magically went away.
Several years later, a 6’5” guy walked into my office. He said: “I’m Ron, I understand you take good care of the po-lice.” I recognized him, but he didn’t remember me. I said: “Oh, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for years!” Yes, it was the Ron who wrote me the ticket. I helped him and we became really good friends and are still today. I helped his ex-wife a couple of times, and then he married another Dallas officer and I have helped her with a number of vehicles.
I made a lot of Dallas Police friends over the years, and with the help of Facebook, I’ve kept in touch with many of them. I have a special admiration for these guys and gals. My experience as a reserve officer gives me a realization that they put their lives on the line every day. Of course, like people in the car business, doctors, engineers, and all other professions, there are good and bad. As I always ask, what do you call the student who finishes last in medical school? A doctor.
As a Reserve Police Officer, we wore the same uniform as regular officers. If a bad person was going to shoot, he or she was as likely to shoot me as the officer I was working with. For that reason, I wisely chose the officers I worked with.
One of my favorites was named Ron Baker (not the one who wrote me the ticket). I learned a lot from Ron. He had a cool head, I never saw him abuse anyone, and you could tell he had compassion in his heart. We made a good team. Ron was only 24 but seemed to have the experience of an officer on the job for 20 years or more.
On May 1, 1983, Ron came to me to get a new vehicle. He and his wife Laurie were expecting their second child, Heather. I got him fixed up, and while he was in the finance office, he had my finance manager page me to his office. Ron said to me: “I don’t need this credit life stuff, do I?” I said: “Ron, you’re a cop with a baby on the way, and it’s a couple of dollars per month. If something happens, the car is paid off.”
On May 2, 1983, I was scheduled to do a shift with Ron, but I wasn’t feeling well and begged off. That day, Ron conducted a traffic stop, was overpowered, and shot and killed with his own gun. If that was not bad enough, the murderers backed over him with a van, then ran over him again. They later died after a shootout.
The haunting question for me was always and still is, whether things had been different if I had been with him. Would he still be alive, or would we both be dead?
The following day, Laurie called me and asked if she could bring the new car back, that she couldn’t afford it. Ron had not explained that he bought the credit life insurance.
All I said was: “Don’t worry about the car, the next thing you’ll see is a clear title”.
This story is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Ronald Dale Baker.
CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS IMPOSSIBLE LAW
by Bob Walsh
There is a law in the formerly great state of California which prohibits the selling of new model semi-automatic centerfire pistols that do not stamp a unique number into the cartridge as it is fired. This is commonly called microstamping. The courts recognize that this technology is "emerging" (meaning it does not work reliably yet).
Various pro-Second Amendment groups have objected, saying that it effectively bars the sale of many handguns in CA by imposing a requirement that can not under current technology be met.
The court agreed, but believe that an impossible to obey law can be used to prod the gun industry into a socially desirable direction.
There is a law in the formerly great state of California which prohibits the selling of new model semi-automatic centerfire pistols that do not stamp a unique number into the cartridge as it is fired. This is commonly called microstamping. The courts recognize that this technology is "emerging" (meaning it does not work reliably yet).
Various pro-Second Amendment groups have objected, saying that it effectively bars the sale of many handguns in CA by imposing a requirement that can not under current technology be met.
The court agreed, but believe that an impossible to obey law can be used to prod the gun industry into a socially desirable direction.
SAVING COURT TIME
by Bob Walsh
David Gonzalez, 24, was being transported from the San Joaquin County hospitality center to the courthouse on Tuesday when he went tits-up on the transport bus. No cause of death is as of yet available.
He had priors for possession of weed and Assault With a Deadly Weapon with Great Bodily Injury.
David Gonzalez, 24, was being transported from the San Joaquin County hospitality center to the courthouse on Tuesday when he went tits-up on the transport bus. No cause of death is as of yet available.
He had priors for possession of weed and Assault With a Deadly Weapon with Great Bodily Injury.
TRULY REMARKABLE OCCURANCE...CALIFORNIA BLOCKS A TAX
by Bob Walsh
Yes, this is remarkable, but not even remotely altruistic. Numerous cities in CA have recently enacted or attempted to enact taxes on sweetened soda, allegedly in an attempt to curb obesity. It is actually just another move at big-brother control over our lives and a move by the rapacious asswipes who are our political masters to suck more and more and more money from us. But be that as it may.
The REAL problem was that a combination of major soda producers and anti-tax activists got together to back a ballot measure that, if passed, would have made it very difficult for the big government assholes to raise any tax of any kind whatsoever in the formerly great state of California.
So, the greedy cowards got together, bit the bullet and made a deal. The state passed a law to prohibit any new soda taxes for 12 years and the people pushing the ballot initiative agreed to back off. Current taxes in four cities in the bay area would stay in place.
Yes, this is remarkable, but not even remotely altruistic. Numerous cities in CA have recently enacted or attempted to enact taxes on sweetened soda, allegedly in an attempt to curb obesity. It is actually just another move at big-brother control over our lives and a move by the rapacious asswipes who are our political masters to suck more and more and more money from us. But be that as it may.
The REAL problem was that a combination of major soda producers and anti-tax activists got together to back a ballot measure that, if passed, would have made it very difficult for the big government assholes to raise any tax of any kind whatsoever in the formerly great state of California.
So, the greedy cowards got together, bit the bullet and made a deal. The state passed a law to prohibit any new soda taxes for 12 years and the people pushing the ballot initiative agreed to back off. Current taxes in four cities in the bay area would stay in place.
THE POLICE SHOOTING THAT LED TO THE FIRING OF CHICAGO’S POLICE CHIEF, THE ELECTION DEFEAT OF COOK COUNTY’S PROSECUTOR AND MURDER CHARGES AGAINST THE COP
Motion Alleges 'Public Execution' of Indicted Chicago Police Officer
By Megan Crepeau
Chicago Tribune
June 29, 2018
CHICAGO — A long-sealed motion by indicted Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke seeks to move his trial for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald outside Cook County, alleging that “extensive, inflammatory and sensational media coverage” has made a fair jury trial here impossible.
The motion, finally made public three months to the day after it was filed, also paints the officer as the victim of ambitious politicians, saying public comments by elected officials amounted to “the public execution of Jason Van Dyke.”
“It can be argued that there is no case in history that presents a more compelling example of the necessity for a change of place of trial,” the 31-page filing concluded.
The motion was filed March 28 by Daniel Herbert, Van Dyke’s lead lawyer, only to be quietly unsealed this week by Judge Vincent Gaughan, who has put extraordinary restrictions on the release of evidence and testimony in the high-profile case. It was made public Thursday.
The judge has been pushing for a summer trial, but a hearing on the motion to move the trial to another county in Illinois probably won’t take place until August, it was revealed Thursday. A comprehensive report by a California consultant hired by the defense to buttress its motion has taken months to complete and now should be ready by July 10, lawyers said. The judge gave special prosecutors until July 24 to respond in writing to the motion — and another week for Van Dyke’s lawyers to reply to that.
The motion is based on Van Dyke seeking a jury trial, but that call has yet to be made by the defense — and would go against long precedent at the Leighton Criminal Court Building for Chicago cops charged with misconduct who typically let judges decide their fate, as The Chicago Tribune noted in a front-page article this week.
Gaughan unsealed the motion to move the trial weeks after the state Supreme Court, responding to objections by the Tribune and other news organizations, ordered the judge to stop requiring that court documents in the case be filed directly to his chambers. Typically, filings are made publicly in the circuit clerk’s office.
