It is not uncommon for the citizens of vey small towns to fear their police officers.
HILL COUNTY TOWN FEARS POLICE INFLUENCE IS OUT OF CONTROL
By Brett Shipp
WFAA.com
February 17, 2012
COVINGTON - Unless you turn at the blinking light at State Highway 171 and FM 67, you might not notice Covington, Texas, which is the way most in this tiny town want it.
Now, out of fear and frustration, they want the public to know.
"They are scared to death now," said Covington City Council member Marty Smith. "They lock their doors, they lock the car doors because they are scared of the police."
Smith said she also fears the man running the Hill County town, Police Chief Wade Laurence.
"Wade Lawrence asked me what it was going to take to shut me up, and them to arrest me and handcuff me at a council meeting," Smith said. "I'm 69 years old and I don't need the hassle of it."
Former Covington police officer Kayla Richardson said the trouble began one year ago when she discovered drugs missing from the police evidence locker. She said the only cop who didn't take a lie detector test was Laurence.
She said when nothing was done, she filed a complaint with outside authorities.
"I took this to the Texas Rangers and I also took this to Johnson County and gave it to them and told them what I thought was going on, and told them that people are starting to get threatened," Richardson said.
When no investigative body took up the her complaint, Richardson says that's when Laurence's bullying began.
"Once he found out that I was the one who told on him, he wanted me gone," she said.
One month later, Richardson was fired. The police chief accused her of not showing up to work when she was supposed to.
At a city council meeting last November, Richardson says the chief ordered the arrests of her boyfriend and a former mayor. Richardson’s boyfriend was charged with assault. The ex-mayor was charged with credit card abuse. Both claim it was out of retaliation.
The day after the arrests, former Covington Fire Chief George Burnett gathered more than 60 signatures, nearly 25 percent of Covington residents, petitioning to have the police department disbanded.
That's when Burnett says he was threatened by the chief.
"The police chief and three other of his other police came down and were raising cane about me getting this petition signed," Burnett said. "They said I was starting a lot of trouble in town."
But the collected signatures have collected dust. The have never been presented to city council, because no meeting has taken place since November.
When town folks showed up for January's meeting, Mayor Pro-Tem Alan Snider abruptly canceled the meeting, saying he couldn’t get a majority of council members to attend. Yet there stood council members Marty Smith and Rose Diaz, ready to attend.
"I find it very suspicious," said Council Member Rose Diaz.
By nightfall, several residents had gathered out front of city hall and the conversations all turned toward the police chief and his department. Among them was former council member Emma Marbut.
"I was threatened to go to jail by one of the officers when I was on the Council," Marbut said. "I immediately resigned, because there's one thing I don't need in my life, and that's jail."
"The police have so much power and authority here, they've turned this into a little police state," said Covington resident John Whittington. "It's almost unbelievable."
When we tried to get a response from Chief Laurence and Mayor Pro tem Alan Snider, we were told not on camera. While neither wanted to discuss any of the complaints against them on camera, they both summarized their complaints by suggesting they are holding the trouble makers in town accountable.
Covington resident Delores Wright agrees, saying she feels safer than ever now that Chief Laurence is running the department.
"He's just a down-to-earth, good, nice person," Wright said. "I hope he is police chief here forever."
And while Chief Laurence oversees a four-man police department in a town of 283 people, the city faces steep fines from the state for a dilapidated and leaking water system fluoride mixing tank. The city clerk, who is also Laurence's girlfriend, never responded to our request for a copy of the city budget.
Since News 8 first started asking questions about missing drugs, the Texas Rangers have opened a criminal investigation.
A council meeting has now been scheduled for next week.
But some say as long as the chief is in charge, they still live in fear and in hopes that the public will slow down and take notice.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
‘SCORE … I GOT DISMISSED! … HA HA’ GETS HIM 3 DAYS IN JAIL
Three days in the pokey is what he got for thinking with his dick instead of his brain.
JUROR JAILED FOR ‘FRIENDING’ PRETTY DEFENDANT IN AUTO NEGLIGENCE CASE ON FACEBOOK
Jacob Jock sent the ‘friend’ request after jury questioning, which the defendant then brought to the attention of her lawyer
By Paul Thompson
Mail Online
February 20, 2012
A juror who sent a ‘friend’ request to a defendant on Facebook and then bragged about being dismissed from jury service has been jailed.
Jacob Jock was told he will spend three days in jail after a judge branded his actions an ‘insidious threat to the erosion of democracy’.
The 29-year-old was led from a Florida court in handcuffs to begin his sentence, after being found guilty of criminal contempt of court.
Jock had been selected for jury service on an auto negligence case in Sarasota, Florida, last December, where Violetta Milerman was on trial.
He sent her a friend request after jury questioning, which she brought to the attention of her lawyer.
Jock, who runs a screen-printing business, was dismissed from the jury.
But he later wrote on his Facebook page: ‘Score…I got dismissed!! apparently they frown upon sending a friend request to the defendant… ha ha.’
The comments angered trial judge Nancy Donnellan, who ordered that Jock be charged with contempt of court.
‘I cannot think of a more insidious threat to the erosion of democracy than citizens who do not care,’ she said.
During his trial, Jock claimed he made a mistake when he sent the friend request to the attractive defendant.
He said that after lawyers asked potential jurors whether they knew anyone involved in the case he looked to see if she was among his 1,300 friends on the social networking site.
He said when her picture came up on his cell phone, he tried to push the ‘mutual friends’ button to refresh his memory, but instead he hit ‘friend request’.
‘I didn’t think it was a big deal,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think I would get picked for the jury’.
Jock said he knew the request would be sent to Milerman and regretted that he didn’t mention it during the jury selection process that ended with him on the seven-member panel.
‘I was just hoping she'd forget about it,’ Jock said. ‘It was a total mistake ... I kind of thought what happened wasn't that big a deal. Little did I know.’
JUROR JAILED FOR ‘FRIENDING’ PRETTY DEFENDANT IN AUTO NEGLIGENCE CASE ON FACEBOOK
Jacob Jock sent the ‘friend’ request after jury questioning, which the defendant then brought to the attention of her lawyer
By Paul Thompson
Mail Online
February 20, 2012
A juror who sent a ‘friend’ request to a defendant on Facebook and then bragged about being dismissed from jury service has been jailed.
Jacob Jock was told he will spend three days in jail after a judge branded his actions an ‘insidious threat to the erosion of democracy’.
The 29-year-old was led from a Florida court in handcuffs to begin his sentence, after being found guilty of criminal contempt of court.
Jock had been selected for jury service on an auto negligence case in Sarasota, Florida, last December, where Violetta Milerman was on trial.
He sent her a friend request after jury questioning, which she brought to the attention of her lawyer.
Jock, who runs a screen-printing business, was dismissed from the jury.
But he later wrote on his Facebook page: ‘Score…I got dismissed!! apparently they frown upon sending a friend request to the defendant… ha ha.’
The comments angered trial judge Nancy Donnellan, who ordered that Jock be charged with contempt of court.
‘I cannot think of a more insidious threat to the erosion of democracy than citizens who do not care,’ she said.
During his trial, Jock claimed he made a mistake when he sent the friend request to the attractive defendant.
He said that after lawyers asked potential jurors whether they knew anyone involved in the case he looked to see if she was among his 1,300 friends on the social networking site.
He said when her picture came up on his cell phone, he tried to push the ‘mutual friends’ button to refresh his memory, but instead he hit ‘friend request’.
‘I didn’t think it was a big deal,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think I would get picked for the jury’.
Jock said he knew the request would be sent to Milerman and regretted that he didn’t mention it during the jury selection process that ended with him on the seven-member panel.
‘I was just hoping she'd forget about it,’ Jock said. ‘It was a total mistake ... I kind of thought what happened wasn't that big a deal. Little did I know.’
THE NEWS IN ZINGERS
By Argus Hamilton / Jewish World Review / February 20, 2012
Joseph Kennedy III filed for Congress Tuesday for the seat left by Barney Frank. He's RFK's grandson and Teddy's nephew. Young Joe is a Middlesex County prosecutor, and only someone from Middlesex can bridge the gap between the Kennedys and Barney Frank.
__________
President Obama attended a fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills Wednesday hosted by movie comedian Will Ferrell. It was a hot ticket. People in Hollywood paid forty thousand dollars each to have dinner with a comedian who can get a picture green-lighted.
__________
President Obama choppered from L.A. Airport to a secret landing pad near Century City to avoid church protesters. Workers spread foam on the landing pad. It was the second time in a week President Obama turned a first amendment issue into a contraceptive issue.
__________
President Obama stayed at the Beverly Hilton while in Los Angeles Wednesday. They are still cleaning up after the Grammys. Whitney Houston's two bodyguards were still at the hotel and got arrested when they tried to get a job protecting the president during his bath.
__________
Fort Worth police arrested TCU football players Thursday for selling dealer amounts of marijuana on campus. The police said they were making real money. California college athletes aren't allowed to sell marijuana until after they've graduated from medical school.
__________
U.S. intelligence chiefs told Congress of the threat posed by Iran Tuesday. Apparently Iran has all it needs to convert uranium to nuclear bombs. They said the only thing missing was the recipe and fortunately Albert Einstein lost his cooking show when he died.
__________
Iran cut off oil exports to its six biggest European customers Tuesday in retaliation for the EU's vow to stop buying oil from Iran. Oil prices soared. Gasoline is so expensive in L.A. that police pulled over a van on the freeway yesterday with fifty legal Americans in it.
