Why we need standard IQ testing for cops....................

Rookie Cop Trying To Impress Woman In SF Restaurant Is Arrested For Brandishing Gun

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - A rookie Oakland police officer was arrested last weekend for allegedly brandishing a gun in a San Francisco restaurant to impress a woman, San Francisco police said Friday.

Police were called to the 2200 block of Lombard Street at 2:40 a.m. Sunday, Officer Albie Esparza said.

Oakland police Officer Kevin Kelly, 24, had been talking to another patron having breakfast at a restaurant there and told her he was a police officer, but she didn’t believe him, Esparza said.

To prove it, Kelly, who had been drinking, allegedly pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the woman and at the restaurant’s ceiling, Esparza said.

The woman told the restaurant’s staff that Kelly had a gun and the police were called. Kelly was arrested and cited for misdemeanor brandishing a firearm, Esparza said.

His weapon, which was not department-issued, was booked into evidence, according to Esparza.

Oakland police have launched an internal affairs investigation into the incident, Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said.

Kelly graduated from the Oakland Police Academy last March and had his badge pinned by his father, San Francisco police Inspector Jim Kelly, during his graduation ceremony, according to Oakland police.

San Diego police officer investigated on suspicion of on-duty assaults on women

By Tony Perry

SAN DIEGO — A decorated police officer has been suspended while the district attorney reviews allegations that he sexually assaulted four women while on duty, officials said Thursday.

The officer was identified as Chris Hays, 30, who received a lifesaving medal in 2012 for dashing into a burning building to save a woman trapped on the second floor. He also served with the Marines in Iraq as a lance corporal.

Four women have accused the officer of touching them improperly while they were being searched, according to Chief Bill Lansdowne.

One of the four incidents was from a domestic violence call. Others involved a shoplifting suspect, a homeless woman and a women interviewed during a street patrol.

The Police Department's investigation into the accusations,  first reported by KGTV-TV Channel 10, has been forwarded to the district attorney's office for a determination on whether to file criminal charges against Hays.

Separate from the district attorney's review is an investigation by the Police Department into whether the officer violated procedures, Lansdowne said.

That investigation is nearing completion, and the department is close to terminating the officer, Lansdowne said.

The first allegation was made in December, when a woman came to the Police Department. Investigation then revealed three similar incidents, Lansdowne said.

Hays is married and the father of two. His father-in-law, Mark Jones, is an assistant chief with the San Diego department.

Nothing in the investigation revealed any "red flags" that should have indicated to superiors that the officer's on-duty behavior was inappropriate, Lansdowne said.

In 2011, former Officer Anthony Arevalos was convicted of demanding sexual favors from women after making traffic stops. He was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison; he had been fired after the accusations were made.

The City Council has approved a total of $2.3 million in payments to women assaulted by Arevalos. One case has gone to trial.

Reservoir police officer suspended after ticket-fixing accusation

A Reservoir Patrol police officer is suspended after he was accused of receiving favors for fixing a ticket, WAPT reported.

Christopher Rast allegedly received sexual favors from a woman for his help with citations.

"We have been notified and are cooperating with the investigation," said Reservoir Police Chief Perry Waggoner.

Attorney General Jim Hood's office would not confirm the details of the investigation.

Rast has not been charged.

Questions remain on how Atlantic City will enact police oversight board to review complaints

Lynda Cohen

As Atlantic City leaders finally move on filling a civilian board to review police complaints, how it will work is still a question.

"We need to move on (the board) in the correct way," City Councilman Steve Moore said during a news conference in which the local chapter of the National Action Network called for immediate implementation of the board, which was first passed in 2012.

Accusations of excessive force went national late last year, after a lawsuit made public a video allegedly showing a suspect being beaten and attacked by a police dog.

Such boards are good for helping strained police-community relations, said Brian Buchner, president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, or NACOLE.

"Civilian oversight has proven to be a bridge builder between the public and the police by helping to foster the public's trust and notion of police legitimacy," Buchner said.

But how that bridge will work in Atlantic City has not been determined.