The judge’s secretive measures continued Thursday. Before any substantive discussions took place in his courtroom, he held an hourlong private meeting with attorneys in his office. Later, for the third time, he cleared the courtroom of reporters and spectators to hold a hearing in private about questionnaires that prospective jurors will fill out.
A Tribune reporter who tried to sit outside the courtroom doors during the closed hearing was told by sheriff’s deputies to move down the hallway.
Citing case law, including the infamous press coverage of the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case in Ohio in the 1950s, Van Dyke’s lawyers criticized the news media, particularly the coverage before a video of the shooting was made public.
“The fury spread like a wild fire,” the motion said. “In an attempt to one-up its competitors, news agencies were frantically publishing information with stronger adjectives and more sinister angles. It was a classic example of a story getting better each time it was repeated.”
But the defense saved its harshest criticism for the elected officials, community activists and religious leaders it said convicted Van Dyke with their public comments.
It singled out Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and activist the Rev. Michael Pfleger but was especially critical of then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, alleging she charged Van Dyke in late 2015 to revive her “sagging” re-election campaign. The allegations against Alvarez mirrored earlier attempts by the defense to have the judge throw out the indictment against Van Dyke.
The motion went on to point out that Chicago Public Schools sent a letter about the release of the shooting video to every parent or guardian of a student and implemented a lesson plan to help students in the furor that followed.
Even reports by the U.S. Department of Justice and Emanuel’s Police Accountability Task Force, highly critical of police practices, drew blame from Van Dyke’s lawyers.
There’s no disputing that Van Dyke’s case has been a watershed moment for Chicago and its police department. The police dashboard camera video — released by court order on the same day Van Dyke was charged in November 2015 — showed Van Dyke shoot McDonald 16 times as the black teen walked away from police, contradicting officers’ reports that McDonald had lunged at officers with a knife. The video spurred widespread protests, the ouster of the police superintendent, Alvarez’s defeat and the damning report by the Justice Department.
The defense motion said the video has been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube.
If the defense succeeds, the trial could be moved to another county or jurors could be selected in a different part of the state and brought to the Leighton Criminal Court Building for the proceedings. The motion does not specify which course of action the defense would prefer nor does it suggest a county where the case should be heard.
Such motions are rarely granted, but two of the most high-profile murder cases in modern Cook County history are exceptions. Richard Speck, who was convicted of killing eight student nurses in a town home on Chicago’s Southeast Side, had his trial moved to downstate Peoria half a century ago. And jurors for the 1980 trial of John Wayne Gacy Jr., who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the 1970s, were selected in Rockford, but the trial was held in Chicago.
Meanwhile, in a motion filed Thursday, special prosecutors sought to block the defense from using an animated video at trial.
The 30-second video claims to depict “the path of travel” of the first five of the 16 bullets Van Dyke fired at McDonald, according to the motion.
But the video is “inaccurate and misleading,” prosecutors said. It shows Van Dyke standing still when, in fact, he was walking toward McDonald by the time he fired the fifth shot, according to the motion.
Prosecutors noted the defense’s own pathologist concluded that there was no way to tell in which order the gunshots hit McDonald.
The animated video has not been released to the public.
In addition, Van Dyke’s lawyers indicated Thursday that they would make an additional attempt to introduce more evidence about McDonald’s allegedly violent history and character. Gaughan has already ruled that half a dozen witnesses could testify about the teen’s purportedly violent past.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I agree there has been a 'public execution' of Van Dyke, but when video clips show McDonald walking away from the cops when he got shot, that's bound to happen.
By Megan Crepeau
Chicago Tribune
June 29, 2018
CHICAGO — A long-sealed motion by indicted Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke seeks to move his trial for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald outside Cook County, alleging that “extensive, inflammatory and sensational media coverage” has made a fair jury trial here impossible.
The motion, finally made public three months to the day after it was filed, also paints the officer as the victim of ambitious politicians, saying public comments by elected officials amounted to “the public execution of Jason Van Dyke.”
“It can be argued that there is no case in history that presents a more compelling example of the necessity for a change of place of trial,” the 31-page filing concluded.
The motion was filed March 28 by Daniel Herbert, Van Dyke’s lead lawyer, only to be quietly unsealed this week by Judge Vincent Gaughan, who has put extraordinary restrictions on the release of evidence and testimony in the high-profile case. It was made public Thursday.
The judge has been pushing for a summer trial, but a hearing on the motion to move the trial to another county in Illinois probably won’t take place until August, it was revealed Thursday. A comprehensive report by a California consultant hired by the defense to buttress its motion has taken months to complete and now should be ready by July 10, lawyers said. The judge gave special prosecutors until July 24 to respond in writing to the motion — and another week for Van Dyke’s lawyers to reply to that.
The motion is based on Van Dyke seeking a jury trial, but that call has yet to be made by the defense — and would go against long precedent at the Leighton Criminal Court Building for Chicago cops charged with misconduct who typically let judges decide their fate, as The Chicago Tribune noted in a front-page article this week.
Gaughan unsealed the motion to move the trial weeks after the state Supreme Court, responding to objections by the Tribune and other news organizations, ordered the judge to stop requiring that court documents in the case be filed directly to his chambers. Typically, filings are made publicly in the circuit clerk’s office.
The judge’s secretive measures continued Thursday. Before any substantive discussions took place in his courtroom, he held an hourlong private meeting with attorneys in his office. Later, for the third time, he cleared the courtroom of reporters and spectators to hold a hearing in private about questionnaires that prospective jurors will fill out.
A Tribune reporter who tried to sit outside the courtroom doors during the closed hearing was told by sheriff’s deputies to move down the hallway.
Citing case law, including the infamous press coverage of the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case in Ohio in the 1950s, Van Dyke’s lawyers criticized the news media, particularly the coverage before a video of the shooting was made public.
“The fury spread like a wild fire,” the motion said. “In an attempt to one-up its competitors, news agencies were frantically publishing information with stronger adjectives and more sinister angles. It was a classic example of a story getting better each time it was repeated.”
But the defense saved its harshest criticism for the elected officials, community activists and religious leaders it said convicted Van Dyke with their public comments.
It singled out Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and activist the Rev. Michael Pfleger but was especially critical of then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, alleging she charged Van Dyke in late 2015 to revive her “sagging” re-election campaign. The allegations against Alvarez mirrored earlier attempts by the defense to have the judge throw out the indictment against Van Dyke.
The motion went on to point out that Chicago Public Schools sent a letter about the release of the shooting video to every parent or guardian of a student and implemented a lesson plan to help students in the furor that followed.
Even reports by the U.S. Department of Justice and Emanuel’s Police Accountability Task Force, highly critical of police practices, drew blame from Van Dyke’s lawyers.
There’s no disputing that Van Dyke’s case has been a watershed moment for Chicago and its police department. The police dashboard camera video — released by court order on the same day Van Dyke was charged in November 2015 — showed Van Dyke shoot McDonald 16 times as the black teen walked away from police, contradicting officers’ reports that McDonald had lunged at officers with a knife. The video spurred widespread protests, the ouster of the police superintendent, Alvarez’s defeat and the damning report by the Justice Department.
The defense motion said the video has been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube.
If the defense succeeds, the trial could be moved to another county or jurors could be selected in a different part of the state and brought to the Leighton Criminal Court Building for the proceedings. The motion does not specify which course of action the defense would prefer nor does it suggest a county where the case should be heard.
