idiots at work

Broward Co FL deputy who stared on COPS reality show several times is suspended pending unspecified criminal probe [2] http://bit.ly/wN2EkK

Los Angeles Co CA settles suit w/reforms after deputies & others harassed Section 8 renters, 2 cities still in suit [0] bit.ly/xRuHi9

12+ Louisville KY cops investigated after one of them severely beat an innocent man in bar while others watched [2] bit.ly/yefAgz

Albemarle Co VA cop cited for failure to yield right of way after hitting jogger with police cruiser 2 weeks ago [0] bit.ly/w94A5z

Meskwaki Nation IA police chief faces charges on multiple complaints including illegal gun sales [0] bit.ly/z8R47Q

Bryson City NC settles suit for $22,500 to mentally ill man beaten w/baton & peppersprayed then falsely charged [0] bit.ly/AgoUPx

South Harrison NJ settles suit to ex-mayor claiming bias when city failed to investigate cop who shoved him [0] on.cpsj.com/xxZJ5e

Jackson Co MO deputy sentenced to probation on theft charges for filing false citations against 48 people [0] bit.ly/xlj3dm

4 East Haven CT cops arrested on multiple charges, allegedly routinely conspired to deprive rights, excessive force [0] cour.at/xxo96L

Austin TX cop suspended 5 days for violating policy by tasering handcuffed woman that he was chasing [0] bit.ly/yaMyGa

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Convicted serial rapist Steven Phillips was exonerated in 2008, one of a continuing string of wrongly convicted Dallas-area "criminals" proved innocent by DNA testing, and under a formula by state law, he was awarded about $4 million, tax-free, for his 25 years behind bars. Recently, Phillips' ex-wife filed a petition in court demanding a portion -- even though the couple had been divorced for the last 17 years of his incarceration, and the ex-wife had remarried and had a child. (The ex-wife claims it was Phillips who originated the divorce and that she had given up on him only because he had revealed a "disgusting" history as a "peeping tom" and flasher.) [Dallas Observer, 12-12-2011]

At a home in Taylorsville, Utah, in December, one housemate who was pursuing a mouse in the kitchen accidentally shot another housemate. As police investigated, they discovered a 13-year-old girl hiding in a closet. A third housemate, Paul Kunzler, 28, was then arrested and charged with carrying on a months-long sexual relationship with her. [KSL-TV (Salt Lake City), 12-21-2011]

John Whittle, 52, was charged in December with robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in Port Richey, Fla. According to police, Whittle ordered a beer at the Hayloft Bar shortly after 1 p.m., then excused himself, and a few minutes later, returned to finish his beer. In the interim, police said later, Whittle had walked down the street to the bank and robbed it. [WTSP-TV (St. Petersburg), 12-23-2011]

In December, Russell Mace, 55, was caught soon after robbing a Union Savings Bank branch in New Milford, Conn. A bank employee had spotted Mace acting "suspicious" in the parking lot, and indeed, he said, Mace entered, robbed the bank of about $3,000, and fled to a waiting car. Police, however, identified the car, which they had noted from Mace's recent arrest for shoplifting. (The "suspicious" behavior the bank employee had noticed, he told police, was Mace, pants down, defecating, in plain view among parked cars.) [News Times (Danbury, Conn.), 12-19-2011]

Gun happy

Buckeye Lake OH cop arrested for DUI when stopped after woman called cops alleging he threatened her w/gun [0] ohne.ws/xqB0LX

Toledo OH cop suspended on theft allegations, reprimanded last year for pulling gun on motorist while off-duty [0] http://bit.ly/z2XNtU

Kern Co CA deputy’s use of force when he fired on fleeing truck ruled a violation of policy by review board [0] bit.ly/xcETdT

Cincinnati OH cop who beat stalking charges arrested for breaking into home, choking woman & put gun on her chest [0] bit.ly/yHvTOx

Omaha NE police sgt sentenced to 120 days on terroristic threat charge for allegedly pointing gun in road rage case [0] bit.ly/zfDoEg

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Stephen Kirkbride, 46, was convicted of theft in Kendal, England, in June after a clothing store clerk, on the witness stand, pointed out that Kirkbride had in fact worn to court that day the very coat he had stolen from the store. [Westmorland Gazette, 6-22-2011]

Predator drones are an important weapon against terrorists in Afghanistan, Yemen and other countries, but in June, an unarmed predator was employed stateside to help catch cattle rustlers. The Department of Homeland Security owns eight predators for surveillance and occasionally assists local law enforcement. The cattle rustlers had been arrested, then jumped bail and holed up on their vast ranch near Lakota, N.D., but the predator spotted their exact location on the property, leading to a raid that ended without bloodshed. [Fargo Forum, 12-11-2011]