__________
NBC just ordered a new series about Silence of the Lambs killer Hannibal Lector, who is an urbane cannibal who coaches FBI profilers from behind bars. Keeping him fed is no problem. Whoever Donald Trump fires the previous hour is tossed right into the cage. .
Joseph Kennedy III filed for Congress Tuesday for the seat left by Barney Frank. He's RFK's grandson and Teddy's nephew. Young Joe is a Middlesex County prosecutor, and only someone from Middlesex can bridge the gap between the Kennedys and Barney Frank.
__________
President Obama attended a fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills Wednesday hosted by movie comedian Will Ferrell. It was a hot ticket. People in Hollywood paid forty thousand dollars each to have dinner with a comedian who can get a picture green-lighted.
__________
President Obama choppered from L.A. Airport to a secret landing pad near Century City to avoid church protesters. Workers spread foam on the landing pad. It was the second time in a week President Obama turned a first amendment issue into a contraceptive issue.
__________
President Obama stayed at the Beverly Hilton while in Los Angeles Wednesday. They are still cleaning up after the Grammys. Whitney Houston's two bodyguards were still at the hotel and got arrested when they tried to get a job protecting the president during his bath.
__________
Fort Worth police arrested TCU football players Thursday for selling dealer amounts of marijuana on campus. The police said they were making real money. California college athletes aren't allowed to sell marijuana until after they've graduated from medical school.
__________
U.S. intelligence chiefs told Congress of the threat posed by Iran Tuesday. Apparently Iran has all it needs to convert uranium to nuclear bombs. They said the only thing missing was the recipe and fortunately Albert Einstein lost his cooking show when he died.
__________
Iran cut off oil exports to its six biggest European customers Tuesday in retaliation for the EU's vow to stop buying oil from Iran. Oil prices soared. Gasoline is so expensive in L.A. that police pulled over a van on the freeway yesterday with fifty legal Americans in it.
__________
NBC just ordered a new series about Silence of the Lambs killer Hannibal Lector, who is an urbane cannibal who coaches FBI profilers from behind bars. Keeping him fed is no problem. Whoever Donald Trump fires the previous hour is tossed right into the cage. .
Monday, February 20, 2012
DEATHS OF ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITIES: DON’T FLY THE FLAG AT HALF-MAST!
On Sunday’s ABC This Week, Jake Tapper, ABC’s the senior White House correspondent, asked whether the death of Whitney Houston had been overblown by the media. There was a panel discussion about the appropriateness of flying the American flag at half-mast in honor of Houston. At the beginning of the flag discussion Tapper said this:
__I want to read this quote from a woman I know, Vanessa Adelson. She's a Gold Star mother. Her son, Specialist Steven Mace, was killed at Combat Output Keating in Afghanistan in 2009. She wrote, "America has a flag code that governs the use and care of the United States flag. Following the code preserves the integrity of the nation in mourning, distinction, and the symbolic value of that honor. While Whitney Houston had a public-inspiring talent, she gave up that gift by the conduct of her personal life. She in no way is someone worthy of being honored by a nation in mourning. The self-inflicted tragedy of her personal life should only be viewed as an example of how an American should not live their life."
I’ll go even further than that. I do not think any entertainment celebrities, no matter how great, deserve to have the American flag flown at half-mast in their honor. That honor should be reserved for the President, Vice-President, members of the president’s cabinet, leaders of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, military leaders, outstanding civic leaders and most important of all, for members of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives fighting for our country and police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
Somehow Americans have lost any sense of perspective when faced with the deaths of famous entertainers. The death of Elvis Presley brought more sorrow to millions of fans than the death by assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The death of child molester Michael Jackson is still being mourned. And now we have Whitney Houston, another great entertainer who, like Presley and Jackson, had a dark side to her life. Houston died on February 11 and her funeral was held Saturday. Here it is Monday and the TV newscasters are still yapping about her.
Yes, mourn the death of your favorite entertainment celebrity if you wish, but please don’t dishonor our flag by flying it at half-mast.
__I want to read this quote from a woman I know, Vanessa Adelson. She's a Gold Star mother. Her son, Specialist Steven Mace, was killed at Combat Output Keating in Afghanistan in 2009. She wrote, "America has a flag code that governs the use and care of the United States flag. Following the code preserves the integrity of the nation in mourning, distinction, and the symbolic value of that honor. While Whitney Houston had a public-inspiring talent, she gave up that gift by the conduct of her personal life. She in no way is someone worthy of being honored by a nation in mourning. The self-inflicted tragedy of her personal life should only be viewed as an example of how an American should not live their life."
I’ll go even further than that. I do not think any entertainment celebrities, no matter how great, deserve to have the American flag flown at half-mast in their honor. That honor should be reserved for the President, Vice-President, members of the president’s cabinet, leaders of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, military leaders, outstanding civic leaders and most important of all, for members of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives fighting for our country and police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
Somehow Americans have lost any sense of perspective when faced with the deaths of famous entertainers. The death of Elvis Presley brought more sorrow to millions of fans than the death by assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The death of child molester Michael Jackson is still being mourned. And now we have Whitney Houston, another great entertainer who, like Presley and Jackson, had a dark side to her life. Houston died on February 11 and her funeral was held Saturday. Here it is Monday and the TV newscasters are still yapping about her.
Yes, mourn the death of your favorite entertainment celebrity if you wish, but please don’t dishonor our flag by flying it at half-mast.
WHY CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTIONS ARE NOT A BAD IDEA
Some women should never ever be allowed to give birth to a child.
MISSOURI COUPLE CHARGED IN FAKE HIT-AND-RUN TO KILL CHILD
A central Missouri mother and her boyfriend initially blamed the fatal beating of a toddler on a hit-and-run driver
By Heather Hollingsworth
Associated Press
February 18, 2012
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A central Missouri mother and her boyfriend were charged Friday in the fatal beating of a toddler whose injuries initially were blamed on a hit-and-run.
Morgan County online court records show that 21-year-old Thomas Presley and 25-year-old Jamie Ann Litton — both of Stover — face one count of second-degree murder in the death of 3-year-old Blake Litton. Litton also faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
"It was bad, bad," said Morgan County Sheriff Jim Petty. "The car never touched him. He was assaulted at the home. He basically beat (Blake) to death is what we are alleging because he pooped in his pants and (Presley) hit him and he got out of control."
Petty said Presley called 911 Thursday morning to report that the boy had been struck by a hit-and-run driver along Missouri 135, about 100 miles southeast of Kansas City. Presley said that he was headed to see his brother in a nearby town and that he and the boy got out of the vehicle to use the bathroom, Petty said.
Blake was rushed to a Sedalia hospital where he later was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, Petty said the deputy was immediately suspicious of hit-and-run story.
"It just didn't quite add up, the things he said and the questions that were asked so we started probing into it and what had happened so forth," Petty said. "It snowballed into a homicide investigation pretty quick. He has implicated himself in assaulting the boy at the home and fabricated the story so he wouldn't be arrested."
Presley and Litton were both jailed on $100,000 bonds. No attorney is listed for either person in online court records. A worker at public defender Karie Comstock's office said Comstock, who represented Presley in an earlier harassment case, had no comment. When asked whether Comstock was representing Presley in the murder case, the worker reiterated that Comstock had no comment and hung up.
According to the probable cause statement, which was obtained by KMIZ-TV and provided to The Associated Press, Presley told authorities that he sent a text message to Litton while she was working as a certified nurse assistant at the Golden Age Living Center and told her he "lost it" and thought he had beaten her son to the point of paralysis. Litton said Presley told her the boy needed to go to the emergency room but he couldn't take him because he would go to prison for the "rest of his life," according to the court documents.
Litton said she asked her supervisor if she could leave because of an issue with her son but was told "no." Litton didn't leave work or tell anyone about the cause of her son's injuries.
Several hours later, Presley took the boy and his younger sister, also 3, to Litton's work, according to the probable cause statement. Presley said he then told Litton that he was going to fake a car accident. Litton, however, told authorities she thought Presley was taking the boy to the emergency room.
Litton said she and Presley were crying but that her son was "peaceful in his booster seat." She found that he had a weak pulse and described his breathing as weak. Litton said that before returning to work, she yelled her son's name but that he didn't respond, the court document said.
Litton said the next text she received was from Presley, stating that the boy had been struck by a car, according to the probable cause statement.
Later, Litton's daughter was examined and authorities determined she had a broken wrist and extensive bruising, court records said. The girl blamed the injuries, which authorities estimated were at least one week old, on her "daddy." During an interview, the girl said Presley punched her brother because he "pooped" and that he put the boy in the bathtub where he hit him "a lot" and that the boy "kept pooping more," according to the probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement said the boy died of injuries, including a lacerated liver and a ruptured brain vessel. There also were injuries to his head, neck, torso, buttocks, legs and arms.
MISSOURI COUPLE CHARGED IN FAKE HIT-AND-RUN TO KILL CHILD
A central Missouri mother and her boyfriend initially blamed the fatal beating of a toddler on a hit-and-run driver
By Heather Hollingsworth
Associated Press
February 18, 2012
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A central Missouri mother and her boyfriend were charged Friday in the fatal beating of a toddler whose injuries initially were blamed on a hit-and-run.
Morgan County online court records show that 21-year-old Thomas Presley and 25-year-old Jamie Ann Litton — both of Stover — face one count of second-degree murder in the death of 3-year-old Blake Litton. Litton also faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
"It was bad, bad," said Morgan County Sheriff Jim Petty. "The car never touched him. He was assaulted at the home. He basically beat (Blake) to death is what we are alleging because he pooped in his pants and (Presley) hit him and he got out of control."