Such motions are rarely granted, but two of the most high-profile murder cases in modern Cook County history are exceptions. Richard Speck, who was convicted of killing eight student nurses in a town home on Chicago’s Southeast Side, had his trial moved to downstate Peoria half a century ago. And jurors for the 1980 trial of John Wayne Gacy Jr., who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the 1970s, were selected in Rockford, but the trial was held in Chicago.
Meanwhile, in a motion filed Thursday, special prosecutors sought to block the defense from using an animated video at trial.
The 30-second video claims to depict “the path of travel” of the first five of the 16 bullets Van Dyke fired at McDonald, according to the motion.
But the video is “inaccurate and misleading,” prosecutors said. It shows Van Dyke standing still when, in fact, he was walking toward McDonald by the time he fired the fifth shot, according to the motion.
Prosecutors noted the defense’s own pathologist concluded that there was no way to tell in which order the gunshots hit McDonald.
The animated video has not been released to the public.
In addition, Van Dyke’s lawyers indicated Thursday that they would make an additional attempt to introduce more evidence about McDonald’s allegedly violent history and character. Gaughan has already ruled that half a dozen witnesses could testify about the teen’s purportedly violent past.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I agree there has been a 'public execution' of Van Dyke, but when video clips show McDonald walking away from the cops when he got shot, that's bound to happen.
WALMARTIANS FIND SAN ANGELO STORE WRECKED BY TRUCK TO TUNE OF $500,000
Man Takes Truck On Destructive Joyride — Through Walmart
CBS DFW
June 29, 2018
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- During the early morning hours of June 28, 2018, San Angelo Police officers were dispatched to a crash at a south San Angelo Walmart after a driver crashed into the building and drove into the store.
“A 19-year-old Eldorado man is facing multiple Felony charges after he used his truck to drive through the Walmart Supercenter located at 5501 Sherwood Way in San Angelo,” said San Angelo Police in a report early Thursday.
Surveillance video shows the truck – allegedly being driven by Caleb Wilson – crashing through glass front doors of the store then striking several end-cap coolers as it travels towards the back of the store.
According to police, workers and shoppers said Wilson was in the store earlier and was allegedly “exhibiting erratic behavior.”
The driver made it to the cereal aisle before turning around and heading out of the building. No one inside the store was injured.
Police said, “an unidentified 18-year-old woman and patron narrowly avoided injury by jumping out of the truck’s path.
Witnesses said that the woman and Wilson appeared to be in the store together before heading to the parking lot and getting in an argument. Shortly thereafter Wilson allegedly crashed into the store. Witnesses allege that it appeared the driver was purposely confronting the woman as she exited the store with the patron.
“As officers arrived to the storefront, they observed a red 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck exiting the building through the store’s northeast entrance,” SAPD said in the police report.
Police attempted to stop the truck but say the driver “drove at a high rate of speed through the parking lot where it collided with an unoccupied 2007 Toyota Camry.”
Police were able to stop the driver near a Murphy USA gas station. Officials said they put him in custody after he briefly resisted arrest.
Gas pumps at the station were shut off after police noticed fuel leaking from the suspect’s truck.
“While detained, the suspect began to exhibit signs of excited delirium and he was subsequently transported by Officers to Shannon Medical Center for evaluation where he became combative with hospital staff,” said police in the report.
Police said the incident lasted several minutes and damage was estimated to be at least $500,000.
Charges for Wilson were pending. “Investigators have obtained Arrest Warrants for Wilson for First Degree Felony Criminal Mischief and two counts of Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon,” said police.” Wilson remains under medical care at this time.”
The store may be closed for a period of time due to the damages sustained by the crash.
CBS DFW
June 29, 2018
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- During the early morning hours of June 28, 2018, San Angelo Police officers were dispatched to a crash at a south San Angelo Walmart after a driver crashed into the building and drove into the store.
“A 19-year-old Eldorado man is facing multiple Felony charges after he used his truck to drive through the Walmart Supercenter located at 5501 Sherwood Way in San Angelo,” said San Angelo Police in a report early Thursday.
Surveillance video shows the truck – allegedly being driven by Caleb Wilson – crashing through glass front doors of the store then striking several end-cap coolers as it travels towards the back of the store.
According to police, workers and shoppers said Wilson was in the store earlier and was allegedly “exhibiting erratic behavior.”
The driver made it to the cereal aisle before turning around and heading out of the building. No one inside the store was injured.
Police said, “an unidentified 18-year-old woman and patron narrowly avoided injury by jumping out of the truck’s path.
Witnesses said that the woman and Wilson appeared to be in the store together before heading to the parking lot and getting in an argument. Shortly thereafter Wilson allegedly crashed into the store. Witnesses allege that it appeared the driver was purposely confronting the woman as she exited the store with the patron.
“As officers arrived to the storefront, they observed a red 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck exiting the building through the store’s northeast entrance,” SAPD said in the police report.
Police attempted to stop the truck but say the driver “drove at a high rate of speed through the parking lot where it collided with an unoccupied 2007 Toyota Camry.”
Police were able to stop the driver near a Murphy USA gas station. Officials said they put him in custody after he briefly resisted arrest.
Gas pumps at the station were shut off after police noticed fuel leaking from the suspect’s truck.
“While detained, the suspect began to exhibit signs of excited delirium and he was subsequently transported by Officers to Shannon Medical Center for evaluation where he became combative with hospital staff,” said police in the report.
Police said the incident lasted several minutes and damage was estimated to be at least $500,000.
Charges for Wilson were pending. “Investigators have obtained Arrest Warrants for Wilson for First Degree Felony Criminal Mischief and two counts of Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon,” said police.” Wilson remains under medical care at this time.”
The store may be closed for a period of time due to the damages sustained by the crash.
NY FATHER HEINRICH WAS A KIND AND GENTLE MAN WHO LOVED THE JEWISH PEOPLE
Himmler's 'Nazi princess' daughter dead at 88: Holocaust denier who helped war criminals escape justice is revealed to have been a spy for West German government
By Tim Stickings and Reuters
Daily Mail
June 29, 2018
Heinrich Himmler's daughter has died at the age of 88, as Germany's top intelligence service admitted it had employed the Nazi sympathiser during the Cold War.
The BND confirmed today that Gudrun Burwitz had worked for the then-West German spy agency in the 1960s, although she never renounced her father or the Nazi regime.
She remained active in far-right extremism in later life, helping war criminals who worked for her evil father escape justice, and speaking at neo-Nazi rallies, before she died last month in Munich.
Heinrich Himmler, who as commander of the SS was one of the most powerful Nazis and a principal architect of the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, killed himself in British custody in 1945.
'The BND confirms that Ms. Burwitz was a member of the BND for a few years until 1963 under an assumed name,' said Bodo Hechelhammer, the head of the agency's history department.
One German official said Burwitz had a 'genuine love for these men and women who served the worst parts of the Nazi regime from 1933 until 1945.'
Burwitz was the leading figure in sinister support group Stille Hilfe, which offered backing and financial help for former SS officers still at large. The group was said to have 25 to 40 members who referred to her as the 'Nazi Princess'.
In one case the organisation helped fight for Klaas Carel Faber, 89, in the former SS killer's attempt to avoid being extradited back to the Netherlands.
The Dutchman served with the SS in Holland where he murdered defenceless Jews in cold blood, but was never extradited and died in 2012
It also helped Anton Malloth, a brutal guard in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, who was sentenced to death in his absence before finding refuge in Germany.
Malloth was put up in an OAP home with Stille Hilfe funds, where Burwitz visited him with fruit and -chocolates, in a residence built on land once owned by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.
Burwitz lived her later life in a suburb of Munich, just 15 miles from the concentration camp at Dachau where more than 30,000 people died during Hitler's 12-year rule.