City Council tabled the second reading of the revised ordinance Jan. 15, after the police union voiced concerns about some of the wording.

That stems from references to public hearings, because there could be issues with the contract and how the department handles disciplinary hearings and interviews, PBA President Paul Barbere explained.

Buchner said it's important to know the specific laws governing internal police misconduct investigations and disciplinary matters.

"It just has to be drafted properly," Barbere said of the ordinance.

"We would hope that, instead of reinventing the wheel, let's model this after something that's already been in place," he said.

The PBA has reached out to New York City, where its Civilian Complaint Review Board marked 20 years in July. Moore said the council may visit Hartford, Conn., to talk to its Civilian Police Review Board.

Currently, the board would have two tiers.

The first would have 11 members: one nominee from each of the nine council members and two from the mayor. If that board finds in favor of a hearing, that would go to the second tier, comprising City Council members. It does not specify the number of council members.

The first three nominations for the main board were made Jan. 15: Texas Avenue School Principal Rosetta Johnson, retired Philadelphia police Sgt. Michael Mander and Jacqueline Sharpe, who has served on several boards in the city.

"We're not saying the Police Department is all bad," said Councilman Sporty Randolph, who nominated Sharpe. "We just want to be able to nip things in the bud if there's a problem that can be solved."

Once brought to the second tier, witnesses may be subpoenaed, under the current ordinance.

Many civilian entities have that power through statute, Buchner said.

"Some can issue subpoenas directly, while others can issue them through their local city attorney or city council/commission," he explained.

At his swearing-in last month, police Chief Henry White said he welcomed the transparency the board would bring, confident that it would reveal the city's department is a good one.

"There's nothing we want more than to show the community that we're doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing and how difficult our job is," Barbere said. "It just needs to be set up in a way where it produces the best result."

But who would make up the board is also of concern.

"You can't have someone with preconceived notions looking to exact some type of revenge," Barbere said.

In San Diego, board members attend training classes on all aspects of law enforcement and go on ride-alongs, while officers are given training on the board's role and its relationship with the city's Police Department.

San Diego began its board after a police-involved shooting in the mid-1980s. It was to last just a year, but the success caused it to become permanent, according to the board's website. In 1988, residents voted in favor of a city charter for a board under the authority of the city manager.

Last year, residents of New Haven, Conn., voted on a similar charter for their board. Until then, the 12-year-old board was running only by mayoral executive order.

Buchner said what they have come to see is that what may be more important than a degree or a law background is knowledge and understanding of the principles and good practices of civilian oversight.

"Oversight is a bit of a niche field, which really depends on interaction and learning from agency to agency and municipality to municipality," he said. "Gaining exposure to those ideas, practices and other professionals in the field through national conferences and training opportunities, like those put on by NACOLE, can make a difference in how prepared someone is to work and be effective in oversight."

Mayor Don Guardian has said he wants to make sure the concerns over excessive force allegations against the Police Department are looked into and addressed fairly while allowing police to do their jobs and keep residents and visitors safe.

"There are a lot of other cities that have had these issues before, and I think we need to learn how they progressed," he has said. "It might be cameras; it might be policy and procedures change; it may be a better matching of experienced officers with young officers; it may be the body cams or cameras in the cars, (or) a civilian review board. All of these are issues we want to deal with, and it's tough."

Civilian oversight can help, Buchner said: "Ultimately, strong and independent oversight can be a critical link between the police and the community and make policing more effective in the process."

Police oversight commission faces overhaul

By: Erica Zucco, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Recommendations from a task force to overhaul the Police Oversight Commission will be introduced at the Albuquerque City Council meeting on Monday.

The 217 page document details the process for making recommendations and gives suggestions for the council to approve.

One of them is that the APD chief must respond in writing if he or she does not follow the commission's recommendations for discipline. There is also a recommendation that the commission should be able to suggest changes to APD training and policies, and a condition that the commission should get more access to APD documents and data.

The Albuquerque Police Officers Association says the proposal goes too far.

"A lot of the changes that they're trying to make wouldn't be something that we'd expect in the judicial system for the regular citizens," APOA President Stephanie Lopez said.