Petty said Presley called 911 Thursday morning to report that the boy had been struck by a hit-and-run driver along Missouri 135, about 100 miles southeast of Kansas City. Presley said that he was headed to see his brother in a nearby town and that he and the boy got out of the vehicle to use the bathroom, Petty said.
Blake was rushed to a Sedalia hospital where he later was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, Petty said the deputy was immediately suspicious of hit-and-run story.
"It just didn't quite add up, the things he said and the questions that were asked so we started probing into it and what had happened so forth," Petty said. "It snowballed into a homicide investigation pretty quick. He has implicated himself in assaulting the boy at the home and fabricated the story so he wouldn't be arrested."
Presley and Litton were both jailed on $100,000 bonds. No attorney is listed for either person in online court records. A worker at public defender Karie Comstock's office said Comstock, who represented Presley in an earlier harassment case, had no comment. When asked whether Comstock was representing Presley in the murder case, the worker reiterated that Comstock had no comment and hung up.
According to the probable cause statement, which was obtained by KMIZ-TV and provided to The Associated Press, Presley told authorities that he sent a text message to Litton while she was working as a certified nurse assistant at the Golden Age Living Center and told her he "lost it" and thought he had beaten her son to the point of paralysis. Litton said Presley told her the boy needed to go to the emergency room but he couldn't take him because he would go to prison for the "rest of his life," according to the court documents.
Litton said she asked her supervisor if she could leave because of an issue with her son but was told "no." Litton didn't leave work or tell anyone about the cause of her son's injuries.
Several hours later, Presley took the boy and his younger sister, also 3, to Litton's work, according to the probable cause statement. Presley said he then told Litton that he was going to fake a car accident. Litton, however, told authorities she thought Presley was taking the boy to the emergency room.
Litton said she and Presley were crying but that her son was "peaceful in his booster seat." She found that he had a weak pulse and described his breathing as weak. Litton said that before returning to work, she yelled her son's name but that he didn't respond, the court document said.
Litton said the next text she received was from Presley, stating that the boy had been struck by a car, according to the probable cause statement.
Later, Litton's daughter was examined and authorities determined she had a broken wrist and extensive bruising, court records said. The girl blamed the injuries, which authorities estimated were at least one week old, on her "daddy." During an interview, the girl said Presley punched her brother because he "pooped" and that he put the boy in the bathtub where he hit him "a lot" and that the boy "kept pooping more," according to the probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement said the boy died of injuries, including a lacerated liver and a ruptured brain vessel. There also were injuries to his head, neck, torso, buttocks, legs and arms.
MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL EXPANDS TO THE CARIBBEAN
From Borderland Beat:
CHAPO IS CARVING OUT NEW ROUTE IN THE CARIBBEAN
Global Press
February 18, 2012
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The Sinaloa cartel, Mexico’s largest drug-smuggling organization, is working with Dominican criminal groups to establish a Caribbean trafficking route, Dominican and US officials said.
In recent months, Dominican officials have blamed the Mexican group for a handful of murders and stealing a corporate jet under the cloak of early-morning darkness from an airport here. The jet, which was later recovered in Venezuela, was going to be used to transport cocaine from South America, officials said.
The Sinaloa presence was confirmed when authorities, working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA, arrested a Mexican national and confessed Sinaloa member. During interrogation, Luis Fernando Bertolucci Castillo admitted to having a direct line to reputed cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. He was later extradited to the US to face drug charges late last year.
“The Sinaloa cartel is seeking to create a route to Europe using the Dominican Republic,” Dominican Ambassador to the US Anibal de Castro said this month, citing Bertolucci’s statement. That marked the government’s first public acknowledgement of the group’s presence.
The cartel members are also seeking logistical support from Dominicans, according to a member of the Dominican National Direcorate for Drug Control, a branch of the military that combats trafficking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
That includes relying on Dominicans to provide them with small planes for drug flights from the southern Venezuelan state of Apure, as well as obtaining precursors to synthetic drugs such as amphetamines used for crystal meth, the source said.
So far, the group’s presence appears limited to small cells. However, Sinaloa’s mere existence adds a level of complexity to a country already struggling with a handful of international criminal groups. It also suggests cartels are examining the Caribbean as a supplement to the preferred Central America-Mexico route — a shift US officials have feared.
The Obama administration has warned that the drug war in Mexico would push cartels to increasingly run drugs through the Caribbean. The islands were the preferred routes for notorious kingpins like Pablo Escobar in the 1980s until a US crackdown pushed the trade toward Mexico.
The DEA and officials in the State Department believe Mexican cartels are looking to gain greater control of turf outside the Central America and Mexico corridor, which receive the bulk of US focus and financial support.
“The handwriting is on the wall. We can see the train. It is coming down the tracks. They will return” to the Caribbean, Assistant Secretary of State William R. Brownfield told a US Senate subcommittee in November. “We know we’re going to have to deal with this crisis again. It is in our interest, in fact it would be the height of folly and stupidity for us, not to prepare for it now and in advance.”
Yet, funding for the chief US program to combat drug trafficking in the region, the Caribbean Security Basin Initiative, dropped to $73 million in the current fiscal year from $77 million last year. By comparison, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton pledged $300 million in funding to Central American countries during a conference last year in Guatemala.
Officials across the Caribbean say they lack the money and training necessary to combat an increase in the drug trade. Some 10 percent of the cocaine bound for the US passes through the islands, with the vast majority still traveling through Central America and Mexico, according to estimates.
Traffickers largely utilize go-fast boats, capable of carrying more than 4,000 pounds of cocaine, to transport drugs.
CHAPO IS CARVING OUT NEW ROUTE IN THE CARIBBEAN
Global Press
February 18, 2012
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The Sinaloa cartel, Mexico’s largest drug-smuggling organization, is working with Dominican criminal groups to establish a Caribbean trafficking route, Dominican and US officials said.
In recent months, Dominican officials have blamed the Mexican group for a handful of murders and stealing a corporate jet under the cloak of early-morning darkness from an airport here. The jet, which was later recovered in Venezuela, was going to be used to transport cocaine from South America, officials said.
The Sinaloa presence was confirmed when authorities, working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA, arrested a Mexican national and confessed Sinaloa member. During interrogation, Luis Fernando Bertolucci Castillo admitted to having a direct line to reputed cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. He was later extradited to the US to face drug charges late last year.
“The Sinaloa cartel is seeking to create a route to Europe using the Dominican Republic,” Dominican Ambassador to the US Anibal de Castro said this month, citing Bertolucci’s statement. That marked the government’s first public acknowledgement of the group’s presence.
The cartel members are also seeking logistical support from Dominicans, according to a member of the Dominican National Direcorate for Drug Control, a branch of the military that combats trafficking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
That includes relying on Dominicans to provide them with small planes for drug flights from the southern Venezuelan state of Apure, as well as obtaining precursors to synthetic drugs such as amphetamines used for crystal meth, the source said.
So far, the group’s presence appears limited to small cells. However, Sinaloa’s mere existence adds a level of complexity to a country already struggling with a handful of international criminal groups. It also suggests cartels are examining the Caribbean as a supplement to the preferred Central America-Mexico route — a shift US officials have feared.
The Obama administration has warned that the drug war in Mexico would push cartels to increasingly run drugs through the Caribbean. The islands were the preferred routes for notorious kingpins like Pablo Escobar in the 1980s until a US crackdown pushed the trade toward Mexico.
The DEA and officials in the State Department believe Mexican cartels are looking to gain greater control of turf outside the Central America and Mexico corridor, which receive the bulk of US focus and financial support.
“The handwriting is on the wall. We can see the train. It is coming down the tracks. They will return” to the Caribbean, Assistant Secretary of State William R. Brownfield told a US Senate subcommittee in November. “We know we’re going to have to deal with this crisis again. It is in our interest, in fact it would be the height of folly and stupidity for us, not to prepare for it now and in advance.”
Yet, funding for the chief US program to combat drug trafficking in the region, the Caribbean Security Basin Initiative, dropped to $73 million in the current fiscal year from $77 million last year. By comparison, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton pledged $300 million in funding to Central American countries during a conference last year in Guatemala.
Officials across the Caribbean say they lack the money and training necessary to combat an increase in the drug trade. Some 10 percent of the cocaine bound for the US passes through the islands, with the vast majority still traveling through Central America and Mexico, according to estimates.
Traffickers largely utilize go-fast boats, capable of carrying more than 4,000 pounds of cocaine, to transport drugs.
PRIEST’S RETIREMENT DINNER
A Priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. The Mayor, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner.
However, since the Mayor was delayed, the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited:
I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs and gave VD to his sister.
I was appalled. But as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.
Just as the Priest finished his talk, the Mayor arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk:
I'll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived, said the Mayor. In fact, I had the honor of being the first person to go to him for confession.
However, since the Mayor was delayed, the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited:
I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs and gave VD to his sister.
I was appalled. But as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.
Just as the Priest finished his talk, the Mayor arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk:
I'll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived, said the Mayor. In fact, I had the honor of being the first person to go to him for confession.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
RECOMMENDED READING
Every year and in between we are informed of local, state and federal crime rates. For anyone interested in how those rates are arrived at and for all criminal justice students and professionals, I highly recommend a just-published book, “THE CRIME NUMBERS GAME: Management by Manipulation” by John A. Eterno and Eli B. Silverman.
Criminologists Eterno and Silverman have experienced a storm of criticism from Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD’s hierarchy who do not take kindly to being exposed as frauds for manipulating crime stats to make New York appear much safer than it really is.