As a child she worshipped her father, who called her Püppi.
She wrote in her diary after she visited the camp: 'Today, we went to Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees.
'We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvellous. And afterwards we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.'
Burwitz also clung to her belief that her father was murdered by the Allies, who had captured Himmler after he went on the run dressed as a soldier.
Himmler, who had completed his disguise by shaving of his moustache and wearing an eye patch, in fact committed suicide in British custody two weeks after the German surrender.
Following his suicide, four British soldiers took his body from the interrogation centre and buried it in an unmarked grave on Luneburg Heath.
Its precise location kept secret for fear of it becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, and it has never been found.
Burwitz said: 'I don't believe he swallowed that poison capsule. My mother and I never had official notification of his death. To me, the photo of him dead is a retouched photo of when he was alive.'
She is said to have attended a rally of neo-Nazis she in Ulrichsberg, Austria, several years ago, where she was idolised by SS veterans.
'They were terrified of her,' said Andrea Ropke, an authority on neo-Nazism who was there.
'All these high-ranking former officers lined up and she asked, "Where did you serve?" showing off a vast knowledge of military logistics.'
She and her group were monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which counters neo-Nazi threats.
One official said: 'She is over 80 but pin sharp. She likes it if you think of her as some Mrs Doubtfire figure but that is not the case.
'She has a genuine love for these men and women who served the worst parts of the Nazi regime from 1933 until 1945.
'She is a true believer and, like all zealots, that makes her dangerous.'
The BND said the timing of her departure 'coincided with the onset of a change in the understanding and the handling of employees who were involved with the Nazis'
Germany's intelligence services have come under criticism in recent years for failing to root out right-wing extremists in the post-war era.
Critical historians say ex-Nazis and far right sympathisers working inside the security agencies of then-West Germany may have protected others.
At the time Burwitz worked for the BND, it was led by Reinhard Gehlen, a former Nazi military intelligence commander who went on to run West Germany's spy agency until 1968.
Hechelhammer said that because Burwitz was no longer alive, the BND was able to make an exception to its policy of not commenting on active or former employees. The disclosure was part of a process of critically reassessing its own history.
The struggle to bring to justice people with Nazi-tainted pasts has been a perennial theme of Germany's post-war history, as has been the suggestion that supporters of the far right retained positions of influence and power in security agencies.
The issue came to the fore in recent years in a trial of members of a far-right group called the National Socialist Underground, which killed eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007.
The trial, which started in 2013 and is considered one of the most significant in post-war Germany, uncovered lingering racist attitudes within the country's domestic spy agency, prompting reforms.
By Tim Stickings and Reuters
Daily Mail
June 29, 2018
Heinrich Himmler's daughter has died at the age of 88, as Germany's top intelligence service admitted it had employed the Nazi sympathiser during the Cold War.
The BND confirmed today that Gudrun Burwitz had worked for the then-West German spy agency in the 1960s, although she never renounced her father or the Nazi regime.
She remained active in far-right extremism in later life, helping war criminals who worked for her evil father escape justice, and speaking at neo-Nazi rallies, before she died last month in Munich.
Heinrich Himmler, who as commander of the SS was one of the most powerful Nazis and a principal architect of the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, killed himself in British custody in 1945.
'The BND confirms that Ms. Burwitz was a member of the BND for a few years until 1963 under an assumed name,' said Bodo Hechelhammer, the head of the agency's history department.
One German official said Burwitz had a 'genuine love for these men and women who served the worst parts of the Nazi regime from 1933 until 1945.'
Burwitz was the leading figure in sinister support group Stille Hilfe, which offered backing and financial help for former SS officers still at large. The group was said to have 25 to 40 members who referred to her as the 'Nazi Princess'.
In one case the organisation helped fight for Klaas Carel Faber, 89, in the former SS killer's attempt to avoid being extradited back to the Netherlands.
The Dutchman served with the SS in Holland where he murdered defenceless Jews in cold blood, but was never extradited and died in 2012
It also helped Anton Malloth, a brutal guard in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, who was sentenced to death in his absence before finding refuge in Germany.
Malloth was put up in an OAP home with Stille Hilfe funds, where Burwitz visited him with fruit and -chocolates, in a residence built on land once owned by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.
Burwitz lived her later life in a suburb of Munich, just 15 miles from the concentration camp at Dachau where more than 30,000 people died during Hitler's 12-year rule.
As a child she worshipped her father, who called her Püppi.
She wrote in her diary after she visited the camp: 'Today, we went to Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees.
'We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvellous. And afterwards we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.'
Burwitz also clung to her belief that her father was murdered by the Allies, who had captured Himmler after he went on the run dressed as a soldier.
Himmler, who had completed his disguise by shaving of his moustache and wearing an eye patch, in fact committed suicide in British custody two weeks after the German surrender.
Following his suicide, four British soldiers took his body from the interrogation centre and buried it in an unmarked grave on Luneburg Heath.
Its precise location kept secret for fear of it becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, and it has never been found.
Burwitz said: 'I don't believe he swallowed that poison capsule. My mother and I never had official notification of his death. To me, the photo of him dead is a retouched photo of when he was alive.'
She is said to have attended a rally of neo-Nazis she in Ulrichsberg, Austria, several years ago, where she was idolised by SS veterans.
'They were terrified of her,' said Andrea Ropke, an authority on neo-Nazism who was there.
'All these high-ranking former officers lined up and she asked, "Where did you serve?" showing off a vast knowledge of military logistics.'
She and her group were monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which counters neo-Nazi threats.
One official said: 'She is over 80 but pin sharp. She likes it if you think of her as some Mrs Doubtfire figure but that is not the case.
'She has a genuine love for these men and women who served the worst parts of the Nazi regime from 1933 until 1945.
'She is a true believer and, like all zealots, that makes her dangerous.'
The BND said the timing of her departure 'coincided with the onset of a change in the understanding and the handling of employees who were involved with the Nazis'
Germany's intelligence services have come under criticism in recent years for failing to root out right-wing extremists in the post-war era.
Critical historians say ex-Nazis and far right sympathisers working inside the security agencies of then-West Germany may have protected others.
At the time Burwitz worked for the BND, it was led by Reinhard Gehlen, a former Nazi military intelligence commander who went on to run West Germany's spy agency until 1968.
Hechelhammer said that because Burwitz was no longer alive, the BND was able to make an exception to its policy of not commenting on active or former employees. The disclosure was part of a process of critically reassessing its own history.
The struggle to bring to justice people with Nazi-tainted pasts has been a perennial theme of Germany's post-war history, as has been the suggestion that supporters of the far right retained positions of influence and power in security agencies.
The issue came to the fore in recent years in a trial of members of a far-right group called the National Socialist Underground, which killed eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007.
The trial, which started in 2013 and is considered one of the most significant in post-war Germany, uncovered lingering racist attitudes within the country's domestic spy agency, prompting reforms.
AMERICAN TANKS TO BE PROTECTED BY ISRAEL’S TROPHY SYSTEM
US Army to buys Israeli tank defense system for $193 million
Israel Hayom
June 27, 2018
The U.S. Army plans to purchase Israel's Trophy defense system to shield its Abrams tanks, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced Tuesday.
The contract is worth $193 million, the company said.
Trophy, also known as the Windbreaker defense system, is an active anti-tank missiles and rockets defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles with a shotgun-like blast.
The system was declared operational in 2011 and has since been installed on over 1,000 IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Trophy will be supplied by the American defense contractor Leonardo DRS, Inc., which partnered with Rafael to manufacture them.