But there is a change the union and citizen advocates agree on – making commission members go through more training on what it's like to be an officer. In the past, members got very little.

"How can you judge somebody in their job when you don't even know what the details or what the regiments of going through that process is? It's like me being on a panel and deciding whether an attorney did his job or not," Lopez said.

Timothy Cannon, ex-Hillsboro cop, gets 10 years' prison for shooting at officers in Forest Grove

By Emily E. Smith | esmith@oregonian.com 

A former Hillsboro police officer who engaged in a shootout and 81-minute standoff against his fellow officers last winter will spend 10 years in prison.

From the upper level of his Forest Grove home, 47-year-old Timothy Cannon fired  through walls and the floor at responding officers from agencies throughout Washington County. Ten of the officers fired back, authorities say. In total, Cannon’s attorney said, 127 shots were fired.

Cannon took a plea deal Thursday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court, pleading guilty to three counts of attempted aggravated murder for the shooting and one count of aggravated first-degree animal abuse for killing his family’s cat with a single gunshot to the head. Under the plea agreement, Presiding Judge Kirsten Thompson sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Thompson called the shooting, which caused no serious physical injuries, “senseless.” The emotional injuries, she said, would be lasting.

“This was a very, very unique case,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Roger Hanlon said Thursday. “There’s really, quite frankly, nothing like it in the history of Washington County.”

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Jan. 20, 2013, when Lisa Cannon, a civilian member of the Forest Grove Police Department, called 911. Locked in an upstairs bathroom with a revolver and her 5-year-old daughter, she told the dispatcher that her husband had been drinking, had shoved her to the ground and was armed with an AR-15 carbine.

Forest Grove police officers arrived first. Cannon pointed the barrel of his gun over a balcony toward the officers downstairs.

Others from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsboro police arrived next. Hillsboro Officer Stephen Slade, a longtime friend, tried to reason with Cannon.

“But there was no calming Mr. Cannon,” Hanlon said.

After the first volley of gunfire, Hanlon said, Cannon reloaded, switching to armor-piercing bullets. In an unforgettable incident, he said, this detail in particular stands out to the officers. In the end, Cannon surrendered, descending the stairs with his wife and daughter.

Cannon was subsequently indicted on 26 charges: 11 counts of attempted aggravated murder, 11 counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of aggravated first-degree animal abuse, first-degree animal abuse, fourth-degree assault and harassment. He resigned from the Hillsboro department two days after the shooting.

The victims in the case were Cannon's wife and 11 officers: Forest Grove police Officers Gary Anderson, Charles McCutchen, Matt Jacobsen, Jenifer Smith and Ryan Wolf, Washington County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Mark Trost, Deputies Micah Akin, Austin Allen, Rob Richards and Justin Snyder, and Hillsboro Police Officer Slade. Akin, who sustained a shrapnel wound to his hand, was the only person physically injured in the incident.

In the plea agreement, Cannon wrote: “I do not have a clear recollection of the events of 1/20/13. After reviewing the police reports I am satisfied that I attempted to cause the death of Officers Charles McCutchen, Stephen Slade and Austin Allen. I am also admitting that I maliciously killed a cat.”

Hanlon said those three victims, from three different agencies, were chosen to represent all of the officers who responded.

Several cops attended the hearing Thursday. Richards was the only one who spoke at the late afternoon hearing.

“Tim Cannon brought hell on earth,” he said, pausing as he became more emotional.

Let’s not, Richards said, refer to Cannon as a former officer.

“Let’s call him what he is: the gunman that night,” he said.

Cannon was the gunman who held his wife and daughter hostage and tried to kill the law enforcement officers who risked their lives to save his wife and daughter, Richards said.

The number of people affected by Cannon’s actions stretched far beyond the named victims. They included other officers, deputies, dispatchers, “the list goes on and on,” he said.

Richards wonders why no one was killed that night. He asks himself why he wasn’t killed.

“We were all lucky,” he said. “Just like he’s lucky.”