The new book is published by CRC Press. The book’s website, www.thecrimenumbersgame.com, offers a 20% discount. Eterno and Silverman’s book is also available on Amazon and soon on Amazon’s kindle.
Criminologists Eterno and Silverman have experienced a storm of criticism from Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD’s hierarchy who do not take kindly to being exposed as frauds for manipulating crime stats to make New York appear much safer than it really is.
The new book is published by CRC Press. The book’s website, www.thecrimenumbersgame.com, offers a 20% discount. Eterno and Silverman’s book is also available on Amazon and soon on Amazon’s kindle.
ANOTHER STUDY DEBUNKS THE MYTH THAT MARIJUANA IS LESS DANGEROUS THAN ALCOHOL
Studies involving 49,411 people found that smoking pot within 3 hours of driving increased the risk of motor vehicle collisions by 92% compared with unimpaired driving. All collisions involved in the study took place on a public road and involved one or more moving vehicles such as cars, vans, SUVs, trucks, buses, and motorcycles. Use of marijuana was determined through blood tests or admission by the driver that he had been smoking pot.
CANNABIS COULD DOUBLE DRIVERS’ RISK OF SERIOUS CRASH, SAYS BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL REPORT
Review of nine studies finds risk rises if drivers smoke cannabis less than three hours before getting behind wheel
The Guardian
February 9, 2012
Smoking cannabis within three hours of getting behind the wheel could almost double the risk of a serious crash, according to research published on Thursday in the British Medical Journal.
A review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking marijuana.
Figures show there are around 3 million users of cannabis in the UK aged 16 to 59.
The research found cannabis use resulted in a "near doubling of risk of a driver being involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death".
The researchers, from Dalhousie University in Canada, said, however, that the impact of cannabis consumption "on the risk of minor crashes remains unclear".
CANNABIS COULD DOUBLE DRIVERS’ RISK OF SERIOUS CRASH, SAYS BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL REPORT
Review of nine studies finds risk rises if drivers smoke cannabis less than three hours before getting behind wheel
The Guardian
February 9, 2012
Smoking cannabis within three hours of getting behind the wheel could almost double the risk of a serious crash, according to research published on Thursday in the British Medical Journal.
A review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking marijuana.
Figures show there are around 3 million users of cannabis in the UK aged 16 to 59.
The research found cannabis use resulted in a "near doubling of risk of a driver being involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death".
The researchers, from Dalhousie University in Canada, said, however, that the impact of cannabis consumption "on the risk of minor crashes remains unclear".
‘THERE’S NO QUESTION THAT OBAMA’S THE WORST PRESIDENT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA’
I’ve often expressed my firm conviction that medical marijuana is one humongous con job to legalize pot. During the first two-plus years of the Obama administration, the DEA followed Attorney General Eric Holder’s policy to lay off the ‘medical’ marijuana growers and dispensers in those states that had legalized pot for medical use. Holder’s policy enforced my belief that Obama was the worst president since Jimmy Carter.
At the beginning of the current presidential election campaign, the administration suddenly did a complete turnaround and unleashed the DEA which it is once again raiding ‘medical’ pot dispensaries and busting ‘medical’ pot growers and distributors.
Now all the Obama adoring pot heads and marijuana legalization advocates are really pissed off, with many saying Obama is worse than George Bush. Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, has gone so far as to say, "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana. He's gone from first to worst."
When lefties scream Obama’s worse than Bush, that’s really something! The turnaround almost makes me want to vote for Obama in November, but not quite. Lest we forget, the manufacture, distribution and possession of marijuana is a violation of federal laws that make no exception for medical purposes. Thus the Obama administration should never have ordered the DEA to lay off in the first place.
‘Obama’s War On Pot: In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana’ by Tim Dickinson is a long article in Rolling Stone (2-16-12) that bemoans the DEA’s crackdown on the ‘medical’ pot business. Here are some excerpts from the beginning of that article:
Back when he was running for president in 2008, Barack Obama insisted that medical marijuana was an issue best left to state and local governments. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," he vowed, promising an end to the Bush administration's high-profile raids on providers of medical pot, which is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
But over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multi¬agency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana. With more than 100 raids on pot dispensaries during his first three years, Obama is now on pace to exceed Bush's record for medical-marijuana busts. "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana," says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "He's gone from first to worst."
The federal crackdown imperils the medical care of the estimated 730,000 patients nationwide – many of them seriously ill or dying – who rely on state-sanctioned marijuana recommended by their doctors. In addition, drug experts warn, the White House's war on law-abiding providers of medical marijuana will only drum up business for real criminals. "The administration is going after legal dispensaries and state and local authorities in ways that are going to push this stuff back underground again," says Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, a former Republican senator who has urged the DEA to legalize medical marijuana, pulls no punches in describing the state of affairs produced by Obama's efforts to circumvent state law: "Utter chaos."
In its first two years, the Obama administration took a refreshingly sane approach to medical marijuana. Shortly after Obama took office, a senior drug-enforcement official pledged to Rolling Stone that the question of whether marijuana is medicine would now be determined by science, "not ideology." In March 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder emphasized that the Justice Department would only target medical-marijuana providers "who violate both federal and state law." The next morning, a headline in The New York Times read OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO STOP RAIDS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSERS. While all forms of marijuana would remain strictly illegal under federal law – the DEA ranks cannabis as a Schedule I drug, on par with heroin – the feds would respect state protections for providers of medical pot. Framing the Obama administration's new approach, drug czar Gil Kerlikowske famously declared, "We're not at war with people in this country."
At the beginning of the current presidential election campaign, the administration suddenly did a complete turnaround and unleashed the DEA which it is once again raiding ‘medical’ pot dispensaries and busting ‘medical’ pot growers and distributors.
Now all the Obama adoring pot heads and marijuana legalization advocates are really pissed off, with many saying Obama is worse than George Bush. Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, has gone so far as to say, "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana. He's gone from first to worst."
When lefties scream Obama’s worse than Bush, that’s really something! The turnaround almost makes me want to vote for Obama in November, but not quite. Lest we forget, the manufacture, distribution and possession of marijuana is a violation of federal laws that make no exception for medical purposes. Thus the Obama administration should never have ordered the DEA to lay off in the first place.
‘Obama’s War On Pot: In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana’ by Tim Dickinson is a long article in Rolling Stone (2-16-12) that bemoans the DEA’s crackdown on the ‘medical’ pot business. Here are some excerpts from the beginning of that article:
Back when he was running for president in 2008, Barack Obama insisted that medical marijuana was an issue best left to state and local governments. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," he vowed, promising an end to the Bush administration's high-profile raids on providers of medical pot, which is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
But over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multi¬agency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana. With more than 100 raids on pot dispensaries during his first three years, Obama is now on pace to exceed Bush's record for medical-marijuana busts. "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana," says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "He's gone from first to worst."
The federal crackdown imperils the medical care of the estimated 730,000 patients nationwide – many of them seriously ill or dying – who rely on state-sanctioned marijuana recommended by their doctors. In addition, drug experts warn, the White House's war on law-abiding providers of medical marijuana will only drum up business for real criminals. "The administration is going after legal dispensaries and state and local authorities in ways that are going to push this stuff back underground again," says Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, a former Republican senator who has urged the DEA to legalize medical marijuana, pulls no punches in describing the state of affairs produced by Obama's efforts to circumvent state law: "Utter chaos."
In its first two years, the Obama administration took a refreshingly sane approach to medical marijuana. Shortly after Obama took office, a senior drug-enforcement official pledged to Rolling Stone that the question of whether marijuana is medicine would now be determined by science, "not ideology." In March 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder emphasized that the Justice Department would only target medical-marijuana providers "who violate both federal and state law." The next morning, a headline in The New York Times read OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO STOP RAIDS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSERS. While all forms of marijuana would remain strictly illegal under federal law – the DEA ranks cannabis as a Schedule I drug, on par with heroin – the feds would respect state protections for providers of medical pot. Framing the Obama administration's new approach, drug czar Gil Kerlikowske famously declared, "We're not at war with people in this country."
NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Thieves have sunk to a new low when they resort to robbing a fellow robber. It must be due to the economic hard times we have been experiencing.
ROBBER SHOT AND ROBBED AFTER ROBBERY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
February 18, 2012
A Stockton stick-up man was shot and robbed of his gun and recent robbery proceeds yesterday.
Ray Michael Gowan, 33, had just stuck up a liquor store at gunpoint on Bianchi Road when he found the tables turned shortly after 4 pm. A group of men approached him, shot him in the foot and relieved him of his shotgun and the money he had just stolen.
The local constabulary found Gowan near the railroad tracks nearby and arrested his happy ass.
The cops also arrested a group of men who were found nearby. They were all armed and were arrested on weapons charges. It is not clear at this point that they were in fact the ones who shot and robbed Gowan.
ROBBER SHOT AND ROBBED AFTER ROBBERY
By Bob Walsh
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
February 18, 2012
A Stockton stick-up man was shot and robbed of his gun and recent robbery proceeds yesterday.
Ray Michael Gowan, 33, had just stuck up a liquor store at gunpoint on Bianchi Road when he found the tables turned shortly after 4 pm. A group of men approached him, shot him in the foot and relieved him of his shotgun and the money he had just stolen.
The local constabulary found Gowan near the railroad tracks nearby and arrested his happy ass.
