City Council
quiet on cop’s arrest in fatal DUI, but residents speak up
The arrest of North Chicago Police Officer Terrell Garrett,
who is accused of killing two men Friday in a drunken-driving accident on
Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, is more bad news for a department that continues to
lurch from crisis to crisis.
But the charges against Garrett — reckless homicide and
aggravated DUI — as well as the department’s string of previous troubles were
barely alluded to at Monday’s City Council meeting. That list of department
problems includes arrests involving alleged and proven excessive force;
wrongful death lawsuits; assorted allegations of officer misconduct, and most
recently, a Citizen Police Academy PowerPoint that featured demeaning images of
African Americans.
Instead, the council celebrated the North Chicago High
School winning girl’s basketball team, debated the purchase of new police
vehicles and honored a recently deceased police dog.
Garrett, who was returning from Chicago on his 35th birthday
when he allegedly drove the wrong way onto Lake Shore Drive and struck two
vehicles while traveling at 60 mph, was placed on administrative leave just
hours after the 4 a.m. crash.
The five-year veteran of the department has been described
as a professional, people-friendly officer who made a deadly mistake.
“He was a good officer,” North Chicago Police Sgt. Kurt Nash
said. “He knew how to resolve problems, how to reason with people.”
Nash, who is a representative of the Illinois Council of
Police, said he was not speaking for the department. “The bottom line is a lot
of people should learn from this,” he said. “You don’t drink and drive. I feel
bad for the officer and everyone else involved, his daughter, his family and
the victims.”
Garrett is a cousin to former North Chicago Police Chief
Michael Newsome, who retired in 2012 under fire for arrests involving alleged
excessive force by his officers. Newsome was indicted in January for the
alleged theft of more than $140,000 from his department’s drug-asset forfeiture
fund. Garrett also is a cousin of 3rd Ward Alderman Valerie DeVost, who said he
worked security for North Chicago High Warhawk basketball games.
While Mayor Leon Rockingham and the council did not mention
Garrett’s involvement in the crash that killed two young college students, some
residents who took to the microphone during public comment time did.
“There seems to be a curse on the city of North Chicago,”
Wadell Brooks said.
“There’s so much tension in this room, you can cut it with a
knife,” said Joe Walls, a local undertaker.
Ralph Peterson, who has been at war with Rockingham’s
administration since the 2011 death of his cousin Darrin “Dagwood” Hanna after
an arrest by six North Chicago police officers, which has since been ruled a
homicide, accused North Chicago Police Chief James Jackson of quickly
dispatching Garrett while the department allowed the officers who arrested
Hanna to remain on desk duty during an investigation of the death.
“You could have said something nice about him [Garrett] but
you threw him under the bus,” Peterson said.
Jackson, who spoke outside the council chambers after
Peterson’s comments, said that as soon as the department was notified that
Garrett was in the custody of Chicago Police, he was placed on administrative
status.
“This isn’t our investigation, it’s Chicago’s,” Jackson
said. “There will be follow-up by the Cook County State’s attorney. We have
nothing to do with it.
Jackson said that Garrett, who is still in the hospital
recovering from a broken hip, has not been fired.
“He still has contractual rights,” Jackson said. “We’re not
throwing anyone under the bus.”
Chicago attorney Kevin O’Connor, whose firm has represented
numerous excessive force cases against the North Chicago department, expressed
dismay over the council’s lack of sentiment on Garrett or the accident.
“The time is now to have something important to say,”
O’Connor said.
Police
officer suspended following fatal crash
EAST GREENBUSH - WTEN is reporting that Rensselaer Police
Officer Mark R. Fusco, 22, will be suspended after allegedly driving while
intoxicated and crashing his car early Wednesday morning.
Fusco, who is the son of Rensselaer Police Chief Rick Fusco,
crashed into a tree. The accident killed 22-year-old Sean Murphy of
Slingerlands, who was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation into the
cause of death indicated severe blunt force injuries.
Fusco was taken to Albany Medical Center where he was
treated for injuries. He is currently on administrative leave but will be
suspended as soon as the paperwork can be processed, according to WTEN.
The decision to suspend him came from Rensselaer's Deputy
Police Chief Jim Frankovski and its Public Safety Board.
Police
officer suspended after DWI crash that killed passenger
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. - Rensselaer's Deputy Police Chief Jim
Frankovski and its Public Safety Board have suspended the Rensselaer police
officer charged with driving while intoxicated after investigators say he
struck a tree, killing his passenger.
Mark R. Fusco, 22, is currently on administrative leave, but
will be suspended as soon as the paperwork can be processed, according to
authorities.
He is the son of the Rensselaer Police Department's Chief
Rick Fusco, and had recently been hired as a police officer with the Rensselaer
Police Department.
The accident occurred around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning on
Third Avenue Extension at the Rensselaer City Line near the intersection of
Grove Street. Police received multiple calls of a car which struck a tree.
Upon arrival, police found a wrecked 2012 Volkswagen. The
male passenger, 22-year-old Sean Murphy of Slingerlands, had been ejected from
the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Preliminary investigation into Murphy's cause of death
indicate severe blunt force injuries, resulting from the automobile impact into
the tree.
Fusco was removed by ambulance to Albany Medical Center
Hospital with multiple injuries. He was arrested at the hospital, and has been
charged with Driving While Intoxicated, Speed Not Reasonable or Prudent, and
Failure to Stay in Designated Lane.
According to East Greenbush Police Detective Matt Breit,
police are waiting for toxicology results and more evidence to come in before
taking further action.
He also says Fusco will be facing more serious charges
including Vehicular Manslaughter.
The East Greenbush PD and the District Attorney hope the
arrest will happen before the end of the week, but they're also taking Fusco's
health into consideration.