Defense attorney Ray Bassel said Cannon experienced a perfect storm of factors that brought him to a crisis point. He had suffered traumatic events as a cop that weighed on him. He internalized his mental and emotional distress, Bassel said, and didn’t seek help. The day of the shooting, the stress combined with alcohol and Cannon’s “powerful” medications for mental health and a back injury.

“The effects were pretty profound,” Bassel said. “That night was out of character for Mr. Cannon. He wasn’t himself.”

Bassel said there was evidence to support a diminished capacity defense, but Cannon didn’t want to put his family and the officers through a trial.

Cannon spoke briefly in court, growing emotional from the start.

“It is not nearly enough, but I offer my sincere apology to each one of you individually, to your family and to your loved ones,” he said.

He could not explain the “mental collapse” he experienced that night.

“I devastated each one of you and shattered the tender heart of the woman I love most,” he said.

He loves his family, he said. He told them he was sorry.

Cop sentenced for assaulting woman at concert

By Posted by: Emily Lenihan

DARIEN, N.Y. (WIVB) – A former Niagara Falls police officer who attacked a woman during a concert at Darien Lake will not spend any time behind bars.

Kelly Alcorn previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for her role in what the victim called an unprovoked attack. The former cop received a conditional discharge when she was sentenced Thursday in Genesee County Court.

As long as Alcorn stays out of trouble, pays around $2,100 in restitution, and performs 100 hours of community service, she will be in the clear.

The judge also issued orders of protection for the victim for the next five years.

Tacoma man settles for $225,000 in police-dog attack

Victim was out for a walk when he was attacked by police dog searching for a domestic-violence suspect, resulting in serious injuries to his right arm.

By Mike Carter

 Pierce County will pay a Tacoma man $225,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit arising out of a May 2011 attack by a police dog while he was out for an early morning walk.

Chad Boyles reached the settlement with Pierce County, which paid the settlement even though the injuries were inflicted by a Lakewood Police Department dog. The dog, K-9 Officer Astor, and his handler, Lakewood Officer Jim Syler, had been called to assist Pierce County sheriff’s deputies in the search for a suspect in a domestic-violence assault.

Boyles, 27, had argued with his brother early on May 7 and had taken a walk to cool off. He walked down a trail into a large, overgrown field near his home when Astor, who was at the end of a 30-foot lead, came over a small rise and attacked.

In an interview last year with The Seattle Times for a story on accidental K-9 bites, Boyles said the dog “came out of nowhere” and seemed to be going for his throat. The dog tore into his right forearm, which Boyles said he had raised to protect himself.

Syler appeared a few seconds later to call off the dog, but not until Boyles suffered a tearing wound to his arm that exposed tendon and bone. His injuries required surgery.

Astor and Syler have been named in several lawsuits involving serious dog bites.

A federal jury in December rejected a civil-rights lawsuit filed by another man bitten by Astor, Noel Saldana, who suffered a leg wound that has left him with a permanent limp. The jury found that Syler’s use of the dog was appropriate because Saldana was a suspect in a domestic-violence call and was apparently trying to hide from officers.

Even so, Lakewood paid nearly $35,000 toward Saldana’s medical expenses.

In 2009, a felon named Richard Conley was paid $15,000 after Astor bit him in the back and arm while he was trying to hide in a bedroom of a house. According to a lawsuit, he required three surgeries and spent nine days in the hospital.

Pierce County is responsible for the payout in the Boyles case because Astor and Syler, while both Lakewood officers, had been called to assist the county, making it liable through a K-9 interlocal agreement contract, said Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor Michelle Luna-Green.

Lakewood Police Chief Brett Farrar said Thursday that the Boyles incident was a mistake and that Syler went to the hospital and apologized afterward.

He said deputies were seeking a domestic-violence suspect when a deputy apparently mistook Boyles for the suspect and called for Syler and his dog to track him into the field.

Astor was retired last year and sold for $1 by the city to Syler, who now owns him as a family pet, the chief said.