The cops also arrested a group of men who were found nearby. They were all armed and were arrested on weapons charges. It is not clear at this point that they were in fact the ones who shot and robbed Gowan.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
30 COP CARS, INCLUDING CITY POLICE, COUNTY SHERIFF, COUNTY CONSTABLES AND NEIGHBORING TOWN POLICE, AID IN PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF DANGEROUS DRUNK
Just kidding. But this story reminds me of the time I got a call in the middle of the night that a naked woman was wandering down the esplanade on Galveston’s Broadway. Although my partner and I were given the call, two sheriff’s units arrived at the scene before we did. And before we placed the naked drunk lady in our patrol car, every Galveston PD patrol unit had shown up, as well as a Galveston fire truck. To top it off, as we were leaving for the jailhouse, here comes a Texas City area constable with his unit’s emergency lights on and siren blaring (Texas City is 17 miles from Galveston).
TAYLOR BURNHAM’S NUDE RIDE: ALLEGEDLY DRUNK CORPUS COWGIRL LEADS COPS ON CHASE WEARING NOTHING BUT COWBOY BOOTS
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
February 14, 2012
Police say a Corpus Christi woman was drunk when they arrested her early Saturday morning after a low-speed chase. At the time of her arrest, 18-year-old Taylor Burnham was wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boots.
Acting on a complaint about a suspicious person, police found Burnham in a back alley in the 1960s-era, ranch-home-dotted Brady Bunch-esque Lakes subdivision of Corpus, standing in her birthday suit between a Jeep Wrangler and someone's back fence. Instead of sticking around to answer the cops' questions, Burnham jumped in the Wrangler and drove off, cops in pursuit.
The chase only lasted for a mile and a half and Burnham's speed never exceeded 30 miles an hour, police say, but she did manage to steer the Jeep onto the sidewalk at one point.
Once she was apprehended, a female officer arrived to help this South Texas Godiva get decent. And then she was given a battery of sobriety tests, which she appears not to have scored all that well on, as she was arrested for both evading arrest and driving while intoxicated.
TAYLOR BURNHAM’S NUDE RIDE: ALLEGEDLY DRUNK CORPUS COWGIRL LEADS COPS ON CHASE WEARING NOTHING BUT COWBOY BOOTS
By John Nova Lomax
Houston Press Hair Balls
February 14, 2012
Police say a Corpus Christi woman was drunk when they arrested her early Saturday morning after a low-speed chase. At the time of her arrest, 18-year-old Taylor Burnham was wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boots.
Acting on a complaint about a suspicious person, police found Burnham in a back alley in the 1960s-era, ranch-home-dotted Brady Bunch-esque Lakes subdivision of Corpus, standing in her birthday suit between a Jeep Wrangler and someone's back fence. Instead of sticking around to answer the cops' questions, Burnham jumped in the Wrangler and drove off, cops in pursuit.
The chase only lasted for a mile and a half and Burnham's speed never exceeded 30 miles an hour, police say, but she did manage to steer the Jeep onto the sidewalk at one point.
Once she was apprehended, a female officer arrived to help this South Texas Godiva get decent. And then she was given a battery of sobriety tests, which she appears not to have scored all that well on, as she was arrested for both evading arrest and driving while intoxicated.
MENTALLY DISABLED MAN VICTIMIZED BY POLCE PRANKSTERS
This is thoroughly disgusting. It does nothing but dishonor the police service. The perpetrating police pranksters should be prosecuted and as part of their punishment they should be made to swallow cinnamon without water!
MISSISSIPPI POLICE CHIEF, 4 OTHERS FIRED FOR CINNAMON PRANK
The ‘Cinnamon Challenge’ is a prank in which people try to swallow cinnamon without water
By Holbrook Mohr
Associated Press
February 17, 2012
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi town fired its police chief, two officers and two town officials after a video surfaced purportedly showing them encouraging a mentally disabled man to eat a mouthful of cinnamon as part of a prank.
An attorney for the man, Denareus "Ted" Martin, 18, said a video was taken at City Hall by one of the officials in the town of Tutwiler, and posted on YouTube, though it has since been taken down. A separate video, which was also posted and removed, showed a police officer boxing with Martin, attorney Ellis Pittman said.
In the cinnamon video, a woman uses a piece of paper to pour a substance into Martin's mouth while a group of people can be heard laughing in the background. Martin holds the cinnamon in his mouth for a few seconds before coughing and spitting it out. He runs to a water fountain and then to a restroom, where he appears on the verge of vomiting.
Pittman said his client was choking, but the officials "were all laughing, grinning and having a grand time."
Former Tutwiler Police Chief Terry Tyler told The Associated Press on Thursday that he and the others were fired Tuesday during a specially called meeting of the Tutwiler Board of Aldermen.
"It's a bunch of lies and false allegations," Tyler said. "I don't have anything to hide. I don't have anything to be ashamed of."
Tyler said he's talking with an attorney and had no further comment.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer said he heard about the firings Tuesday night and called the district attorney's office and the FBI. He said a joint investigation is under way.
The "Cinnamon Challenge" is a prank in which people try to swallow cinnamon without water, which dries the mouth and usually causes them to cough and spit a plume of the spice. There are thousands of videos on the internet that show people trying it.
WABG-TV first reported the firings, aired the video and showed it on its website.
The video was taken while Martin was assigned to Tutwiler City Hall to work off fines from a minor criminal charge, though he didn't know specifically what the offense was, Pittman said.
Former police officers Jimmy Johnson and Bobby Banks Jr., as well as court clerk LaToya Ellis and town clerk Angelia Chandler also were fired, the ex-police chief said. Chandler was the one who poured the cinnamon into Martin's mouth, Pittman said. Banks also worked as a sheriff's deputy for Tallahatchie County. The sheriff said he's on suspension while the matter is investigated.
The AP tried unsuccessfully to reach them for comment. Several other Tutwiler officials, including Mayor Genether Miller-Spurlock, did not respond to numerous messages Thursday.
Pittman said the other video that was posted on the internet shows Johnson, the former police captain, boxing with Martin behind a shed near City Hall. He said the other former officer, Banks, made the video and posted it online.
Pittman said he's not sure how many videos were taken of Martin. He said it may have started because his client told officers "they ain't about nothing."
"They took him out back behind a shed and put some boxing gloves on him, saying, `If we ain't nothing then come on.'" Pittman said. "They proceeded to beat him up."
Tutwiler is small town of about 1,300 people in Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta. The area is known mostly for farming and several prisons and jails that employ many of its residents.
MISSISSIPPI POLICE CHIEF, 4 OTHERS FIRED FOR CINNAMON PRANK
The ‘Cinnamon Challenge’ is a prank in which people try to swallow cinnamon without water
By Holbrook Mohr
Associated Press
February 17, 2012
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi town fired its police chief, two officers and two town officials after a video surfaced purportedly showing them encouraging a mentally disabled man to eat a mouthful of cinnamon as part of a prank.
An attorney for the man, Denareus "Ted" Martin, 18, said a video was taken at City Hall by one of the officials in the town of Tutwiler, and posted on YouTube, though it has since been taken down. A separate video, which was also posted and removed, showed a police officer boxing with Martin, attorney Ellis Pittman said.
In the cinnamon video, a woman uses a piece of paper to pour a substance into Martin's mouth while a group of people can be heard laughing in the background. Martin holds the cinnamon in his mouth for a few seconds before coughing and spitting it out. He runs to a water fountain and then to a restroom, where he appears on the verge of vomiting.
Pittman said his client was choking, but the officials "were all laughing, grinning and having a grand time."
Former Tutwiler Police Chief Terry Tyler told The Associated Press on Thursday that he and the others were fired Tuesday during a specially called meeting of the Tutwiler Board of Aldermen.
"It's a bunch of lies and false allegations," Tyler said. "I don't have anything to hide. I don't have anything to be ashamed of."
Tyler said he's talking with an attorney and had no further comment.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer said he heard about the firings Tuesday night and called the district attorney's office and the FBI. He said a joint investigation is under way.
The "Cinnamon Challenge" is a prank in which people try to swallow cinnamon without water, which dries the mouth and usually causes them to cough and spit a plume of the spice. There are thousands of videos on the internet that show people trying it.
WABG-TV first reported the firings, aired the video and showed it on its website.
The video was taken while Martin was assigned to Tutwiler City Hall to work off fines from a minor criminal charge, though he didn't know specifically what the offense was, Pittman said.
Former police officers Jimmy Johnson and Bobby Banks Jr., as well as court clerk LaToya Ellis and town clerk Angelia Chandler also were fired, the ex-police chief said. Chandler was the one who poured the cinnamon into Martin's mouth, Pittman said. Banks also worked as a sheriff's deputy for Tallahatchie County. The sheriff said he's on suspension while the matter is investigated.
The AP tried unsuccessfully to reach them for comment. Several other Tutwiler officials, including Mayor Genether Miller-Spurlock, did not respond to numerous messages Thursday.
Pittman said the other video that was posted on the internet shows Johnson, the former police captain, boxing with Martin behind a shed near City Hall. He said the other former officer, Banks, made the video and posted it online.
Pittman said he's not sure how many videos were taken of Martin. He said it may have started because his client told officers "they ain't about nothing."
"They took him out back behind a shed and put some boxing gloves on him, saying, `If we ain't nothing then come on.'" Pittman said. "They proceeded to beat him up."
Tutwiler is small town of about 1,300 people in Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta. The area is known mostly for farming and several prisons and jails that employ many of its residents.
FOOTBALL TEAM SCORES MORE THAN TOUCHDOWNS, EXTRA POINTS AND FIELD GOALS
It appears that a whole bunch of TCU football players were scoring pot and possibly cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs as well. And four of them boosted their athletic scholarship funds by going into the dope dealing business.
