100 Charges Have "Inadmissable Evidence" in Child Rape Case

A man accused of raping and molesting children had faced 105 charges, but now that's down to five. Prosecutors say that's because the Tallassee police officer investigating the case is now being investigated himself. Stephen Conrad came to court today to make a plea on his case, but that didn't happen -- instead, that plea has been delayed. And District Attorney, Randall Houston, says that's because Tallassee Assistant Chief, Chris Miles, was the lead investigator in the Conrad case -- but he illegally obtained the evidence and it can no longer be used.
"It calls into question everything with that officer and everything about the case," Said C.J. Robinson with the Elmore County District Attorney's office. He says it's a case that's left he and other investigators able to only prove five charges against Stephen Conrad, who is accused of raping and molesting eight children in the last 11 years.  Four of those children were family members. And the youngest was three months old.
Robinson says the lead investigator in the case, Tallassee Assistant Police Chief Chris Miles, physically coerced Conrad into confessing, as well as three co-defendants, including his wife, Brandy Conrad, Helen Gantt and Mark Jeffrey Ray. They were were charged with failure to report the sexual abuse of a child.

officer charged with felony

A Beech Mountain police officer has left the department and turned himself in to face a felony drug charge, according to police.Avery County Sheriff's Office received a complaint concerning possible illegal activity by patrol officer Josh Hernandez, according to Sheriff Kevin Frye. Frye forwarded the complaint to Chief Jerry Turbyfill of the Beech Mountain Police Department, who started an internal investigation.

officer charged with theft

SAYREVILLE — A borough police officer has been charged with stealing more than $20,000 from the Sayreville Housing Authority. According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Stephen Gulick was charged Nov. 14 with a count of theft by deception for allegedly collecting money from the housing authority between Feb. 2, 2012, and July 8, 2013. An investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the Sayreville Police Department showed that Gulick allegedly collected federal money to subsidize the rent paid by a female tenant at a property he owned in Sayreville. He subsequently married the tenant, who then became ineligible for the housing assistance. However, Gulick allegedly continued to receive and cash checks paid by the housing authority on behalf of the woman.During the period the woman was ineligible to receive assistance, Gulick allegedly collected 18 checks totaling $20,466.

Norristown police officer charged with sexual assault of minor in Chester County

NORRISTOWN — A Norristown police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Nicholas Santo, 47, of North Coventry, was arraigned in front of Chester County District Judge James DeAngelo on Sept. 18, according to Priya DeSouza, the Chester assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. His bail was set at the full amount of $25,000 which was later paid in full. According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 18 Chester County detectives received a report that a young girl had been sexually assaulted. The report stated Santo allegedly sexually assaulted the girl Sept. 13.

Cop sued

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a white Pittsburgh police officer on behalf of a black teacher who claims he was wrongly arrested for commenting on the officer's driving.
The teacher, 38-year-old Dennis Henderson, had just left a community group meeting June 26 that addressed community-police relations when Officer Jonathan Gromek, who was driving by, heard Henderson criticize his driving and stopped. Henderson was jailed for about 12 hours following his arrest. The Allegheny County district attorney later had police drop charges including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
"Dennis Henderson, an award-winning Pittsburgh teacher, was arrested and jailed overnight simply for answering truthfully when a police officer asked him whether he had a problem with the way the officer was driving," according to the 12-page federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Gromek was pulled off patrol duty in July and assigned to the warrants office, a common outpost for officers awaiting possible disciplinary action, while the city's Office of Municipal Investigations reviewed the encounter.

City police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the office found the allegations to be true and that Gromek is awaiting police department action. The lawsuit says Gromek received a letter Oct. 1 advising that the city had determined he violated three broad police policies: conduct toward the public, conduct unbecoming and incompetence.
Gromek does not have an attorney listed in court records and a home telephone number listed in his name was disconnected Tuesday. An attorney with the city law department did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Only Gromek is being sued, but the city may eventually have to defend Gromek because he was acting within the scope of his official duties.
The stop happened shortly after Henderson left a meeting of the Community Empowerment Association, which seeks to address problems in poorer black neighborhoods. Among other topics, the group had discussed the lack of trust between some members of the black community and the police, particularly in high-crime areas like Homewood, the neighborhood where the meeting was held.
Henderson was speaking to a photographer for the New Pittsburgh Courier, a newspaper that covers the city's black community. Both were standing in the street next to Henderson's car while he retrieved a business card and spoke about a teaching award he recently received.
According to the lawsuit, Gromek's patrol car drove by close enough that both people pressed against Henderson's car for safety, at which point the teacher said, "Wow!" - referring to the speed with which the officer was driving down a narrow street.
Gromek then turned around, stopped and confronted both of them and asked Henderson, "Do you have a problem?"
Henderson asked for the officer's name and badge number so he could file a complaint about Gromek's driving.
Henderson then began recording the encounter on his cellphone, which he handed to the photographer once the officer told Henderson to put his hands behind his back. The officer eventually handcuffed the photographer and allegedly refused to explain why either Henderson or the photographer were taken into custody, the lawsuit said. The photographer was never criminally charged and released minutes later.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for claims including false arrest, malicious prosecution, excessive force and retaliation against someone for his speech.