Government Inaction: India's legendarily plodding government bureaucracy had long stymied a snake charmer named Hakkul (a villager in Uttar Pradesh state), who had sought a snake-conservation permit, which had been authorized at one level but delayed locally. In November, finally exasperated, Hakkul walked into the land revenue office in the town of Harraiya with several sacks of snakes (including cobras) and turned them loose, sending clerks and visitors climbing furniture or fleeing. Recent news accounts report that "almost all" of the snakes had been rounded up. [BBC News, 11-30-2011]

A December news release from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control warned of the dangers of Campylobacter jejuni bacteria infections on a sheep ranch, but apparently only among workers who used an old-style (19th century) method of castrating the animals. CDC strongly urged that workers stop biting off the sheep's genitals and instead use modern tools. [Wall Street Journal, 12-8-2011]

New York NY cop pleads guilty

New York NY cop pleads guilty to falsely arresting man in incident that was allegedly racially motivated [0] bit.ly/A62usR

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

An 18-year-old man, celebrating on the evening of May 21 after it had become clear that the world would not end as predicted by a radio evangelist, drowned after jumping playfully off a bridge into Michigan's Kalamazoo River. [Kalamazoo Gazette, 5-21-2011]

First Things First: Alan Buckley, 44, on holiday from Cheshire, England, was arrested in Orlando in June and charged with taking upskirt photographs of a woman at a Target store. Buckley's child had gotten sick and was admitted to Orlando's Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and Buckley was apparently killing time at Target after visiting with the child (and was later identified by witnesses because he was still wearing his hospital visitor's sticker, with his name on it). [Orlando Sentinel, 6-10-2011]

Steven Long, 23, was arrested in South Daytona, Fla., in May on suspicion of theft after a patrol officer spotted him pedaling his bike down a street with a 59-inch TV set on the handlebars. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 5-31-2011]

Matthew Davis, 32, pleaded guilty to theft in Cairns, Australia, in June; he had been arrested on suspicion because police had noticed a large office safe protruding "precariously" out the back of his vehicle as he drove by. [Cairns Post, 6-30-2011]

Yet another dead dog

LaGrange MO police sued over graphic videotaped shooting of man’s pet American Bulldog as cops tried to catch it [0] bit.ly/AFqCgZ

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Michael Jones, 50, told a magistrate in Westminster, England, in May that he did not "assault" a police officer when he urinated on him at a railway station a month earlier. Jones claimed, instead, that he was "urinating in self-defense" in that the water supply had been "poisoned by the mafia." The magistrate explained that Jones' argument "is not realistically going to be a viable defense." [CourtNews.uk, 5-31-2011]

Inmate Kyle Richards filed a federal lawsuit in July against Michigan's prison system because of the no-pornography policy in effect for the Macomb County jail (a violation of Richards' "constitutional rights"). Other states permit such possession, claimed Richards, who further supported his case by reference to his own condition of "chronic masturbation syndrome," exacerbated by conditions behind bars. Additionally, Richards claimed to be indigent and therefore entitled to pornography at the government's expense -- to avoid a "poor standard of living" and "sexual and sensory deprivation." [Detroit News, 7-3-2011].

When Laura Diprimo, 43, and Thomas Lee, 28, were arrested for child endangerment in Louisville, Ky., in June, it appeared to be yet another instance of a mother leaving an infant locked in a hot car (91-degree heat index outside) while frolicking elsewhere (drinking with Lee at the Deja Vu club). According to a report on WDRB-TV, while the two were in the police car en route to jail, Lee complained that the back seat of the cruiser was uncomfortably warm. [WDRB-TV (Louisville), 6-1-2011]

A 55-year-old man participating in a protest of New York's mandatory-helmet law was killed after losing control of his motorcycle and hitting his head on the pavement, even though doctors said he surely would have survived had he been wearing a regulation helmet (Lafayette, N.Y., July). [WSYR-TV (Syracuse), 7-2-2011]

This week’s candidates for the Brian Sonnenberg Peaceful Resolution to Conflict Center Award. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality

Trigg County KY deputy fired after arrested on assault & domestic violence charges in unspecified incident [1] bit.ly/xspQ7X

New Orleans LA cop suspended after convicted of illegally discharging firearm to threaten ex-grlfriend & her BF [0] bit.ly/xAQ0Le

Sarasota FL police lt suspended while under criminal investigation on allegations he was stalking ex-wife [0] bit.ly/xmqYyv

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Alleged abuser claimed 'ghost' attacked his wife

By msnbc.com staff

A Wisconsin man charged with domestic abuse told police that a "ghost" had attacked his wife and was responsible for her injuries, according to a police report discovered by The Smoking Gun.