TCU FOOTBALL: 4 PLAYERS CAUGHT IN DRUG DRAGNET
Fox Sports
February 16, 2012
FORT WORTH - TCU football players told undercover officers that drug use was widespread among the team, according to affidavits released Wednesday after the arrest of 18 people on drug charges.
The details disclosed in their arrest warrant affidavits are a blow to one of the most respected programs in college football and one that was expected to contend for the Big 12 title this year in its first season in the league.
Police say four players - linebacker Tanner Brock, defensive lineman D.J. Yendrey, offensive tackle Ty Horn and cornerback Devin Johnson - sold marijuana to students and football players. They have been kicked off the team.
The 18 people arrested - 15 of them students - were caught making "hand-to-hand" sales of marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs to undercover officers, police said.
Brock was being held on $10,000 bond at the Mansfield city jail. Johnson and Horn were being transferred to the jail on Wednesday, and Yendrey had not been arraigned.
Police said they had yet to determine if other football players were involved or would be charged.
The documents say coach Gary Patterson sprung a surprise drug test on the football team on Feb. 1 and that Brock later told an undercover officer there "would be about 60 people being screwed" as a result of the test. Sources said Patterson ordered the drug test after a recruit told him he wouldn't attend because of drug use by players.
Patterson: 'I am mad'
During a drug buy, an undercover officer asked Johnson about the surprise drug test.
"What can they do? Eighty-two people failed it," Johnson said.
Patterson and athletic director Chris Del Conte declined numerous requests for interviews.
TCU spokeswoman Lisa Albert said the school tests its student-athletes for drug use on a regular basis.
"The university is refuting these comments (in the affidavits) because these comments were made in the context of a drug buy," she wrote in an email.
A statement by Patterson indicated he didn't know about the six-month investigation that led to the arrests early Wednesday.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt, and now I am mad," Patterson said. "Under my watch, drugs and drug use by TCU's student-athletes will not be tolerated by me or any member of my coaching staff. Our program is respected nationally for its strong ethics, and for that reason the players arrested today were separated from TCU by the university."
Brock, a junior who led the team in tackles during the Frogs' 13-0 Rose Bowl season in 2010, was sidelined after the 2011 season opener with an ankle injury. He was poised to take TCU's defensive leader mantle in 2012.
Yendrey, a defensive tackle, started 18 games the last two seasons. Johnson had eight career starts. Both started in December's Poinsettia Bowl and would have been seniors next season.
Horn would have been a junior. He started against SMU in 2011 and had played in 11 games, including the bowl.
Clear sailing until now
TCU has received almost universal positive press as Patterson has built the program into a perennial power. The Frogs are 47-5 over the last four seasons, including 11-2 in 2011.
Eighteen of 19 seniors on the 2011 TCU roster have already earned their degrees or are on track to graduate by May.
Last year, TCU was highlighted in a Sports Illustrated article as the only Top 25 team in 2010 with no players on its roster with criminal records. The article stated that TCU and Oklahoma were the only two schools in the Top 25 that perform criminal background checks on their recruits.
TCU FOOTBALL: 4 PLAYERS CAUGHT IN DRUG DRAGNET
Fox Sports
February 16, 2012
FORT WORTH - TCU football players told undercover officers that drug use was widespread among the team, according to affidavits released Wednesday after the arrest of 18 people on drug charges.
The details disclosed in their arrest warrant affidavits are a blow to one of the most respected programs in college football and one that was expected to contend for the Big 12 title this year in its first season in the league.
Police say four players - linebacker Tanner Brock, defensive lineman D.J. Yendrey, offensive tackle Ty Horn and cornerback Devin Johnson - sold marijuana to students and football players. They have been kicked off the team.
The 18 people arrested - 15 of them students - were caught making "hand-to-hand" sales of marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs to undercover officers, police said.
Brock was being held on $10,000 bond at the Mansfield city jail. Johnson and Horn were being transferred to the jail on Wednesday, and Yendrey had not been arraigned.
Police said they had yet to determine if other football players were involved or would be charged.
The documents say coach Gary Patterson sprung a surprise drug test on the football team on Feb. 1 and that Brock later told an undercover officer there "would be about 60 people being screwed" as a result of the test. Sources said Patterson ordered the drug test after a recruit told him he wouldn't attend because of drug use by players.
Patterson: 'I am mad'
During a drug buy, an undercover officer asked Johnson about the surprise drug test.
"What can they do? Eighty-two people failed it," Johnson said.
Patterson and athletic director Chris Del Conte declined numerous requests for interviews.
TCU spokeswoman Lisa Albert said the school tests its student-athletes for drug use on a regular basis.
"The university is refuting these comments (in the affidavits) because these comments were made in the context of a drug buy," she wrote in an email.
A statement by Patterson indicated he didn't know about the six-month investigation that led to the arrests early Wednesday.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt, and now I am mad," Patterson said. "Under my watch, drugs and drug use by TCU's student-athletes will not be tolerated by me or any member of my coaching staff. Our program is respected nationally for its strong ethics, and for that reason the players arrested today were separated from TCU by the university."
Brock, a junior who led the team in tackles during the Frogs' 13-0 Rose Bowl season in 2010, was sidelined after the 2011 season opener with an ankle injury. He was poised to take TCU's defensive leader mantle in 2012.
Yendrey, a defensive tackle, started 18 games the last two seasons. Johnson had eight career starts. Both started in December's Poinsettia Bowl and would have been seniors next season.
Horn would have been a junior. He started against SMU in 2011 and had played in 11 games, including the bowl.
Clear sailing until now
TCU has received almost universal positive press as Patterson has built the program into a perennial power. The Frogs are 47-5 over the last four seasons, including 11-2 in 2011.
Eighteen of 19 seniors on the 2011 TCU roster have already earned their degrees or are on track to graduate by May.
Last year, TCU was highlighted in a Sports Illustrated article as the only Top 25 team in 2010 with no players on its roster with criminal records. The article stated that TCU and Oklahoma were the only two schools in the Top 25 that perform criminal background checks on their recruits.
OBAMA’S FUND RAISING TOUR LEADS TO DRUG SEIZURE IN LONG BEACH
The president was in California to attend a number of fund raising affairs.
FIGHTER JETS INTERCEPT DRUG PLANE IN OBAMA AIRSPACE OVER L.A.
Los Angeles Times
February 16, 2012
Military fighter jets intercepted a four-seat, single-engine plane that violated a temporary flight restriction over Los Angeles that was in place as President Obama left LAX, military officials said.
The Cessna 182 was intercepted shortly after 11 a.m. by two F-16 fighters that flew out of March Air Reserve Base, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The jets followed the plane until it landed at Long Beach Airport about 30 minutes later, the statement said.
Long Beach police met the plane. Authorities said they found as much as 10 kilograms of marijuana on the plane.
The White House said it would have no statement.
FIGHTER JETS INTERCEPT DRUG PLANE IN OBAMA AIRSPACE OVER L.A.
Los Angeles Times
February 16, 2012
Military fighter jets intercepted a four-seat, single-engine plane that violated a temporary flight restriction over Los Angeles that was in place as President Obama left LAX, military officials said.
The Cessna 182 was intercepted shortly after 11 a.m. by two F-16 fighters that flew out of March Air Reserve Base, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The jets followed the plane until it landed at Long Beach Airport about 30 minutes later, the statement said.
Long Beach police met the plane. Authorities said they found as much as 10 kilograms of marijuana on the plane.
The White House said it would have no statement.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
A young blond girl in her late teens, wanting to earn some extra money for the summer, decided to hire herself out as a "handy woman" and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood.
She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.
"Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint the porch" he said. "How much will you charge me?"
Delighted, the girl quickly responded, "How about $50?"
The man agreed and told her that the paint and brushes and everything she would need were in the garage.
The man's wife, hearing the conversation, said to her husband, "Does she realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?"
"That's a bit cynical, isn't it?" he responded.
The wife replied, "You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes."
A few hours later the blonde came to the door to collect her money.
"You're finished already?" the startled husband asked.
"Yes," the blonde replied, "and I even had paint left over so I gave it two coats."
Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50 and handed it to her along with a $10 tip.
"Thank you," the blonde said, "And, by the way, it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus."
She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.
"Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint the porch" he said. "How much will you charge me?"
Delighted, the girl quickly responded, "How about $50?"
The man agreed and told her that the paint and brushes and everything she would need were in the garage.
The man's wife, hearing the conversation, said to her husband, "Does she realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?"
"That's a bit cynical, isn't it?" he responded.
The wife replied, "You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes."
A few hours later the blonde came to the door to collect her money.
"You're finished already?" the startled husband asked.
"Yes," the blonde replied, "and I even had paint left over so I gave it two coats."
Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50 and handed it to her along with a $10 tip.
"Thank you," the blonde said, "And, by the way, it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus."
Friday, February 17, 2012
RISING PROBATION STAR TAKES A BIG DIP
Another in a long line of reformed thugs that have shocked the liberals who went completely gaga over them. Reverting to his days as a hoodlum, the rock star of probation and ally of Gov. Moonbeam, shows his true colors.
ACCUSED PROBATION CHIEF IS FACE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM EFFORT
Sexual assault allegations could damage Gov. Jerry Brown’s realignment plan
By Trey Bundy
The Bay Citizen
February 15, 2012
Allegations that Alameda County's top probation official sexually assaulted a female deputy within his department have shocked the Bay Area's criminal justice community and may come as a blow to Gov. Jerry Brown's plans to shut down California's long-troubled youth prison system, observers said.