First known case in the history labrador confronts a human. Cops shoota and kill the Labrador

PASADENA, Md. - An Anne Arundel County, MD Police officer shot and killed a dog on Saturday in Pasadena, MD.The officer was in the neighborhood investigating a burglary around 4:00pm. The officer says the dog, Vern, a labrador, confronted the officer and the officer shot the dog. The Anne Arundel County Police Chief visited the home of the dog's owner to extend his condolences. Police will conduct an internal review of the incident. 

Ex-Miami cop gets 12 years for ID theft, tax fraud

 A fired Miami police officer was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday for stealing hundreds of people’s names from a Florida driver's license database to score $140,000 in fraudulent income-tax refunds.

Malinsky Bazile, 28, was convicted in October of swiping the names of 700 women with common last names and using their Social Security numbers to file false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service in 2012.

The IRS not only issued the refunds, but loaded them onto debit cards. Bazile was caught on videotape withdrawing the money from ATMs at local banks.

— JAY WEAVER 

Predator cop requests new trial

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A judge Friday took under submission a motion filed by a convicted former San Diego police officer seeking a new trial because handwritten notes from his main accuser were not turned over to the defense.

Anthony Arevalos, an 18-year veteran, was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for sexually assaulting and harassing women during traffic stops in the Gaslamp District.

Prosecutors said Arevalos would ask women for sexual favors during mostly drunk driving stops.

Arevalos was convicted in November 2011 of felony and misdemeanor charges involving five women, including multiple counts of sexual battery by restraint, asking for a bribe and assault and battery by a police officer. He was acquitted of other serious charges involving two other women.

The 4th District Court of Appeal ordered a hearing before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser to determine whether Arevalos should get a new trial because notes written by "Jane Doe" right after her encounter with the defendant were not turned over to the defense at trial.

The notes surfaced during a federal lawsuit the woman has filed against the city of San Diego.

Nowhere in the handwritten notes does she say that Arevalos actually touched her genitalia, the defendant's appellate attorney, Pat Ford, argued before Fraser.

Arevalos' trial attorney, Gretchen von Helms, testified that the notes would have been key in defending Arevalos, since he did not admitting touching Jane Doe's genitalia during a "pretext" call set up by police.

"He doesn't say I touched it," von Helms testified. "These notes would have given me ammunition. This is very powerful. I'm supposed to have it. It would be huge that he didn't touch her."

Deputy District Attorney Martin Doyle argued that the notes not being produced was not enough to warrant a new trial for Arevalos. The prosecutor noted that Jane Doe didn't initially tell her boyfriend or others about being touched by Arevalos, but jurors still found her testimony credible.

Doyle said mistakes are often made by both sides at trial, many of them resulting in harmless error.

"He (Arevalos) was entitled to a fair trial, not a perfect one," Doyle told the judge.

The prosecutor said having Jane Doe's notes wouldn't have made a difference in the jury verdict.

Fraser said he expects to issue a written ruling in a week or two.

City cop's gun mishap triggers protest

Daniel Tepfer

BRIDGEPORT -- Carrying signs that read, "Double standard breeds mistrust," and "The law perverted," self-proclaimed "gun lovers" braved the snowy weather Monday night to protest the lack of an immediate arrest of a city police officer who accidentally shot himself in a crowded bagel shop.

"If we had been involved in horseplay with a firearm in a bagel shop, we would have been taken out in handcuffs," James Keyser said as he stood in a puddle of slush outside the Bridgeport Police Department. "But here it is, 42 days later, and he hasn't been charged with anything."

This is the second time the half-dozen men have protested the lack of an arrest in the case of Officer Juan Santiago, a 28-year veteran of the department. Both times, the weather has been inclement.

The protestors said they were too upset about the issue to let bad weather thwart their message.

"The right thing to do here is just so clear," said Palin Smith, of Woodbury. "I love police, but it irritates me to see them treated differently."

On Dec. 17, Santiago was examining a friend's gun in Bagel King on Main Street when the gun went off. The bullet went through his leg and shattered a window in the crowded restaurant.

Santiago, who was not immediately charged, was treated and released from the hospital soon after the incident. The State Police were then summoned to investigate.

Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga said he expects the state investigation to be finished "shortly." In the meantime, Santiago is on desk duty with the department.

The protesters said this second demonstration was triggered by the Bridgeport police's recent arrest of a man who had accidentally fired his gun at home while cleaning it.

Officers responded to the home of 23-year-old Kenneth Sullivan, of Midland Street, on Jan. 28 after a report of a gunshot in the area. A bullet allegedly pierced a wall and struck the house next door. Sullivan reportedly told police his gun went off while he was cleaning it.

Sullivan was arrested that day and charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, second-degree reckless endangerment and criminal mischief in the third degree. He was released after posting $1,500 bond.

In a statement, Police Chief Joseph Gaudett denied there was any impropriety in handling Santiago's incident.

"Some people are working on the false assumption that the incident is being swept under some rug because the person is a police officer," Gaudett said. "The reality is we requested the Connecticut State Police handle the investigation to ensure the public would have confidence that the process would be fair, objective and impartial."

On Monday, the protesters vowed to keep the pressure on city police until Santiago is arrested.

"We are not going away," Keyser said.

Youngsters Charged For Hitting Officer With Snowball Sue NYPD For False Arrest

By Will Hagle, 

A group of five young men who were arrested for possession of a weapon and attempted assault after accidentally hitting a transit cop with a snowball are now suing the New York Police Department for $10 million.

The young men were arrested in the Bronx by Sgt. Adonis Ramirez, who claimed he was attacked by a snowball. The incident occurred in February 2010.

According to Officer Paola Diaz, the officer charged with processing the paperwork that night, the word “snowball” did not appear on the report that charged the five individuals with criminal possession of a weapon. Diaz claimed responsibility for the mix-up.

“I made a mistake. It was a hectic night. It was me by myself doing everything. I made a mistake in my paperwork,” Diaz testified, according to the New York Daily News. 

Ramirez himself testified that he pulled his gun on the young men because he was being attacked with snowballs.

“I was outnumbered and I wasn’t taking any chances,” Ramirez said.

The young men that were arrested, of course, view the events differently.

“We went from playing in the snow to looking at the barrel of a gun. I saw the gun out and him screaming,” said Manuel Rondon.

Even Ramirez himself has changed his story since the initial incident occurred. Rather than being attacked with multiple snowballs, Ramirez has since admitted that he had just “one” snowball thrown at him, according to the New York Post. Ramirez was off duty at the time.

Because of Ramirez's changing story and Diaz's admission that she left the word "snowball" out of her report, the five gentlemen have a likely chance of winning the case.

City settles false arrest claim

GLENS FALLS -- The city of Glens Falls has settled for $45,000 a false arrest notice of claim filed last year by a Glens Falls man.

Leroy Magee had notified the city he intended to sue in connection with a 2011 misdemeanor arrest in which he accused of a police officer of making false accusations against him.

A notice of claim is the precursor to a lawsuit and is legally required when someone intends to sue a municipality.

Magee’s lawyer, William Montgomery, said the claim was settled without need for a lawsuit after the city’s insurance carrier reviewed the facts of the case.

“They looked at it and settled it pretty quickly,” he said.

Glens Falls Police Chief Will Valenza acknowledged the claim had been settled, but said there was no admission of guilt by police. He referred further comment to Glens Falls City Attorney Ronald Newell, who did not return a phone call for comment Wednesday.

The investigation and notice of claim stemmed from a Nov. 5, 2011 incident at Magee’s home on Union Street that began when a call was made seeking medical help because Magee’s wife, Kristina Magee, was unconscious.

Leroy Magee was charged because, according to police, he became combative, cursed at officers and struggled with them while intoxicated. Magee has a history of arrests.

A week after the medical call to his house, Magee filed a personnel complaint against the responding officers in which, according to police, he made a false statement. When police looked into his complaint, they filed a false instrument charge, accusing Magee of lying in his statement.

The false instrument charge arose from a comment Magee said arresting officer Andrew Mija made, which the 911 tape of the incident “disproved,” police wrote in court records.

