Retired Hercules cop accused of trying to
kill wife
By Henry K. Lee
A retired Hercules police
officer was arrested and charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing
shots at the Antioch home of his estranged wife, less than two weeks after he
threatened to kill her, authorities said.
John Goodner, 47, is being held
at Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez in lieu of nearly $1.8 million bail. He
has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, shooting into an
occupied dwelling, making criminal threats and stalking, all felonies.
“Mr. Goodner is very concerned
about these allegations, and he is looking forward to his day in court,” said
his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Welch.
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About 2 a.m. on Jan. 28,
Antioch police officers heard gunfire near West 18th and A streets. While
trying to determine the source of the gunfire, a woman called 911, saying she
was sleeping when someone shot into her house through the front bedroom wall,
police said.
The woman wasn’t hurt and told
police that she believed that Goodner was responsible, police said.
“And just be advised, he’s
usually 10-51,” an Antioch officer said on the radio, using the police code for
drunk. “And, uh, he’s ex-officer.”
Officers went to Goodner’s home
on the 800 block of Putnam Street in Antioch. He did not immediately surrender,
and officers were warned that he owned several hunting rifles, shotguns and
ballistic vests, plus a scanner that he could use to monitor the police
response, authorities said.
The former K-9 officer
repeatedly asked for Antioch police to secure their own police dog and refused
to come out, officials said. After he exited to the front yard, he still would
not comply and had to be taken into custody with the help of the dog, authorities
said.
Police determined that over the
past year, Goodner had been stalking his wife with the help of a tracking
device he had placed on her car.
The device was discovered by
the wife’s brother, who also sought a restraining order because she was staying
with his family, and they wanted protection from him, authorities said.
On Jan. 17, Goodner threatened
to kill his wife, prompting her to get a restraining order five days later,
said Deputy District Attorney Scott Cunnane. The shooting happened five days
after that, when Goodner opened fire while driving past her home in his Dodge
truck, authorities said.
“The escalation is very
concerning,” Cunnane said.
Goodner served with the
Hercules Police Department for about 12 years before he took a medical retirement
in 2009.
IMPD
officer charged with attempted murder, domestic battery
by Greg Margason - Web Producer
and Charlie De Mar
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Feb. 20,
2015)– An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officer has been
charged with attempted murder and several other charges.
Officer Justin Beaton, a
nine-year IMPD veteran, faces preliminary felony charges of attempted murder,
domestic battery in the physical presence of a child, pointing a firearm, and
obstruction of justice.
Investigators learned new
information this week in the case which provided probable cause to arrest
Beaton on Friday.
According to court documents,
Beaton’s girlfriend suffered multiple fractures, lacerations and abrasions last
August. She also had three broken teeth. At the time they explained her
injuries as an accident, with Beaton saying he was carrying a bed rail when it
went through a glass door and hit her in the face.
“I’m proud of my daughter.
She’s scared but I’m glad she turned him in,” said Dianna Skojac, the victims
mother.
Skojac spent hours removing her
daughters belongings from Beaton’s South
Side home
However,this week, his
girlfriend went to police and said that Beaton shot at her through a glass
door. The gun was loaded with blanks.
“I looked up at the glass door
and the barrel of the gun was there and then the next thing I know I had like a
real odd ringing in my ear, and I couldn’t hear and I fell backwards,” she told
police.
“And I turned myself like into
the house so I didn’t hit the ground and I looked up at him and I was bleeding
and I said, ‘you just shot me.'”
“Live ammunition or blank it
doesn’t matter– it’s still dangerous,”said Russell Elmore,owner of Elmore Fire
Arms.
Elmore says it’s a common
misconception that “blanks” are harmless.
“You could kill someone with a
blank within 20-feet,” said Elmore.
Court documents describe Beaton
as an alcoholic who has pointed his firearm at his girlfriend before.
“He did it with his duty gun
when I was pregnant. Like he’s very,
very sloppy with his weapons,” court documents read.
“I talked to him about his
drinking and he said he was going to get it taken care of.She was scared of
guns and he would threaten her with guns,” said Skojac.
Officer Beaton is currently
assigned to the Operations Division on East District. He will be suspended without pay pending
termination.
An initial hearing has been set
for Monday at 1:30 p.m.
Round
Rock police officer charged with assault
ROUND ROCK, Texas – A Round
Rock police officer has been arrested after he allegedly assaulted his
ex-girlfriend.
Round Rock police say officers
were called to the 1200 block of Hidden Valley Drive on Feb. 14 for a
disturbance call. The victim reported she had been assaulted by her
ex-boyfriend, identified as Officer Marques Guntz.
Guntz was immediately placed on
administrative leave pending the completion of an investigation. The
investigation determined that Guntz be charged with Assault Family Violence.
Guntz has been arrested and
transported to the Williamson County Jail. He has been an officer with the
Round Rock Police Department since Sept. 2011.
Lompoc
police officer arrested for alleged domestic violence
Kenny Lindberg
klindberg@leecentralcoastnews.com
A police officer with
seven-years of experience with the Lompoc Police Department was arrested Friday
on domestic violence-related charges.
At 4:45 p.m., John Reyna was
arrested by deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, who
booked the officer at the Santa Barbara County Jail.
“This was a shock and very
disappointing,” Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh said. “This has had a tremendous
toll on our officers who, by and large, are exceptional people.”
An unnamed officer was first
made aware of the alleged incident involving Reyna and his wife and then
reported it to his supervisor, who told Walsh, he said.
“I am proud of that officer,
because that’s a very hard thing to do,” Walsh added.
The police chief contacted the
Sheriff’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest.
“I could never expect my
officers to go to one of their coworkers to arrest them,” Walsh said. “It is
better that another agency handles that since they can be objective.”