According to Rafael, under the terms of the contract, "Leonardo DRS will provide the [U.S.] Army with Trophy systems, countermeasures, and maintenance kits."
Aaron Hankins, of Leonardo DRS, said his company "is proud to be a part of this important effort to bring lifesaving technology to our warfighters, and we are actively investing to ensure Trophy provides a solid, American-made foundation for the Army's coming Vehicle Protection Suite program."
Moshe Elazar, executive vice president and head of Rafael's Land and Naval Systems Division, said, "Our company has been providing defense solutions to the U.S. military for more than two decades. We are proud to continue doing so with the Windbreaker [Trophy] system."
Israel Hayom
June 27, 2018
The U.S. Army plans to purchase Israel's Trophy defense system to shield its Abrams tanks, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced Tuesday.
The contract is worth $193 million, the company said.
Trophy, also known as the Windbreaker defense system, is an active anti-tank missiles and rockets defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles with a shotgun-like blast.
The system was declared operational in 2011 and has since been installed on over 1,000 IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Trophy will be supplied by the American defense contractor Leonardo DRS, Inc., which partnered with Rafael to manufacture them.
According to Rafael, under the terms of the contract, "Leonardo DRS will provide the [U.S.] Army with Trophy systems, countermeasures, and maintenance kits."
Aaron Hankins, of Leonardo DRS, said his company "is proud to be a part of this important effort to bring lifesaving technology to our warfighters, and we are actively investing to ensure Trophy provides a solid, American-made foundation for the Army's coming Vehicle Protection Suite program."
Moshe Elazar, executive vice president and head of Rafael's Land and Naval Systems Division, said, "Our company has been providing defense solutions to the U.S. military for more than two decades. We are proud to continue doing so with the Windbreaker [Trophy] system."
Friday, June 29, 2018
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD
by Bob Walsh
It seems to me that there are times when much of the media feels that they are not part of the real world. They feel free, even obliged at times, to comment, poke and prod, sometimes inappropriately. They believe, maybe with some justification, that their freedom to publish gives them freedom to be a pain in the butt.
Yesterday some local yahoo who had a beef with a paper in Annapolis, MD showed up with a shotgun. He left five people dead in his wake and two slightly injured. The cops showed up almost immediately and the chickenshit bastard promptly surrendered. The people in the newsroom had no ability to defend themselves but were left cowering under desks and hoping to not be noticed. Sometimes it worked.
The other media vultures of course were fascinated. Among other questions I heard posed was one reporter absolutely DEMANDING to know if the gun was a warm-and-fuzzy sporting shotgun or an evil tactical shotgun.
I wonder of those staff who survived their ordeal will become better reporters, and better human beings, for having their own mortality and humanity pushed into their faces, or not? If nothing else I expect that physical security will increase in newspaper offices across the country. And they will likely take threatening emails from local looney tunes more seriously.
It seems to me that there are times when much of the media feels that they are not part of the real world. They feel free, even obliged at times, to comment, poke and prod, sometimes inappropriately. They believe, maybe with some justification, that their freedom to publish gives them freedom to be a pain in the butt.
Yesterday some local yahoo who had a beef with a paper in Annapolis, MD showed up with a shotgun. He left five people dead in his wake and two slightly injured. The cops showed up almost immediately and the chickenshit bastard promptly surrendered. The people in the newsroom had no ability to defend themselves but were left cowering under desks and hoping to not be noticed. Sometimes it worked.
The other media vultures of course were fascinated. Among other questions I heard posed was one reporter absolutely DEMANDING to know if the gun was a warm-and-fuzzy sporting shotgun or an evil tactical shotgun.
I wonder of those staff who survived their ordeal will become better reporters, and better human beings, for having their own mortality and humanity pushed into their faces, or not? If nothing else I expect that physical security will increase in newspaper offices across the country. And they will likely take threatening emails from local looney tunes more seriously.
MASSIVE SEARCH FOR BOYS TRAPPED FOR A WEEK IN THAI CAVE
Rescue Team in Thailand to Drill Trough Mountain Into Cave to Try to Reach Trapped Boys
By Richard C. Paddock and Ryn Jirenuwat
The New York Times
June 28, 2018
THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand — The Thai authorities said on Thursday that they believed members of a youth soccer team trapped in a flooding cave complex could have reached a large, dry cavern, and officials were considering drilling through the mountaintop to reach them.
With the search for the team growing ever more urgent and complex on its sixth day, Lt. Gen. Kraiboon Suadsong, commissioner of the Police Strategy Office, said a team would first try drilling a small hole through the rock above the cavern to allow a camera to be lowered in.
“We will drill and use an infrared camera that can take photos,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “We know the spot where we should be drilling.”
General Kraiboon said crews had tripled the volume of water being pumped from the interior of the flooded cave system, which could help make its submerged passageways accessible.
The search for the boys, ages 11 to 16, and their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, 25, has captivated Thailand and brought together a polarized nation in the hope that the boys could be rescued from Tham Luang Cave, a popular attraction in northern Thailand.
Among those aiding the search efforts is a team of 17 United States Air Force rescue and survival specialists, who arrived early Thursday from their base in Okinawa, Japan.
“The team is assessing the environment and developing courses of action,” said Jillian Bonnardeaux, of the American Embassy in Bangkok. “All options for rescue operations are being considered in close coordination with Thai rescue personnel.”
Three expert cave divers from Britain have also joined the search.
Near the cave, at the nearby headquarters of Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park, more than 50 family members waited for word of the missing.
Close by, many hundreds of soldiers, park rangers and workers from a dozen government agencies provide support services or stand by in the thick mud waiting for their next assignment. Dozens of journalists are on hand to record the progress of the search.
The soccer players and their coach went to the cave Saturday afternoon after their team practice, riding their bikes past a sign warning visitors not to enter the cave from July to November, because of the danger of flooding during the rainy season. It also says visitors must report to the national park ranger station before entering, which the group did not do, officials said.
Rain began falling after they were inside and rising water trapped them. At one point along the trail, some boys left their bags, officials said. At another, they left their shoes.
Rescue workers, including Royal Thai Navy divers, have not been able to precisely locate the group within the vast cave complex despite repeated attempts, officials said.
At this stage, it is not clear how much of the cave, which extends about seven miles, has been searched.
General Kraiboon said the authorities had concluded that the athletes would have fled the rising water and made it to a cavern called Pattaya Beach, a well-known feature of the cave more than three miles from the entrance.
“This spot is on higher ground, and the spot is vast,” he said. “There’s enough air for them to breathe. We therefore assessed the situation that they should be in this spot.”
The deputy national police chief, Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, met with experts at the cave and urged them to drill faster.
“When you work on this, you don’t do a tryout,” he told them. “You do it once and make sure it works because they are waiting for us with hope.”
He added, “It doesn’t matter how much we spend.”
As Thai officials worked on the drilling plan and three members of the United States Air Force team inspected the cave, hundreds of soldiers continued efforts to reduce the water level.
There was some progress a day earlier, when they discovered that water was draining through a previously unknown outlet, General Kraiboon said. Earlier, the plan had been to pump the water out of the cave entrance, but now they can pump it out from both places.
Maj. Gen. Thana Turajane, a doctor and deputy director of the Police Hospital, said that he and his team were confident that the boys and their coach could still be alive, according to a statement released by his office. But the boys could be suffering from malnourishment and low body temperature, and two have asthma, the statement said.