Montgomery, though, wrote in the notice of claim that the 911 tape also disproved four allegations Mija made when he testified against Magee — that Magee got in the face of officers and yelled at them, got in officers’ way and would not step away from his wife, refused to provide information to police and struggled with officers.

Montgomery alleged that Mija filed a sworn deposition with the court the same day Magee filed a personnel complaint, which made him “question whether it was retaliatory and knowingly false.”

The case went to trial in October 2012 and a Glens Falls City Court jury acquitted Magee of resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. The Warren County District Attorney’s Office then dropped a third misdemeanor that had been filed.

Montgomery asked that Mija be investigated for perjury. A special prosecutor was appointed, but no charges were filed.

Lawsuit: Man says former ESL officer beat him to get rape confession

By DANIEL KELLEY

A man exonerated of rape charges filed a federal lawsuit alleging a former East St. Louis detective beat him until he falsely confessed to the crime.

Marlon M. Miller, 21, of East St. Louis, was arrested Feb. 18 in connection with the robbery and rape of a 32-year-old East St. Louis woman as she left a MetroLink train at the Emerson Park station on Jan. 29, 2013.

The lawsuit alleges former East St. Louis Detective Orlando Ward coerced a confession from Miller by hitting him out of view of the police department's recording devices. Miller seeks more than $50,000 from Ward and $100,000 from the city of East St. Louis.

Neither Ward nor his attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Miller was detained in jail from Feb. 20 until June 4 when the results of a DNA test cleared him of the charges. The lawsuit was filed in federal court Jan. 30.

The DNA results led to the arrest of Dominic R. Hood, 19, of East St. Louis. Hood faces six counts of criminal sexual assault, one count of aggravated sexual assault, and one count of armed robbery with a firearm in connection with the attack on the woman who left the MetroLink station.

East St. Louis Police Chief Michael Floore previously denied Miller's allegations saying inmates are continuously videotaped while in custody. Floore could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Miller's attorney, Jarrod Beasley with the Kuehn Law Firm in Belleville, said, "East St. Louis' response that coercion is impossible because the confession was videotaped is preposterous."

"The idea that the interrogating officer would coerce a confession out of Mr. Miller in an area he knows is wired for sound and video defies logic. We should remember, the officers know where and when they are being recorded ... and where they are not," Miller said.

In November, Ward pleaded guilty to two federal counts of cocaine-related drug charges and faces up to nine years in prison. Ward resigned from the East St. Louis Police Department in May.

During the drug case, the U.S. Attorney's Office described Ward as a corrupt cop who was paid $5,000 a month to provide information and police protection as part of a drug conspiracy.

"The investigating officer (Ward) has been convicted of a felony while entrusted by the community with upholding the law. He wasn't upholding the law, he was flaunting it, he was abusing it, and he was breaking it. Thankfully, because of his conviction, he can never carry a badge or a gun again," Beasley said. "But what of the victims of his corruption? What of the victims of his abuse of power? What of the injuries he inflicted during his reign? What of the innocent people he forced to confess to crimes they did not commit? In short, what of Marlon Miller."

"The police are trained to lie to the accused," Beasley added. "So, modern interrogation is more psychologically oriented. We should remember the blood of the accused is not the only hallmark of an unconstitutional inquisition. Put simply, innocent people do not confess to crimes without coercion. A fact we plan to demonstrate in this case."

Hood remains detained at the St. Clair County Jail. He was on probation for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, when he allegedly raped and robbed the East St. Louis woman.

Miller faces two felony charges stemming from an arrest on Aug. 29. Miller was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful use of a firearm, according to St. Clair County records

Officer fired following on-duty rape indictment

By Mark D. Wilson

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio police officer who was accused in November of raping a teen while on duty was indicted — and subsequently fired — Tuesday.

Jackie Neal, 40, had been on paid administrative leave with the police department since allegations surfaced that he forced himself on a 19-year-old woman he had pulled over on the South Side. Neal was suspended indefinitely without pay after the indictment, according to SAPD, which referred to the suspension as “tantamount to a firing.”