Cortland
police officer charged with driving drunk Sunday
Cortland, NY -- A Cortland city police officer was charged
with driving drunk Sunday, Cortland police said.
Patrick O'Donnell, 28, is charged with driving while
intoxicated and driving with a blood alcohol content over .08 after a crash
Sunday evening. O'Donnell was also issued traffic tickets for speeding, failure
to stop at a stop sign and driving an unregistered motor vehicle, police said.
Around 10:05 p.m., police responded to West Main Street
after a vehicle drove through an intersection and onto the property of 70 and
72 West Main St. The vehicle, driven by O'Donnell, collided with a gray 1997
Mercury Marquis that was parked in the driveway of 70 West Main St. The vehicle
also hit a wooden fence, bushes and shrubbery before hitting an enclosed porch
at 72 West Main St., police said.
O'Donnell was arraigned in Cortland City Court. He is set to
reappear in city court on March 29, police said.
The police department did not say if O'Donnell has been
suspended or if he faces any sanctions as a result of his arrest.
Anyone with any information regarding the accident is asked
to call Lieutenant David M. Guerrera at 607-758-8301.
Memphis
officer arrested, charged with simple assault, DUI
A Memphis police officer was arrested Friday afternoon for
driving under the influence and simple assault, according to the Memphis police
department.
When police responded to a domestic violence call in the in
2800 block of Old Austin Peay at 2 p.m., they found officer Lazarus Settle, 47,
and his girlfriend with minor bruises and cuts.
According to police, Settle and his girlfriend were arguing
over the volume of the radio. Settle asked the woman to get out, but she took
the keys from the ignition. They both got out of the car and while fighting for
the keys, they fell down a hill. Police later learned they had both been
drinking.
Settle, who was driving the car, has been charged with
simple assault/ domestic violence, DUI, and refusal to submit to a blood
alcohol content test.
Settle is stationed at the Ridgeway precinct and has been
with the police department since January 2009. He has been relieved of duty
pending further investigation
Police
officer suspended following fatal crash
EAST GREENBUSH - WTEN is reporting that Rensselaer Police
Officer Mark R. Fusco, 22, after allegedly driving while intoxicated and
crashing his car early Wednesday morning.
Fusco, who is the son of Rensselaer Police Chief Rick Fusco,
crashed into a tree. The accident killed 22-year-old Sean Murphy of
Slingerlands, who was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation into the
cause of death indicated severe blunt force injuries.
Fusco was taken to Albany Medical Center where he was
treated for injuries. He is currently on administrative leave but will be
suspended as soon as the paperwork can be processed, accoding to WTEN. The decision to suspect him came from Rensselaer's Deputy
Police Chief Jim Frankovski and its Public Safety Board.
Former
Cop Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Drugs from Dealers
HOUSTON -- A former Harris County Sheriff's deputy was
sentenced to nearly four years in prison for stealing drug loads from dealers
and splitting the proceeds with others, according to federal authorities.
Richard Bryan Nutt, 45, has more than 20 years in law
enforcement and military service, federal officials stated.
Nutt pleaded guilty in February 2011.
On December 15, 2010, then Deputy Nutt met with his
co-conspirators and learned that a vehicle containing narcotics or narcotics
proceeds would be driving through Houston, federal officials stated.
They agreed to stop the vehicle, a Chrysler Aspen SUV, with
the assistance of Deputy Nutt. He was to conduct a traffic stop of the SUV,
which was reportedly to be driven by a drug dealer from Mexico, and pretend to
arrest the driver then release him while the co-defendants took the vehicle
containing the drugs, state federal prosecutors.
The conspirators would then split the money from the sale of
the drugs.
Later that day, federal authorities stated that Nutt, in
full uniform and driving a silver pickup equipped with red and blue emergency
lights, spotted and followed the Chrysler Aspen SUV as it drove into a parking
lot of a Houston area shopping center.
Once parked, the SUV driver, actually an undercover HPD
officer, abandoned the SUV. A package thought to contain cocaine was then
transferred from the SUV to a blue Nissan Altima, according to federal
officials.
Officials stated that Nutt entered the vehicle as it drove
off the lot, and it was soon stopped by HPD officers. The package, which
actually contained fake cocaine, was found and removed from under the passenger
seat where Nutt sat.
Nutt and his co-defendants were arrested by law enforcement
officers and subsequently charged federally.
Others involved in the scheme have all pleaded guilty and
also been sentenced to prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Internal Affairs and
Narcotics Divisions of the Houston Police Department with the assistance of the
FBI.
Update: Ogden, Utah (First reported 6-20-12): A now-fired
officer pleaded guilty to trying to bribe an officer to get out of a
drunken-driving charge. He is awaiting sentencing. ow.ly/jfXGR
Chicago, Illinois: A judge set bail at $500,000 for an
officer accused of causing a traffic accident that killed two people. Witnesses
say the car was going at least 60 mph as it went in the wrong direction on the
highway, where the speed limit is 45. The collision totaled both vehicles.
Prosecutors said the officer’s BAC was more than twice the legal limit at the
time of the incident. ow.ly/jdfSU
Pender County, North Carolina: A deputy has been charged
with DWI, failure to reduce speed to avoid colliding with a vehicle, and
reckless driving. Dispatch centers received several calls regarding a patrol
car operating unsafely. ow.ly/jfHv1
Update: Hanford, Connecticut (First reported 02-04-13): The
police officer who admitted to keeping drugs with him to sell, while on duty,
was sentenced to 180 days in jail. “He violated the public’s trust,” the judge
said. “People look up to and respect the badge. That uniform means a lot…you’ve
left a black mark on every person who has ever worn the badge.”
http://ow.ly/jdKTu
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A police officer was arrested
and charged with driving under the influence after an accident involving
another vehicle. http://ow.ly/iSJUR