The governor of Chiang Rai Province, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told reporters Wednesday evening that King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun was following the news closely. The king had noticed that many people had been working without protection from the rain and donated 2,000 raincoats.
“The king is very worried about us and our works,” the governor said. “But more important, he is so concerned about the boys.”
The governor said that the search operation was making good progress but that he wanted results.
“We hope that the kids are safe and wait for us,” he said. “And we hope that we will find them soon. I am not saying ‘soon’ as in days but rather ‘soon’ as in hours.”
By Richard C. Paddock and Ryn Jirenuwat
The New York Times
June 28, 2018
THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand — The Thai authorities said on Thursday that they believed members of a youth soccer team trapped in a flooding cave complex could have reached a large, dry cavern, and officials were considering drilling through the mountaintop to reach them.
With the search for the team growing ever more urgent and complex on its sixth day, Lt. Gen. Kraiboon Suadsong, commissioner of the Police Strategy Office, said a team would first try drilling a small hole through the rock above the cavern to allow a camera to be lowered in.
“We will drill and use an infrared camera that can take photos,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “We know the spot where we should be drilling.”
General Kraiboon said crews had tripled the volume of water being pumped from the interior of the flooded cave system, which could help make its submerged passageways accessible.
The search for the boys, ages 11 to 16, and their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, 25, has captivated Thailand and brought together a polarized nation in the hope that the boys could be rescued from Tham Luang Cave, a popular attraction in northern Thailand.
Among those aiding the search efforts is a team of 17 United States Air Force rescue and survival specialists, who arrived early Thursday from their base in Okinawa, Japan.
“The team is assessing the environment and developing courses of action,” said Jillian Bonnardeaux, of the American Embassy in Bangkok. “All options for rescue operations are being considered in close coordination with Thai rescue personnel.”
Three expert cave divers from Britain have also joined the search.
Near the cave, at the nearby headquarters of Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park, more than 50 family members waited for word of the missing.
Close by, many hundreds of soldiers, park rangers and workers from a dozen government agencies provide support services or stand by in the thick mud waiting for their next assignment. Dozens of journalists are on hand to record the progress of the search.
The soccer players and their coach went to the cave Saturday afternoon after their team practice, riding their bikes past a sign warning visitors not to enter the cave from July to November, because of the danger of flooding during the rainy season. It also says visitors must report to the national park ranger station before entering, which the group did not do, officials said.
Rain began falling after they were inside and rising water trapped them. At one point along the trail, some boys left their bags, officials said. At another, they left their shoes.
Rescue workers, including Royal Thai Navy divers, have not been able to precisely locate the group within the vast cave complex despite repeated attempts, officials said.
At this stage, it is not clear how much of the cave, which extends about seven miles, has been searched.
General Kraiboon said the authorities had concluded that the athletes would have fled the rising water and made it to a cavern called Pattaya Beach, a well-known feature of the cave more than three miles from the entrance.
“This spot is on higher ground, and the spot is vast,” he said. “There’s enough air for them to breathe. We therefore assessed the situation that they should be in this spot.”
The deputy national police chief, Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, met with experts at the cave and urged them to drill faster.
“When you work on this, you don’t do a tryout,” he told them. “You do it once and make sure it works because they are waiting for us with hope.”
He added, “It doesn’t matter how much we spend.”
As Thai officials worked on the drilling plan and three members of the United States Air Force team inspected the cave, hundreds of soldiers continued efforts to reduce the water level.
There was some progress a day earlier, when they discovered that water was draining through a previously unknown outlet, General Kraiboon said. Earlier, the plan had been to pump the water out of the cave entrance, but now they can pump it out from both places.
Maj. Gen. Thana Turajane, a doctor and deputy director of the Police Hospital, said that he and his team were confident that the boys and their coach could still be alive, according to a statement released by his office. But the boys could be suffering from malnourishment and low body temperature, and two have asthma, the statement said.
The governor of Chiang Rai Province, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told reporters Wednesday evening that King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun was following the news closely. The king had noticed that many people had been working without protection from the rain and donated 2,000 raincoats.
“The king is very worried about us and our works,” the governor said. “But more important, he is so concerned about the boys.”
The governor said that the search operation was making good progress but that he wanted results.
“We hope that the kids are safe and wait for us,” he said. “And we hope that we will find them soon. I am not saying ‘soon’ as in days but rather ‘soon’ as in hours.”
TWO NYPD COPS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR FAILING TO AID STABBED 15-YEAR-OLD BRONX BOY
NYPD reviewing whether responding officers failed to help teen Bronx stabbing victim
WABC
June 27, 2018
BRONX, New York City -- The NYPD is reviewing whether two officers who responded to the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old in the Bronx last week failed to provide him aid, Eyewitness News has learned.
As part of the stabbing investigation, the department became aware that two officers did not provide medical aid to Lesandro Guzman-Feliz when he collapsed outside St Barnabas Hospital.
Cell video recovered by the department shows passersby with napkins trying to stop the bleeding.
The officers are seen standing near the boy but not aiding.
"There is no internal affairs investigation. While the NYPD is reviewing the response, so far it appears the officers handled this appropriately," a police source tells Eyewitness News.
In the video, Guzman-Feliz is seen covered in blood and dying outside St Barnabas Hospital. A woman is trying to stop the bleeding. Others are heard trying to comfort Lesandro while two police officers are seen standing back.
At one point, another person rushes past the officers to tend to the boy.
New York City Council Member Francisco Moy is demanding an investigation.
Seven of the eight suspects arrested in the brutal murder of Guzman-Feliz made their first court appearances Wednesday, as thousands of mourners gathered to bid a final farewell to the boy affectionately known as Junior.
Six men were extradited from Paterson, New Jersey, to join the two others who were arrested in the Bronx. They are facing charges ranging from first-degree murder to assault in the death of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz. The suspects were ordered held without bail and are due back in court on July 2
The attack happened outside a bodega on East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue in the Tremont section just after 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday, in what authorities believe was a case of mistaken identity that left the entire community outraged.
Guzman-Feliz was dragged outside and slashed and stabbed with a machete after police say the group of gang members mistook him for a rival. The teen, who had hopes of becoming an NYPD detective, tried to run to St. Barnabas Hospital a block away but collapsed on the sidewalk.
Kevin Alvarez, 19, was the first to be arrested Sunday night. He was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault.
Police then raided a house in Paterson known as a hangout for the gang allegedly involved in the murder, taking six suspects into custody.
Their names and charges are as follows:
--Jose Muniz, 21, of Paterson: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Jose Taverez, 21, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Manuel Rivera, 18, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon, and criminal possession of a weapon
--Daniel Fernandez, 21, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Jonaiki Martinez-Estrella, 24, of Freeport: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Antonio Santiago-Hernandez, 24, of the Bronx: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
Then on Tuesday, 23-year-old Elvin Garcia was arrested in the Bronx. He is charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of weapon.
Authorities identified Martinez-Estrella, who has a prior arrest for robbing and beating a 14-year-old with a golf club in 2016, as the one who sliced the victim's neck.
WABC
June 27, 2018
BRONX, New York City -- The NYPD is reviewing whether two officers who responded to the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old in the Bronx last week failed to provide him aid, Eyewitness News has learned.
As part of the stabbing investigation, the department became aware that two officers did not provide medical aid to Lesandro Guzman-Feliz when he collapsed outside St Barnabas Hospital.
Cell video recovered by the department shows passersby with napkins trying to stop the bleeding.
The officers are seen standing near the boy but not aiding.
"There is no internal affairs investigation. While the NYPD is reviewing the response, so far it appears the officers handled this appropriately," a police source tells Eyewitness News.