Appeal set for cop

A Chadbourn Police sergeant fired for conduct unbecoming an officer will speak before the town council Dec. 2.  Sgt. Brian Campbell was fired and another officer disciplined after they posted videos to the Vine.com social media website of themselves in uniform using racially-charged language, Mayor Fax Rector said.Cambell was fired after arguing with chief Steven Shaw, but there apparently is no official letter of dismissal or a reprimand for the video. The videos were removed and edited after Campbell was dismissed Oct. 23. The firing was upheld in a grievance hearing Nov. 11. Campbell notified Rector of his intent to appeal to the full council Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.

Ala. police officer accidentally shot himself, died of extreme blood loss

PHENIX CITY, Alabama — An eastern Alabama coroner says a police officer who died Nov. 10 accidentally shot himself. Russell County Coroner Aurthur Sumbry Jr. told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Tuesday that 30-year-old Phenix City police Sgt. Daniel Davis died of extreme blood after accidentally shooting himself in his leg.
Davis was found in the parking lot of an apartment complex and was later pronounced dead.
Investigators have said Davis was inside of an unmarked police car when his gun discharged.
Alabama Bureau of Investigation Sgt. Steve Jarrett says the probe into his death is ongoing.

Mich. cops charged with robbing daughter's phone thief

DETROIT — Two off-duty police sergeants robbed three men they apparently suspected in the theft of a cellphone belonging to the teenage daughter of one of the officers, prosecutors in Detroit said Monday.

Detroit Sgt. David Pomeroy and Sgt. Michael Notoriano, who works in the Detroit suburb of St. Clair Shores, are both charged with armed robbery, among other charges.

Notoriano's 16-year-old daughter and a friend bicycled to a Detroit gas station on July 20. Dwayne Weathington, 24, of Detroit grabbed Notoriano's daughter by her backpack, threw her to the ground, stole her iPhone and fled on foot, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The phone was traced to a location on Detroit's east side where Pomeroy and Notoriano drove on July 21 and confronted three Detroit men, ages 26, 27 and 28, at gunpoint, prosecutors said.

The officers retrieved the girl's iPhone, struck one of the men in the face and took a handgun, cash and marijuana, prosecutors said.

Notoriano's lawyer, Todd Flood, told The Associated Press that his client and Pomeroy are "outstanding" and "highly decorated" officers.

Pomeroy, 47, and Notoriano, 42, both are charged with armed robbery, willful neglect of duty, unlawful imprisonment and failure to uphold the law. Pomeroy also is charged with larceny of a firearm and Notoriano with possessing a firearm during a felony, felonious assault and ethnic intimidation.

The prosecutor's office didn't identify the ethnicities of those involved.

The officers were arraigned Monday and a probable cause hearing was scheduled for Dec. 18.

The prosecutor's office filed unarmed robbery charges against Weathington. He hasn't yet been arraigned and doesn't have a lawyer, prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller said in an email.

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Probation in bribery scheme involving Wichita cop

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man was sentenced to two years of probation for helping a former police officer try to bribe a witness. Forty-year-old Patrick Melendrez was sentenced Monday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted that he helped former police officer Joletta Vallejo in the bribery scheme to help Vallejo keep her job.

Prosecutors say Vallejo didn't properly report alleged crimes against two people. During a police department investigation, Vallejo and Melendrez tried to bribe a witness to recant his statements to the department's professional standards bureau. Instead, the witness cooperated with an undercover investigation into the bribery attempt.Vallejo is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2.

Cop caught in bribery sting sentenced

Cigarette smuggler Mustafa Mohd Shaikh was caught in June 2011 on an undercover recording describing how having the protection of a longtime sheriff's investigator meant his enterprise could operate with impunity.

"Anything happens to you in Chicago, this guy will get you out," Shaikh was quoted in court records as telling an informant. "This guy is willing to protect. Nobody will touch you or come by you."

The "guy" he was talking about was Lawrence A. Draus, a 35-year veteran of the Cook County Sheriff's Department who extorted thousands of dollars in cash payouts to safeguard the cigarette smuggling operation, but to Draus' surprise the entire setup turned out to be an elaborate government sting.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Tharp sentenced Draus to 2½ years in prison for his role in the scheme, saying corrupt police officers are particularly dangerous because they weaken the public's trust in the criminal justice system.

Draus, 64, choked up as he described how his late father — a Chicago police officer for more than three decades — passed along some sage advice when Draus became a sheriff's deputy — "Never lose your compassion, be fair and honest, and be careful who you trust."

Draus, who was stripped of his police powers before retiring earlier this year while under indictment, paused to wipe away tears before apologizing for the "disgrace" he'd brought to his family and "all the honest police officers out there."