The grand jury indictment includes charges of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault and improper sexual activity with person in custody. If convicted, Neal could face up to life in prison, the district attorney's office noted.

Chief William McManus has previously called the allegation a “punch in the eye” to the police department.

At least one other similar allegation against Neal was made prior to the incident, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week. That alleged victim, however, refused to cooperate with an SAPD investigation.

Officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in death of mentally ill NC teen

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. —A North Carolina police detective has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of a mentally ill teenager last month.

Bryon Vassey was indicted by a grand jury Monday in connection with the Jan. 5 death of Keith Vidal, 18. Vassey is a police detective in Southport.

A judge set Vassey's bond at $50,000 secured and ordered him to turn himself in by noon Wednesday.

Vidal, who had schizophrenia, was killed Jan. 5 in Boiling Spring Lakes about 20 miles south of Wilmington. Family members said they called police after Vidal picked up a screwdriver and threatened his mother.

Pittsburgh police officer charged with DUI, careless driving

By Lexi Belculfine

A Pittsburgh police officer was arrested around 3:20 a.m. Monday and charged with driving under the influence and careless driving, court records show.

Michael Lafferty, 29, was assigned today to support services, pending an investigation by the Office of Municipal Investigations, acting police Chief Regina McDonald said in a statement. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 7.

When 3-day-old Bryce Coleman disappeared in August 2012 from Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, Officer Lafferty, who has been a city officer since Sept. 2009, helped identify and locate suspect Breona Moore.

Whitmore has been on the force for five years and was assigned to the patrol division.

A 12-year veteran officer of the Troy Police Department has been charged in a drunken driving case following a nearly three-week investigation.

An internal investigation remains underway and the officer is on administrative leave.

Candace LaForest, 34, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning in Troy District Court with operating with a high blood-alcohol content, a misdemeanor that carries up to a 180-day jail stay upon conviction, according to Michigan’s super drunk laws.

The 34-year-old, who has been a sworn officer since 2005, had personal bond set at $1,000.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said Troy’s district judges had been considering whether to recuse themselves from the case, slowing the process. They did so after LaForest’s arraignment, and the case is now being reassigned to another court that hasn’t been named yet. A future court date will be scheduled.

The investigation stems from a traffic stop around midnight Jan. 18 when LaForest was in a pickup truck headed eastbound on Big Beaver, near Rochester Road. Patrol officers said they saw the driver hit a median curb twice.

Police approached the driver, identified her as LaForest — who was off duty — then detected a “very strong odor of alcohol coming from the driver and compartment area,” according to police reports.

She refused to take a Breathalyzer test and was arrested for operating while intoxicated, but a blood sample was taken and submitted to Michigan State Police for analysis, police said.

The results, which returned from the lab about a week later, indicated that the driver had a 0.27 percent blood alcohol content — more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 to drive a car, prompting the charges.

The blood draw in lieu of the Breathalyzer test slowed the process, said Troy Sgt. Andy Breidenich.

“Most drunk driving cases where there is a blood draw take a month or more while we’re waiting for blood results … then you have to review, submit to prosecutors and await the signing of a warrant … then come charges,” he said.

Troy Capt. Robert Redmond added that officers personally handled the criminal investigation — and he is heading the internal investigation — in an “expeditious manner,” to avoid accusations of “stone-walling” the investigation.

“We drove (the case) there (to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office) in person, got blood-alcohol results from the Michigan State Police in five days,” he said. “Also, it takes time to set a date with an attorney, so we let it go through the proper course ... but she will be held accountable for her actions.”

LaForest has been with the Troy Police Department since 2001. She started her career as a civilian employee in various units, then was sworn in as a uniformed officer in 2005.

Frederick officer charged with assault

OAKLAND, Md. — The Garrett County Sheriff’s Office has charged a Frederick police officer with second-degree assault.

Frederick police say Officer Benjamin Whitmore’s police powers were suspended after his arrest on Sunday. Whitmore was released on bail, but police say he is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation and an internal investigation by Frederick police. Police did not give details of either investigation. Whitmore has been on the force for five years and was assigned to the patrol division.