In the video, Guzman-Feliz is seen covered in blood and dying outside St Barnabas Hospital. A woman is trying to stop the bleeding. Others are heard trying to comfort Lesandro while two police officers are seen standing back.
At one point, another person rushes past the officers to tend to the boy.
New York City Council Member Francisco Moy is demanding an investigation.
Seven of the eight suspects arrested in the brutal murder of Guzman-Feliz made their first court appearances Wednesday, as thousands of mourners gathered to bid a final farewell to the boy affectionately known as Junior.
Six men were extradited from Paterson, New Jersey, to join the two others who were arrested in the Bronx. They are facing charges ranging from first-degree murder to assault in the death of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz. The suspects were ordered held without bail and are due back in court on July 2
The attack happened outside a bodega on East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue in the Tremont section just after 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday, in what authorities believe was a case of mistaken identity that left the entire community outraged.
Guzman-Feliz was dragged outside and slashed and stabbed with a machete after police say the group of gang members mistook him for a rival. The teen, who had hopes of becoming an NYPD detective, tried to run to St. Barnabas Hospital a block away but collapsed on the sidewalk.
Kevin Alvarez, 19, was the first to be arrested Sunday night. He was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault.
Police then raided a house in Paterson known as a hangout for the gang allegedly involved in the murder, taking six suspects into custody.
Their names and charges are as follows:
--Jose Muniz, 21, of Paterson: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Jose Taverez, 21, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Manuel Rivera, 18, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon, and criminal possession of a weapon
--Daniel Fernandez, 21, of the Bronx: Second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Jonaiki Martinez-Estrella, 24, of Freeport: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
--Antonio Santiago-Hernandez, 24, of the Bronx: First- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon
Then on Tuesday, 23-year-old Elvin Garcia was arrested in the Bronx. He is charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of weapon.
Authorities identified Martinez-Estrella, who has a prior arrest for robbing and beating a 14-year-old with a golf club in 2016, as the one who sliced the victim's neck.
CONFUSING GUILTY BUT NOT GUILTY END TO LAWSUIT AGAINST CHICAGO COP
Conflicting verdict favors Chicago cop in fatal shooting of bat-wielding teen as trial ends in confusion
By Dan Hinkel
Chicago Tribune
June 28, 2018
In a chaotic finish to a high-profile trial, a judge first announced that a jury had found that a Chicago police officer unjustifiably shot and killed a bat-wielding teen, then wiped away the verdict and the $1 million award to the teen’s family after noting that jurors had also found that the officer reasonably feared for his life when he fired.
Confusion abounded at the Daley Center courthouse Wednesday evening after the Cook County jury reached its conflicting verdict after 3½ hours of deliberations, capping an eight-day trial.
Judge Rena Marie Van Tine first announced that jurors had sided in favor of Quintonio LeGrier's parents — who sued the city and Officer Robert Rialmo — awarding them $1.05 million in damages.
Moments later, however, it was revealed that jurors had also signed a special interrogatory — a specific question to a jury — finding that Rialmo fired in the reasonable belief that LeGrier posed the danger of death or great bodily harm to himself or his partner.
Van Tine then found that the answer to the specific question overrode the rest of the verdict. Over the objections of the LeGrier family’s lawyers, the judge entered judgment in favor of Rialmo and the city.
The jury foreman, Dave Fitzsimmons, answered reporters’ questions just after the verdict was read, suggesting he had expected the $1.05 million in damages to be imposed and criticizing the officer’s decision to shoot.
“(I) don’t believe he’s a bad person — just made a bad decision,” Fitzsimmons said.
Even without the conflicting verdict, jurors had awarded an amount that far undershot what the LeGrier family’s lawyers had asked for — as much as $25 million.
The shooting on the West Side also killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones, an innocent bystander. The city avoided a trial with her family by recently reaching a proposed settlement of $16 million.
Rialmo’s lawyer, Joel Brodsky, celebrated the mixed jury decision as vindication for his client. As reporters and other onlookers sorted out the verdict, he talked by phone with Rialmo, who was not in court. Brodsky said the officer felt “wonderful.”
Attorney Basileios Foutris, who represents the LeGrier family, said the city won on a “legal technicality” and said he would be “exploring all our options going forward.”
The situation echoed at least one other case in Cook County over a shooting by Chicago police. In 2015, a jury found that an officer shot and killed a 19-year-old man without justification and awarded $3.5 million in damages. In that case, however, the jury also answered a special interrogatory and said the officer believed his life was in danger when he fired. The judge wiped away the verdict, but the Illinois Appellate Court overturned her decision and reinstated the award in February.
Another element added to the confusion around the LeGrier verdict. Rialmo had made the unusual move of suing LeGrier’s estate, blaming him for the shooting. Jurors found partly in Rialmo’s favor but awarded the officer no money.
The wild ending marked the culmination of 2½ years of legal wrangling over one of the most divisive shootings in the recent history of a Police Department still undergoing reforms aimed at preventing controversial uses of force. The shooting has been politically explosive since it transpired just a month after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced by a judge to release video of an officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times.
LeGrier’s shooting unfolded as Rialmo and his partner responded about 4:30 a.m. Dec. 26, 2015, to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in the 4700 block of West Erie Street where the teen was staying with his father. LeGrier apparently was plagued by mental health problems and had encounters with police while attending Northern Illinois University, records show.
During closing arguments Wednesday, Foutris emphasized the portions of the trial that suggested Rialmo — who has given varying statements about the shooting — stood 10 feet or more from the teen when he fired.
The lawyer argued that the officer’s statements placing him a few feet from LeGrier were concocted to justify a bad shooting.
Like a mantra, Foutris repeated, “Distance matters.”
“Quintonio was not a threat to him, period,” Foutris said.
Defending the city, private attorney Brian Gainer contended that mere seconds passed as the officers reached the building’s front entry and LeGrier bounded down the stairs and rushed at Rialmo and his partner with the bat in his hand. LeGrier presented an immediate lethal threat, Gainer said, whether he was 5 feet or more than 20 feet from Rialmo when he fired.
“It happened like this,” Gainer said, snapping his fingers. “There is no ‘pause’ button.”
Gainer argued that the discrepancies within the officers’ accounts of the shooting actually show their credibility. If the officers conspired to cook up a story, Gainer said, “This is, without a doubt, the worst conspiracy in the history of conspiracies.”
Rialmo made the unconventional move of hiring his own attorney, Brodsky, to represent him alongside the lawyers for the city. Brodsky asked jurors to consider whether they expect officers to run into danger or away from it. He also contended that LeGrier “wanted to be killed by police.”
The trial that led up to Wednesday’s verdict turned largely on two key topics: whether the teen swung the bat at Rialmo, as the officer testified, and the distance that separated the two when the officer fired. The Legrier family attorneys also repeatedly returned to the fact that most of the bullets came from behind.
Experts hired by the city and the LeGrier family voiced conflicting views.
A forensics expert called by the LeGrier family testified that the teen stood at least 10 feet from Rialmo at the time of the shooting. A pathologist hired by the LeGrier family said the teen’s wounds and other evidence contradicted Rialmo’s account of the teen raising the bat before he was shot.
The city’s lawyers, however, called a pathologist who said it was possible that LeGrier had the bat raised when he was shot.
Rialmo himself demonstrated for jurors how he said LeGrier swung the bat downward at him. The officer said the teen came within 2 to 3 feet of him.
The city also called a use-of-force expert who testified that Rialmo was justified in firing — even if LeGrier did not swing the bat — because the teen presented an immediate threat.