The county's chief probation officer, David Muhammad, was placed on paid leave Tuesday after a deputy filed a legal claim accusing him of grabbing her breast and penetrating her with his fingers last May. Muhammad on Wednesday called the accusations “completely false and outrageous” and told The Bay Citizen he was “extraordinarily confident” that he would be exonerated.
Muhammad, 38, who has spoken openly about his troubles with the law as a teenager in Oakland, has been a celebrity in local law enforcement circles since he came to Alameda County from New York City last year. Universities and civic leaders courted him for speaking engagements, and community groups threw parties in his honor. San Francisco’s chief of juvenile probation, William Siffermann, called him a “rock star.”
Part of what sets Muhammad apart is his vocal support of a plan, spearheaded by Brown, to close down the Division of Juvenile Justice and move the state’s most dangerous juvenile offenders to county programs. Probation chiefs and district attorneys have lobbied fiercely against the proposal, saying counties are not equipped to handle the state’s toughest youth. But Muhammad, a known reformer, has become the face of juvenile justice realignment in California.
In an interview with The Bay Citizen in December, he spoke of his intention to abandon DJJ and create a model juvenile incarceration program in Alameda: “We have 50 kids at DJJ, and we have a hundred empty beds in juvenile hall. We would like to take them back with funding from the state and create a separate program.”
Criminal justice experts struggled to reconcile the accusations with the energetic youth advocate they have known and worked with for years.
“He’s been the only probation chief I know about who said, ‘Bring my kids back home, I want them, I can handle them, I’m not going to let political concerns get in the way of doing the right thing,’” said David Steinhart, director of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program in Marin County. “Alameda County has the potential for being a forward model of making a DJJ closure work, and we don’t want anything to get in way of that.”
Barry Krisberg, a criminologist at the University of California, Berkeley, called the allegations “a total shocker.”
“Muhammad is a nationally respected progressive who has really led the way for a lot of people,” Krisberg said.
“It’s devastating in a lot of ways,” said Sue Burrell, an attorney at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco. “He’s kind of the right guy at the right time, so I feel badly for everyone that this is happening right now.”
As the debate over DJJ has grown more contentious, reformers have continued to point to Muhammad and his efforts in Alameda County. He has been in talks with other Bay Area probation chiefs about starting pilot programs and using his county's detention centers as regional facilities for counties that lack adequate services for violent youth.
“Strong leadership is going to be crucial to realignment, and if you take someone like David Muhammad out of the picture, it’s going to be much more challenging,” said Kate McCracken, program director at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. “Pilot sites — and David Muhammad has suggested this — are going to be important to show that counties can serve this population.”
In an interview with The Bay Citizen Wednesday, Muhammad declined to speak about the allegations against him, instead reiterating his commitment to reform. “The only reason I took this job is to make significant reform because, first, we can do such a good job, and second, the state does such a horrible job. Alameda has been on the forefront of this issue, and we’ll continue to be on the forefront,” he said.
Alameda County’s board of supervisors placed Muhammad on paid leave Tuesday after a deputy probation officer filed a $1.5 million claim accusing him of sexually assaulting and harassing her.
In a text message to The Bay Citizen Wednesday, Muhammad called the accusations “a clear attempt to extort payment from the county.”
In her claim, which is a preliminary step to filing a lawsuit, the deputy alleges that Muhammad harassed her at a probation office in Hayward on May 15, when he noticed a discoloration on her neck and joked about it, calling it a "hickey."
The officer said Muhammad put his hands on her twice that day, prompting her to exclaim to another deputy, "Did you see that? He grabbed me!"
The deputy alleged that four days later, Muhammad asked her to pick him up at Oakland International Airport and drive him to a speaking engagement in Oakland, but then instructed her to take him to the San Leandro Marina, which was empty at that time of day. She said Muhammad suddenly grabbed her head and started kissing her, telling her, "We would make some pretty babies."
The deputy said when she tried to pull back, Muhammad "became very aggressive" and pulled her shirt down, cupped her breast and started to kiss it and penetrated her vagina "forcefully" with two of his fingers.
She said that when she eventually pushed him away, he told her she had excited him sexually and said, "I want you so bad, you just don't know it."
The deputy said that a day later, on May 20, Muhammad sent her multiple text messages and that she reluctantly agreed to meet with him as long as they weren't alone, because she was worried about her job and what he might do to her if she ignored him.
She said in the claim that she met with Muhammad and his brother at a restaurant in Hayward and that at the end of the night he started to kiss her and grab her breasts and put his hand between her legs.
The deputy said she pushed his hand away but that he then grabbed her hand, placed it on his groin area and said she had excited him sexually.
She said she reiterated to Muhammad that she only wanted to be friends, and that Muhammad eventually left "angry and upset."
The claim says the deputy has suffered economic harm, distress and anguish. It accuses Muhammad of sexual assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, sexual battery, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The California Attorney General's Office is conducting an investigation to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Muhammad, according to spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill. Gledhill said the San Leandro Police Department investigated the deputy's allegations and then submitted its report to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which recused itself because it works closely with Muhammad.
Before his return to the Bay Area last year, Muhammad served as Deputy Commissioner of New York City's Department of Probation - Adult Services. Prior to that he was the Chief of Committed Services for the Department of Youth Rehabilitating Services in Washington, D.C.
ACCUSED PROBATION CHIEF IS FACE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM EFFORT
Sexual assault allegations could damage Gov. Jerry Brown’s realignment plan
By Trey Bundy
The Bay Citizen
February 15, 2012
Allegations that Alameda County's top probation official sexually assaulted a female deputy within his department have shocked the Bay Area's criminal justice community and may come as a blow to Gov. Jerry Brown's plans to shut down California's long-troubled youth prison system, observers said.
The county's chief probation officer, David Muhammad, was placed on paid leave Tuesday after a deputy filed a legal claim accusing him of grabbing her breast and penetrating her with his fingers last May. Muhammad on Wednesday called the accusations “completely false and outrageous” and told The Bay Citizen he was “extraordinarily confident” that he would be exonerated.
Muhammad, 38, who has spoken openly about his troubles with the law as a teenager in Oakland, has been a celebrity in local law enforcement circles since he came to Alameda County from New York City last year. Universities and civic leaders courted him for speaking engagements, and community groups threw parties in his honor. San Francisco’s chief of juvenile probation, William Siffermann, called him a “rock star.”
Part of what sets Muhammad apart is his vocal support of a plan, spearheaded by Brown, to close down the Division of Juvenile Justice and move the state’s most dangerous juvenile offenders to county programs. Probation chiefs and district attorneys have lobbied fiercely against the proposal, saying counties are not equipped to handle the state’s toughest youth. But Muhammad, a known reformer, has become the face of juvenile justice realignment in California.
In an interview with The Bay Citizen in December, he spoke of his intention to abandon DJJ and create a model juvenile incarceration program in Alameda: “We have 50 kids at DJJ, and we have a hundred empty beds in juvenile hall. We would like to take them back with funding from the state and create a separate program.”
Criminal justice experts struggled to reconcile the accusations with the energetic youth advocate they have known and worked with for years.
“He’s been the only probation chief I know about who said, ‘Bring my kids back home, I want them, I can handle them, I’m not going to let political concerns get in the way of doing the right thing,’” said David Steinhart, director of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program in Marin County. “Alameda County has the potential for being a forward model of making a DJJ closure work, and we don’t want anything to get in way of that.”
Barry Krisberg, a criminologist at the University of California, Berkeley, called the allegations “a total shocker.”
“Muhammad is a nationally respected progressive who has really led the way for a lot of people,” Krisberg said.
“It’s devastating in a lot of ways,” said Sue Burrell, an attorney at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco. “He’s kind of the right guy at the right time, so I feel badly for everyone that this is happening right now.”
As the debate over DJJ has grown more contentious, reformers have continued to point to Muhammad and his efforts in Alameda County. He has been in talks with other Bay Area probation chiefs about starting pilot programs and using his county's detention centers as regional facilities for counties that lack adequate services for violent youth.
“Strong leadership is going to be crucial to realignment, and if you take someone like David Muhammad out of the picture, it’s going to be much more challenging,” said Kate McCracken, program director at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. “Pilot sites — and David Muhammad has suggested this — are going to be important to show that counties can serve this population.”
In an interview with The Bay Citizen Wednesday, Muhammad declined to speak about the allegations against him, instead reiterating his commitment to reform. “The only reason I took this job is to make significant reform because, first, we can do such a good job, and second, the state does such a horrible job. Alameda has been on the forefront of this issue, and we’ll continue to be on the forefront,” he said.
Alameda County’s board of supervisors placed Muhammad on paid leave Tuesday after a deputy probation officer filed a $1.5 million claim accusing him of sexually assaulting and harassing her.
In a text message to The Bay Citizen Wednesday, Muhammad called the accusations “a clear attempt to extort payment from the county.”
In her claim, which is a preliminary step to filing a lawsuit, the deputy alleges that Muhammad harassed her at a probation office in Hayward on May 15, when he noticed a discoloration on her neck and joked about it, calling it a "hickey."
The officer said Muhammad put his hands on her twice that day, prompting her to exclaim to another deputy, "Did you see that? He grabbed me!"
The deputy alleged that four days later, Muhammad asked her to pick him up at Oakland International Airport and drive him to a speaking engagement in Oakland, but then instructed her to take him to the San Leandro Marina, which was empty at that time of day. She said Muhammad suddenly grabbed her head and started kissing her, telling her, "We would make some pretty babies."
The deputy said when she tried to pull back, Muhammad "became very aggressive" and pulled her shirt down, cupped her breast and started to kiss it and penetrated her vagina "forcefully" with two of his fingers.
