Air heads

“Identification with one’s office or title is very attractive indeed, which is precisely why so many men are nothing more than the decorum accorded to them by society. In vain would one look for a personality behind the husk. Underneath one would find a very pitiable little creature. That is why the office is so attractive: it offers easy compensation for personal deficiencies.” Carl Jung

Officer, dispatchers charged in drug investigations

By Cody Bozarth

Charges have been filed against a Roodhouse police officer and two dispatchers following with investigations into the disappearance of prescription medication from the White Hall Police Department.

On Friday, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department began to serve warrants for the arrests of Roodhouse Police Sgt. Steven L. Settles, 46, as well as Michele A. Stewart, 48, and Amanda M. Morrow, 28.

Settles has been charged with delivery of a controlled substance and official misconduct. Stewart and Morrow were both charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and theft.

Stewart and Morrow are accused of stealing medication containing hydrocodone from a storage area in the White Hall Police Department.

Greene County Sheriff Robert McMillen said the charges that were filed against Settles are unrelated to that theft, and he is accused of distributing medication he possessed with a valid prescription.

“When we got the complaint about missing medication from White Hall, we looked into that case and learned of deliveries that had occurred involving Settles and opened up that investigation a little broader,” McMillen said.

While Hall Police Chief Jack Wallis said Stewart and Morrow were both part-time dispatchers at White Hall, though Morrow resigned June 10.

Stewart was a full-time dispatcher at Roodhouse and Morrow had also resigned this month from a part-time position there.

The charge of official misconduct filed against Settles accuses him of delivering controlled substances in his official capacity and that “knowingly performed an act which he knew he was forbidden my law to perform.”

Roodhouse Police Chief Kyle Robison issued a written statement saying “my department will continue to provide any information necessary to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and cooperate fully with the Greene County State’s Attorney.”

McMillen said Friday afternoon that Stewart already had been arrested and released on $3,500 bail. Settles was expected to turn himself in later Friday. He said Morrow was undergoing medical treatment and was not yet arrested.

Wallis said that as a part-time, on-call employee, Stewart is not allowed to work while the case is ongoing. At the onset of the investigation, Robison placed two employees on paid administrative leave. McMillen said he believed that continues to be the case following the arrests.

cop crime wave continues Police officer charged in extortion plot

HONOLULU (AP) — A former Honolulu Police Department officer and a second man have been charged in federal court with extortion and selling stolen vehicles.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser  reports Roddy Tsunezumi and Jeremy Javillo were charged in documents filed Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors say Tsunezumi committed the crimes while employed by the police department.

Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu says Tsunezumi "separated" from the department in April after nine years but would not say why.

Tsunezumi's lawyer Megan Kau declined comment. It's not clear if Javillo has a lawyer.

Prosecutors say Tsunezumi and Javillo between June and October 2013 tried to extort $15,000 from two owners of a Honolulu hostess bar.

They're also charged with conspiring to buy salvaged vehicles, stealing similar models and switching vehicle identification numbers to resell the stolen vehicles.

Today's child molestation charges aginst you local police

Buena officer charged with child sex assault

BUENA – A special police officer was arrested at work here Friday for alleged on-duty misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl he sexually assaulted, according to county and local officials.

Sean R. Griffith, 24, of Landisville was held in Atlantic County Jail on $100,000 bail, the county Prosecutor's Office said.

Acting Prosecutor James P. McClain listed the charges as official misconduct and sexual assault, both second-degree offenses, and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Giffith has worked here about a year, according to borough Public Safety Director Daniel Caregnato. He's a Class II special officer, meaning he was allowed to carry firearms while on duty.

Griffith was suspended immediately without pay, pending a Borough Council vote on whether to fire him, Caregnato said.

The officer was used for patrol duties, he said.

Caregnato said the Police Department is not investigating the allegations and the borough has not been fully briefed by county authorities.

McClain said Griffith "committed the acts while holding a position of authority and disciplinary power" over the alleged victim.

Griffith is scheduled to be arraigned in municipal court on July 10.

In New Jersey, a second-degree offense carries a potential prison term of five to 10 years. The term for a third-degree offense is three to five years behind bars.

Cop crimes wave continues: Video released in arrest of ASU professor

by Kristine Harrington

TEMPE, Ariz. -- An Arizona State University professor who was arrested by campus police last month is claiming self-defense, and the incident is getting a whole lot more attention now that 3TV has obtained video of it.