Reyna is the third officer to
be arrested for a domestic violence-related incident in the past nine months
and the fourth to be involved in an incident in the past 11 months.
In October, Matthew Lee Hill,
29, was arrested after authorities say he assaulted his girlfriend. In May,
Sgt. Joseph Peter Stetz was charged with felony vandalism in connection with
his arrest in May following a domestic dispute with his wife. And in March,
David Garcia was cited on the suspicion of drunken driving after he slammed
into a tree.
“I want to ensure the community
that appropriate discipline will occur in all of these cases,” Walsh said.
Walsh said he couldn’t expand
on what steps he will take, because state law forbids him to talk about
personnel matters.
He did, however, share about a
few measures that he believes could help his department.
In March, he intends to send
officers and supervisors to an event featuring speaker Gordon Graham, a retired
officer known throughout the country for his skills in addressing
risk-management issues.
Walsh is also looking to connect
with specific doctors who specialize in post-traumatic stress disorder and
marital issues so they can work with officers one-on-one, if needed.
Walsh said that chaplains spent
a lot of time with officers Friday and met with the day shift Saturday as well.
The police chief is also
working on a reporting mechanism with the city attorney that will be made
available to the public. The mechanism will not include names but will list
offenses committed by officers and the appropriate disciplinary actions resulting
from the violations.
Reyna’s arrest puts the LPD at
just 43 officers, with eight positions available.
Garcia has returned to the
force, Walsh said.
“He made a mistake and Chief
(Larry) Ralston gave him his discipline,” Walsh said. “He’s been an exceptional
officer in the six months I’ve worked with him.”
The LPD will get another
officer back Wednesday, Walsh confirmed.
Timothy Xiong, an 11-year
veteran with the department, is expected to rejoin the force after authorities
made the preliminary conclusion that he acted in self-defense when he shot a
teen wielding a nine-inch metal fork, roughly two weeks ago.
The District Attorney’s Office
is still looking into the incident, however.
Walsh said comments on Facebook
have been harsh and that he has instructed his staff not to read them.
“I’d be lying if I said that we
don’t deserve some of the harsh comments, but with that said, I think some of
it is pretty rude,” he said. “What comes of that?
“But the buck does stop with
me, I know that.”
If anyone is suffering from
domestic violence or knows someone who is, there are resources available, Walsh
said. The Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County can be reached
at dvsolutions.org or by calling 736-0965.
2nd
BSO deputy behind bars for alleged police misconduct
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) --
Just hours after a colleague was arrested and charged, another Broward
Sheriff's Office deputy is facing new charges for alleged misconduct during an
investigation into an alleged domestic violence case.
Some BSO employees are calling
Deputy Eduardo Mesa a two-time criminal. The deputy had been serving a
suspension from the department since his arrest in September 2014, but on
Thursday he turned himself in for his alleged misconduct in a year-old
investigation.
According to the most recent
police report, Mesa responded to an emergency on New Year's Day 2014 at a
Pompano Beach apartment where a man, Michael Bosch, claimed his wife, Whitney,
had stabbed him during a fight. One of the couple's neighbors said she could
recount the argument and the involvement of a weapon. "I just remember
them arguing and she had the knife on him," she said.
During Mesa's investigation of
that domestic violence incident, Michael said Mesa took his cellphone. According
to Michael, Mesa returned it before leaving, but the phone had been
compromised. Detectives wrote in a report that Mesa had in fact removed a
memory chip from the phone. "Mr. Bosch noticed that his phone was missing
several pictures and contacts. He then took apart his phone and found that his
memory (MicroSD) card had been stolen," the report said.
In July, BSO detectives said
they uncovered 64 sexually suggestive, nearly pornographic photos and videos of
Whitney Bosch on Mesa's personal computer. They said one video showed both
husband and wife. "The MP4 video file depicted the white female performing
a striptease for the white male, who was also briefly visible in the video, as
well," their report said.
But Mesa's most recent arrest
is his second following a bout with the law last September. Mesa was arrested
and charged with stealing drugs from the pockets of a man killed by a train on
Jan. 7. Detectives said that incident was only one week after Mesa stole naked
photos from another victim.
In a statement, BSO Sheriff
Scott Israel explained the new charges against Mesa resulted from further
investigation into complaints about the deputy. "Though Deputy Mesa was
suspended in Sept. 14 after an investigation by the BSO Public Corruption Unit,
our detectives followed up on other complaints against him, resulting in this
additional charge," he said.
It's been a troubled week for
BSO, which in a matter of hours has seen two of its officers behind bars in
connection to their police work. Just Wednesday another BSO deputy, Gary
Amundson, was arrested and charged for falsifying reports and lying under oath.
On Wednesday, Israel asked the public not to let their perceptions of police
officers be diminished by a few bad officers. "We should not let the extremely
poor judgment of a few reflect negatively on the many law enforcement officers
who proudly wear the badge every day and risk their lives to protect
others," he said.
Both officers are still
employed with BSO, but are suspended pending conviction
Port
Barre police officer charged with domestic abuse battery
By Rob Macko Published: February 18, 2015
PORT BARRE, La. (KLFY) – A Port
Barre police officer has been charged with domestic abuse battery. St. Landry
Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested Caleb Stelly, 21, early Sunday morning.
Deputies said an argument between Stelly and his former girlfriend escalated
into a fight. She told deputies Stelly, “put his hands on her and threw her out
of the way.” The woman said she did not need medical attention.
Port Barre Police Chief Deon
Boudreaux said Stelly, who was off-duty at the time, has been on the police force
for about six months.
Stelly was released from jail
on a $5,000 bond. Boudreaux said Stelly was placed on unpaid leave pending the
outcome of the case. If convicted, Stelly faces up to a $1,000 fine and six
months in prison. Stelly told deputies he did not violate any law.