Michael West, 41, was arrested for battery, strangulation, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

Police found West's wife Rebecca crying and bleeding when they responded to a report of a domestic dispute on Jan. 15, at the West residence in Fond du Lac, Wis. Drops of blood stained her jersey and areas of the kitchen, according to the police report. The woman told police her husband punched her repeatedly in the face and attempted to strangle her "to the point that [her] vision went black and [she] felt like she was going to pass out," the report said. Police said West appeared intoxicated and was yelling and swearing at the two officers questioning him. The man claimed his wife had fallen several times, injuring her face and neck. When asked specifically about the marks on the woman’s neck, West said, in slurred speech, "A ghost did it." West resisted arrest, but was eventually handcuffed and taken into custody. His wife told police the fight was started over the impending foreclosure on their home.

West remains in police custody pending a preliminary hearing on Jan. 27, police told msnbc.com. The $1,000 cash bond set by the judge has not been paid.

California state legislator Mary Hayashi of Hayward pleaded guilty in January to misdemeanor shoplifting. Police said she had walked out of a Neiman Marcus store in October with over $2,400 worth of unpaid-for merchandise, caused, said her lawyer, by a benign brain tumor that might have affected her decision-making. (Miraculously, and just in time for the legislative session, the tumor, said the lawyer, is "no longer affecting her concentration or her judgment.") [KPIX-TV (San Francisco), 1-6-2012]

Retired sheriff Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. was arrested in November in a suburb of Denver and charged with distributing methamphetamine to men in exchange for sex. Sullivan, who had a distinguished career as Arapahoe County sheriff, was booked into the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Center, named for him after he retired in 2002. [Denver Post, 11-30-2011]

Eldon Alexander, 36, and Ms. Korin Vanhouten, 47, had two different encounters with Ogden, Utah, police on Dec. 15. First, they were issued misdemeanor citations after being accused of shoplifting at a WinCo Foods store. They were released and walked out to their car in the parking lot, but summoned the police when they discovered that while they were busy shoplifting, someone had broken into their car and stolen a stereo. (The shoplifted items were worth about $25, the stereo about $60.) [Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 12-16-2011]

This week’s child molestation by your local police

Central Mich Univ cop pleads to misconduct charge for talking girls into exposing breasts if they failed BAC test [0] http://bit.ly/xKFfDO

Portsmouth VA police sgt sentenced to 10yrs in plea for distributing child porn, reduced sentence for being cop [0] bit.ly/ywtgwd

Scottsbluff NE cop convicted on 10 counts of possession of child pornography [0] bit.ly/wBz5O9

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Tri-athlete Sabine von Sengbusch, 46, filed a lawsuit recently against Meghan Rohan, 28, over a June bicycle-pedestrian collision in New York City's Central Park. Von Sengbusch claims that Rohan had the audacity to step in front of her as she was bicycling, causing her to fall and suffer "painful and permanent" injuries. (Although von Sengbusch said she was inside the "bike lane" at the time, park officials said signs make clear that pedestrians have the right of way at all times.) Von Sengbusch's "permanent" injuries did not prevent her from competing in a triathlon on Oct. 1, in which she finished second. According to a New York Post report on the lawsuit, Central Park pedestrians are growing more vociferous in denouncing bicyclists, and vice versa. [New York Post, 11-27-2011]

A recent article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine reported the painful results obtained by three Hispanic men incarcerated in the southwestern United States who had, for some reason, inserted specially designed chips, carved from dominoes, under the skin of their penises, apparently based on a folkloric belief that "sexual performance and virility" would be enhanced. Infections resulted, requiring "major" surgery that was unspecified in the article. [io9.com blog, 11-26-2011]

No "Individual Mandate": To meet its municipal budget, the town of South Fulton, Tenn., assessed each residence $75 a year for firefighting service, but in the name of "liberty" gave people the chance to opt out of coverage. Vicky Bell chose not to pay, and when her home caught fire in December, firefighters rushed to the scene -- but only to be on hand in case the fire spread to her neighbors, who had paid their fees. Bell's home burned to the ground as firefighters watched. (Mayor David Crocker said "a majority" of residents had paid the fee.) [Associated Press via Times-News (Kingsport, Tenn.), 12-6-2011]

Rape by your local police

Rhinelander WI cop sentenced to 2.5yrs prison for sexually assaulting woman at his home [0] bit.ly/xy9tsa

Benton Harbor MI police sued by woman raped twice on police station video by cop who killed self after arrested [0] bit.ly/w4StGa

Nashville TN cop already facing several charges for on-duty sexual assaults faces charges for beating son w/trophy [0] tnne.ws/Aief3s