“The reason I’m talking to you right now is because you are walking in the middle of the street,” Officer Stewart Ferrin said to ASU professor Dr. Ersula Ore after stopping her near campus. She was crossing College Avenue, just south of Fifth Street.

Click here to view the raw video

But in less than a minute, the conversation quickly began to escalate.

“Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID,” Ferrin said.

“Are you serious?” Ore asked.

“Yes, I am serious. That is the law,” Ferrin replied.

According to police reports, Ore said she was trying to cross College Avenue in the same fashion as several others trying to avoid construction.

“I never once saw a single solitary individual get pulled over by a cop for walking across a street on a campus, in a campus location. Everybody has been doing this because it is all obstructed. That’s the reason why,” Ore said to the officer. “But you stop me in the middle of the street to pull me over and ask me, 'Do you know what this is? This is a street.' ”

“Are you aware that this is a street?” Ferrin asked.

“Let me finish,” Ore said.

“OK, put your hands behind your back,” Ferrin said.

“Don't touch me,” Ore said. “Get your hands off me.”

Seconds later, things escalated even further.

“Put your hand behind your back. I’m going to slam you on this car. Put your hand behind your back,” Ferrin said.

“You really want to do that? Do you see what I’m wearing? Do you see?” Ore said.

She was wearing a black dress and after being "slammed" onto the car, she was wrestled to the ground. Her dress hiked up and her body was exposed.

While both Ore and Ferrin suffered some minor injuries, Ore was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer in addition to criminal damage and obstructing a thoroughfare. She intends to fight the charges.

Ore's attorney, Alane Roby, says Ore is claiming self-defense.

"She was exposed, told officer she was exposed," Roby said of her client while she was on the ground. "Her dress was up; the officer was reaching toward her anatomy. She felt uncomfortable with hands going there."

Professor Ore is an English professor whose research interests include cultural studies, according to ASU's website.

ASU released this statement to 3TV:

“ASU authorities have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the arrest and have found no evidence of inappropriate actions by the ASUPD officers involved. Should such evidence be discovered, an additional, thorough inquiry will be conducted and appropriate actions taken.

"Because the underlying criminal charges are pending, there is not much more we can say at this time. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has reviewed all available evidence, including the police report, witness statements, and audio and video recordings of the incident, and decided to press criminal charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer, and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare.”

Cop crime wave continues: Bond set at $1 million for cop charged in case with ties to Rochester

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (KTTC/AP) -- Bond has been set at $1 million for a former police officer suspected of killing two women and hiding their bodies in suitcases dumped in southern Wisconsin.

Steven Zelich, 52, is charged with two counts of hiding a corpse in a case that brought investigators to Rochester. Zelich appeared on video but didn't speak during a hearing Friday in Walworth County Circuit Court.

Zelich's lawyer, Travis Schwantes, asked for a far lower bond, noting his client hasn't been charged with homicide. But District Attorney Daniel Necci said he expects homicide charges to be filed where the women were killed. Investigators allege the women were killed elsewhere in Wisconsin and in Minnesota

According to the criminal complaint, Zelich is accused of stuffing the remains of two women in suitcases he left along a southern Wisconsin highway. The complaint goes on to say he met his victims online, bound and killed them and carried their bodies around in his vehicle for months.

On June 5, a highway worker discovered the two suitcases beside a road in Geneva, Wis., about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.  On June 12, evidence brought investigators to Rochester where one victim, Laura Simonson, 37, of Farmington, Minn., was seen checking into the Microtel  Inn and Suites with Zelich back on Nov. 2. Zelich checked out alone the next day.

Police said Rochester could have served as a common meeting point, as Simonson was from Farmington, and Zelich is from the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis.

Zelich's apartment in West Allis was searched Wednesday, as neighbors watched.  They describe him as a man who kept to himself, was quiet, and never stopped to talk.

Investigators said Zelich was involved in bondage and sexual fetish websites, where he may have been looking for a sex partner. Police said they don't know if that's where he and Simonson first met. Meanwhile, the second woman killed is still unidentified.

The complaint says Zelich killed one woman in Wisconsin in late 2012 or early 2013 and the other in Minnesota last November. It says he hid the first body in his home, then later stored it with the second body in his vehicle.

Both women were found bound, and their bodies had started to decompose. One had a ball gag in her mouth

Zelich was a patrol officer for 12 years with the West Allis Police Department before resigning in 2001.

We'll have the latest on this story on KTTC.com and the NewsCenter