That clash of expert opinions mirrors the rift between police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the city’s officer disciplinary agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. COPA ruled the shooting unjustified and recommended that the officer be fired, while Johnson disagreed and ruled that the shooting was warranted.
The Chicago Police Board has yet to decide whether Rialmo should be fired.
Rialmo, who is on paid desk duty, also remains under investigation for a December 2017 bar fight in which he punched two men in the face in an altercation caught on security video. Brodsky has said Rialmo was defending himself.
Only a small portion of the trial focused on Brodsky’s lawsuit against the LeGrier estate. In closing arguments, Foutris called the suit “callous” and pointed out for jurors that Rialmo was not in court. Rialmo did not attend most of the trial, while Brodsky was in court intermittently.
“Apparently, (Rialmo) has got better things to do,” Foutris said.
Brodsky argued that the shooting was “traumatic” and “life-changing” for Rialmo.
“(LeGrier) caused Officer Rialmo to have to take his life, and, unfortunately, tragically, the life of Bettie Jones,” Brodsky said.
“It was Quintonio’s fault.”
By Dan Hinkel
Chicago Tribune
June 28, 2018
In a chaotic finish to a high-profile trial, a judge first announced that a jury had found that a Chicago police officer unjustifiably shot and killed a bat-wielding teen, then wiped away the verdict and the $1 million award to the teen’s family after noting that jurors had also found that the officer reasonably feared for his life when he fired.
Confusion abounded at the Daley Center courthouse Wednesday evening after the Cook County jury reached its conflicting verdict after 3½ hours of deliberations, capping an eight-day trial.
Judge Rena Marie Van Tine first announced that jurors had sided in favor of Quintonio LeGrier's parents — who sued the city and Officer Robert Rialmo — awarding them $1.05 million in damages.
Moments later, however, it was revealed that jurors had also signed a special interrogatory — a specific question to a jury — finding that Rialmo fired in the reasonable belief that LeGrier posed the danger of death or great bodily harm to himself or his partner.
Van Tine then found that the answer to the specific question overrode the rest of the verdict. Over the objections of the LeGrier family’s lawyers, the judge entered judgment in favor of Rialmo and the city.
The jury foreman, Dave Fitzsimmons, answered reporters’ questions just after the verdict was read, suggesting he had expected the $1.05 million in damages to be imposed and criticizing the officer’s decision to shoot.
“(I) don’t believe he’s a bad person — just made a bad decision,” Fitzsimmons said.
Even without the conflicting verdict, jurors had awarded an amount that far undershot what the LeGrier family’s lawyers had asked for — as much as $25 million.
The shooting on the West Side also killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones, an innocent bystander. The city avoided a trial with her family by recently reaching a proposed settlement of $16 million.
Rialmo’s lawyer, Joel Brodsky, celebrated the mixed jury decision as vindication for his client. As reporters and other onlookers sorted out the verdict, he talked by phone with Rialmo, who was not in court. Brodsky said the officer felt “wonderful.”
Attorney Basileios Foutris, who represents the LeGrier family, said the city won on a “legal technicality” and said he would be “exploring all our options going forward.”
The situation echoed at least one other case in Cook County over a shooting by Chicago police. In 2015, a jury found that an officer shot and killed a 19-year-old man without justification and awarded $3.5 million in damages. In that case, however, the jury also answered a special interrogatory and said the officer believed his life was in danger when he fired. The judge wiped away the verdict, but the Illinois Appellate Court overturned her decision and reinstated the award in February.
Another element added to the confusion around the LeGrier verdict. Rialmo had made the unusual move of suing LeGrier’s estate, blaming him for the shooting. Jurors found partly in Rialmo’s favor but awarded the officer no money.
The wild ending marked the culmination of 2½ years of legal wrangling over one of the most divisive shootings in the recent history of a Police Department still undergoing reforms aimed at preventing controversial uses of force. The shooting has been politically explosive since it transpired just a month after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced by a judge to release video of an officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times.
LeGrier’s shooting unfolded as Rialmo and his partner responded about 4:30 a.m. Dec. 26, 2015, to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in the 4700 block of West Erie Street where the teen was staying with his father. LeGrier apparently was plagued by mental health problems and had encounters with police while attending Northern Illinois University, records show.
During closing arguments Wednesday, Foutris emphasized the portions of the trial that suggested Rialmo — who has given varying statements about the shooting — stood 10 feet or more from the teen when he fired.
The lawyer argued that the officer’s statements placing him a few feet from LeGrier were concocted to justify a bad shooting.
Like a mantra, Foutris repeated, “Distance matters.”
“Quintonio was not a threat to him, period,” Foutris said.
Defending the city, private attorney Brian Gainer contended that mere seconds passed as the officers reached the building’s front entry and LeGrier bounded down the stairs and rushed at Rialmo and his partner with the bat in his hand. LeGrier presented an immediate lethal threat, Gainer said, whether he was 5 feet or more than 20 feet from Rialmo when he fired.
“It happened like this,” Gainer said, snapping his fingers. “There is no ‘pause’ button.”
Gainer argued that the discrepancies within the officers’ accounts of the shooting actually show their credibility. If the officers conspired to cook up a story, Gainer said, “This is, without a doubt, the worst conspiracy in the history of conspiracies.”
Rialmo made the unconventional move of hiring his own attorney, Brodsky, to represent him alongside the lawyers for the city. Brodsky asked jurors to consider whether they expect officers to run into danger or away from it. He also contended that LeGrier “wanted to be killed by police.”
The trial that led up to Wednesday’s verdict turned largely on two key topics: whether the teen swung the bat at Rialmo, as the officer testified, and the distance that separated the two when the officer fired. The Legrier family attorneys also repeatedly returned to the fact that most of the bullets came from behind.
Experts hired by the city and the LeGrier family voiced conflicting views.
A forensics expert called by the LeGrier family testified that the teen stood at least 10 feet from Rialmo at the time of the shooting. A pathologist hired by the LeGrier family said the teen’s wounds and other evidence contradicted Rialmo’s account of the teen raising the bat before he was shot.
The city’s lawyers, however, called a pathologist who said it was possible that LeGrier had the bat raised when he was shot.
Rialmo himself demonstrated for jurors how he said LeGrier swung the bat downward at him. The officer said the teen came within 2 to 3 feet of him.
The city also called a use-of-force expert who testified that Rialmo was justified in firing — even if LeGrier did not swing the bat — because the teen presented an immediate threat.
That clash of expert opinions mirrors the rift between police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the city’s officer disciplinary agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. COPA ruled the shooting unjustified and recommended that the officer be fired, while Johnson disagreed and ruled that the shooting was warranted.
The Chicago Police Board has yet to decide whether Rialmo should be fired.
Rialmo, who is on paid desk duty, also remains under investigation for a December 2017 bar fight in which he punched two men in the face in an altercation caught on security video. Brodsky has said Rialmo was defending himself.
Only a small portion of the trial focused on Brodsky’s lawsuit against the LeGrier estate. In closing arguments, Foutris called the suit “callous” and pointed out for jurors that Rialmo was not in court. Rialmo did not attend most of the trial, while Brodsky was in court intermittently.
“Apparently, (Rialmo) has got better things to do,” Foutris said.
Brodsky argued that the shooting was “traumatic” and “life-changing” for Rialmo.
“(LeGrier) caused Officer Rialmo to have to take his life, and, unfortunately, tragically, the life of Bettie Jones,” Brodsky said.
“It was Quintonio’s fault.”
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