She said that when she eventually pushed him away, he told her she had excited him sexually and said, "I want you so bad, you just don't know it."
The deputy said that a day later, on May 20, Muhammad sent her multiple text messages and that she reluctantly agreed to meet with him as long as they weren't alone, because she was worried about her job and what he might do to her if she ignored him.
She said in the claim that she met with Muhammad and his brother at a restaurant in Hayward and that at the end of the night he started to kiss her and grab her breasts and put his hand between her legs.
The deputy said she pushed his hand away but that he then grabbed her hand, placed it on his groin area and said she had excited him sexually.
She said she reiterated to Muhammad that she only wanted to be friends, and that Muhammad eventually left "angry and upset."
The claim says the deputy has suffered economic harm, distress and anguish. It accuses Muhammad of sexual assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, sexual battery, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The California Attorney General's Office is conducting an investigation to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Muhammad, according to spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill. Gledhill said the San Leandro Police Department investigated the deputy's allegations and then submitted its report to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which recused itself because it works closely with Muhammad.
Before his return to the Bay Area last year, Muhammad served as Deputy Commissioner of New York City's Department of Probation - Adult Services. Prior to that he was the Chief of Committed Services for the Department of Youth Rehabilitating Services in Washington, D.C.
GUN CONTROL: UNARMED CITIZENRY DEFINED
The Schalotte
February 16, 2012
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman holding a smoking gun and explaining to the police how her mortally wounded attacker got those bullet holes to the chest and head.
February 16, 2012
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman holding a smoking gun and explaining to the police how her mortally wounded attacker got those bullet holes to the chest and head.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
HAPPY ENDING JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY
Bob Walsh asks: “Don’t you just love happy endings?”
ANTIOCH MAN WRESTLES AWAY GUN, KILLS HOME INVADER
By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
February 15, 2012
An Antioch man at home with his young son disarmed an 18-year-old man who kicked in his front door and shot him dead with his own gun, the second time in three months that a resident in the city has fought back with deadly results, police said Tuesday.
The latest incident happened about 8:20 p.m. Monday, when a resident on the 4800 block of Wexler Peak Way heard his doorbell ring, said acting police Lt. Diane Aguinaga.
The resident, who was home with his 7-year-old son, did not answer the doorbell right away and then peered out a window, only to see his front door being kicked in "pretty aggressively," Aguinaga said.
"He just jumps the guy and realizes the guy has a gun," Aguinaga said. "He somehow (got) it away from him" and shot the intruder three times in the torso, then called police, she said.
The intruder died at the scene, and his semiautomatic handgun was recovered. He was identified as 18-year-old Jeremiah Stovall of Antioch, who police say had a criminal history that included weapons violations.
The resident and his son were not hurt. Their names were not released. Police said the man would not be arrested.
Investigators believe Stovall and at least two accomplices chose the home at random, intending to steal items. "That's our theory right now," Aguinaga said. "It's just unusual that it happened at night."
Officers arrested a 19-year-old woman who ran from the scene and was found hiding in bushes. She was booked on suspicion of murder and could face charges related to Stovall's death, authorities said. Her name was not released.
Police had arrested the woman and Stovall last month on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle, Aguinaga said.
A third suspect remains at large, police said.
The shooting was the second time in recent months that a home intruder has been shot to death in Antioch.
On Nov. 5, the owner of a vacant home on the 200 block of West 17th Street shot and killed a burglar after catching the man stealing copper wire.
ANTIOCH MAN WRESTLES AWAY GUN, KILLS HOME INVADER
By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
February 15, 2012
An Antioch man at home with his young son disarmed an 18-year-old man who kicked in his front door and shot him dead with his own gun, the second time in three months that a resident in the city has fought back with deadly results, police said Tuesday.
The latest incident happened about 8:20 p.m. Monday, when a resident on the 4800 block of Wexler Peak Way heard his doorbell ring, said acting police Lt. Diane Aguinaga.
The resident, who was home with his 7-year-old son, did not answer the doorbell right away and then peered out a window, only to see his front door being kicked in "pretty aggressively," Aguinaga said.
"He just jumps the guy and realizes the guy has a gun," Aguinaga said. "He somehow (got) it away from him" and shot the intruder three times in the torso, then called police, she said.
The intruder died at the scene, and his semiautomatic handgun was recovered. He was identified as 18-year-old Jeremiah Stovall of Antioch, who police say had a criminal history that included weapons violations.
The resident and his son were not hurt. Their names were not released. Police said the man would not be arrested.
Investigators believe Stovall and at least two accomplices chose the home at random, intending to steal items. "That's our theory right now," Aguinaga said. "It's just unusual that it happened at night."
Officers arrested a 19-year-old woman who ran from the scene and was found hiding in bushes. She was booked on suspicion of murder and could face charges related to Stovall's death, authorities said. Her name was not released.
Police had arrested the woman and Stovall last month on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle, Aguinaga said.
A third suspect remains at large, police said.
The shooting was the second time in recent months that a home intruder has been shot to death in Antioch.
On Nov. 5, the owner of a vacant home on the 200 block of West 17th Street shot and killed a burglar after catching the man stealing copper wire.
ONLY IN KOOKFORNIA: PRISON INMATES WILL BEHAVE LIKE MODEL CITIZENS IF YOU JUST GIVE THEM MUSIC, VIDEO GAMES AND CABLE TV
Here are some comments from PACOVILLA Corrections blog:
Gadfly says: Gee, teaching bad guys to be good with XBox…. what a concept. How about a rousing game of Call of Duty where violent inmates can practice shooting via video games? The prison yard is not a playground, Mr. Cate!
DVI 1975 says: This guy [prisons chief Matt Cate] is such a fool. Why even send them to prisons Cate? Why don’t we just let them stay home and promise to be good? You sir have lost your way and your mind. I have an even better idea - why don’t we bring in top chefs to prepare meals for them too or how about we give these guys contact visits in their cells? Cate, you are an inmate lovin fool!
Paco says: Our correctional officers will be safer once the SecrAttorney [Cate] and his demented boss [Governor Moonbeam] leave town. The sooner the better!
And my thoughts are: Another kooky idea from the State of Kookfornia, but this one just about beats them all. Cate says that drugs in prison are a ‘huge problem.’ I’m sure they are. But the biggest prison problem of them all is Cate himself.
CALIFORNIA PRISONS CHIEF WANTS MUSIC, VIDEO GAMES AND CABLE TV FOR INMATES
By Marisa Lagos and Wyatt Buchanan
San Francisco Chronicle
February 11, 2012
If California's prisons chief had his way, well-behaved inmates would have access to music, video games and cable television.
Corrections Secretary Matt Cate told a group of journalists this week in New York City, where he was speaking on a panel at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, that state prisons have become so punitive there is "very little benefit in obeying the rules."
"If you take everything away from a person, you also take away their ability to influence their behavior," he said. "I think, ultimately, I'd like to get to a place where 95 percent of our prisons are places where inmates have everything from MP3 players to Xbox to cable TV, I don't care, they can have (all the) goodies you can possibly get, great, as long as they follow the rules ... and our guards are safe."
Cate, who has been tasked with implementing a court-ordered, 33,000-inmate reduction in the state's prison population, said overcrowding has made it particularly difficult to work with inmates.
He said the way to loosen the grip gangs have on the inside is to cut drug use, perhaps through more drug testing. "You have got to get ahold of the drug problem... I think the gangs get a lot of power and money and influence from selling drugs in prison. It's a huge problem," Cate said.
Gadfly says: Gee, teaching bad guys to be good with XBox…. what a concept. How about a rousing game of Call of Duty where violent inmates can practice shooting via video games? The prison yard is not a playground, Mr. Cate!
DVI 1975 says: This guy [prisons chief Matt Cate] is such a fool. Why even send them to prisons Cate? Why don’t we just let them stay home and promise to be good? You sir have lost your way and your mind. I have an even better idea - why don’t we bring in top chefs to prepare meals for them too or how about we give these guys contact visits in their cells? Cate, you are an inmate lovin fool!
Paco says: Our correctional officers will be safer once the SecrAttorney [Cate] and his demented boss [Governor Moonbeam] leave town. The sooner the better!
And my thoughts are: Another kooky idea from the State of Kookfornia, but this one just about beats them all. Cate says that drugs in prison are a ‘huge problem.’ I’m sure they are. But the biggest prison problem of them all is Cate himself.
CALIFORNIA PRISONS CHIEF WANTS MUSIC, VIDEO GAMES AND CABLE TV FOR INMATES
By Marisa Lagos and Wyatt Buchanan
San Francisco Chronicle
February 11, 2012
If California's prisons chief had his way, well-behaved inmates would have access to music, video games and cable television.
Corrections Secretary Matt Cate told a group of journalists this week in New York City, where he was speaking on a panel at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, that state prisons have become so punitive there is "very little benefit in obeying the rules."
"If you take everything away from a person, you also take away their ability to influence their behavior," he said. "I think, ultimately, I'd like to get to a place where 95 percent of our prisons are places where inmates have everything from MP3 players to Xbox to cable TV, I don't care, they can have (all the) goodies you can possibly get, great, as long as they follow the rules ... and our guards are safe."
Cate, who has been tasked with implementing a court-ordered, 33,000-inmate reduction in the state's prison population, said overcrowding has made it particularly difficult to work with inmates.
He said the way to loosen the grip gangs have on the inside is to cut drug use, perhaps through more drug testing. "You have got to get ahold of the drug problem... I think the gangs get a lot of power and money and influence from selling drugs in prison. It's a huge problem," Cate said.
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