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Sheriff's deputies arrested novelist Nancy Mancuso Gelber, 53, in December in Bryan, Texas, after she had allegedly arranged a hit on her husband. (The "hit man," of course, was an undercover officer.) Gelber said she had walked in on the husband romancing with one of her friends, and the couple were in the process of divorcing (complicated by his having removed her from his health insurance just as she was scheduled for expensive surgery). Gelber is the author of the 2010 "crime thriller," "Temporary Amnesia," and told the "hit man" that she was quite familiar with investigative procedures (though obviously poor at spotting undercover officers). [Huffington Post, 12-16-2011]

Jesse Dimmick filed a lawsuit in Topeka, Kan., in October against Jared and Lindsay Rowley -- whom he has been convicted of kidnapping in a notorious 2009 episode that resulted in his being shot by police. Dimmick broke into the home and held the couple hostage at knifepoint, but now says that, during the siege, the couple made him an "oral contract," "legally binding," that they would help him hide if he would sometime later pay them an unspecified amount of money. According to the lawsuit, since Dimmick was subsequently shot (accidentally, said the Topeka police), his injuries were the result of the Rowleys breaching the contract to hide him safely. (Police, who had surrounded the home, arrested Dimmick when he fell asleep.) [Topeka Capital-Journal, 11-28-2011]

The two men who heroically pulled a woman out of a burning car wreck in 2009, and surely (according to a highway patrol officer on the scene) saved her life, have sued the woman for the emotional and physical disabilities that resulted from the episode (brought to light in an August 2011 Associated Press report). David Kelley and Mark Kincaid not only stopped voluntarily to help, but were the only ones on the scene capable of pulling the woman to safety. (The fire was so hot that it melted Kelley's cellphone.) Kelley said he has suffered serious breathing problems and cannot avoid horrific dreams reliving the episode. The woman, Theresa Tanner, subsequently admitted that she deliberately crashed the car that day in a suicide attempt. [Associated Press, 8-1-2011]

Former 11-year-veteran police officer Louise McGarva, 35, filed a lawsuit recently, asking the equivalent of about $760,000, against the Lothian and Borders Police in Edinburgh, Scotland, for causing her post-traumatic stress disorder. Officer McGarva was attending a supposedly routine riot training session that got out of hand. She said she discovered that she had developed a debilitating fear of sirens and police cars. [Edinburgh Evening News, 11-21-2011]

Murder by your local police

California state trooper was convicted of murder for fatally shooting her husband during an alleged drunken dispute [0] lat.ms/zJXxWe

Chattanooga TN settles suit for $33.5k to stop appeal by family of man shot 56x by cops on his own porch [0] leafne.ws/yTS2EK

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

A 28-year-old man in New York City quietly excused himself the morning after his wedding in November (at a hotel following an elaborate reception), took a taxi to a Harlem River overlook, and jumped to his death. According to a relative, the man's suicide note mentioned that he "couldn't take it anymore." [New York Post, 11-27-2011]

Luna Oraivej, 37, was ordered in 2010 by a court in Seattle to take an anger- management course to settle a charge of domestic violence, but in December 2011, she sued the creator of the course because a fellow attendee had stabbed her in the arm during a classroom dispute. (The instructor was playing a video of "Dr. Phil," and Oraivej had urged the classmate to listen to Dr. Phil's message, but the classmate apparently could not bear it.) [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12-11-2011]

Rookie Mistake: Tyechia Rembert, 33, was arrested and charged with robbing a Burger King drive-thru cashier in York, Pa., in December but only after making police officers' job easier. After her clean getaway, she called the restaurant to reassure herself that none of the witnesses had noted her car's license plate number. None had, but using cellphone records, police traced that call to Rembert. [York Dispatch, 12-1-2011]

The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality

Maine State trooper pleads guilty to drunk driving charge, suspended for two mo & demoted, license taken for 90 days [0] bit.ly/zokGUV

Elkton MD cop pleads guilty to drunk driving and hit & run charges involving off-duty 2 vehicle accident [0] bit.ly/wpzcA1

Ada Co ID deputy on leave after cited w/misd battery for allegedly punching woman in face at bar, groping friend [0] bit.ly/xdP7L4

Cleveland OH cop fired for abusing prescription pills won’t be charged by DA saying losing job is punishment enough [0] bit.ly/xfpvsA

Let’s all go home and lock our doors

Not all states have anti-bestiality laws, and Peter Bower's ongoing case in Ohio exemplifies prosecutors' frustration. There was evidence that Bower had had sex with a dog ("Maggie") and had written her "love" letters, and police arrested him in June. Prosecutors were willing to settle the case in November for minimal punishment because the only law Bower could have been charged under is "animal cruelty," and they explained that they might have had trouble showing harm to the apparently adored dog. (At the time of Bower's arrest, a search had uncovered human-animal pornography and a life-sized inflatable sheep.) [WBNS-TV (Columbus), 11-28-2011]

A 77-year-old man was killed by a sheriff's deputy in December while standing beside his own engraved tombstone in a Gardnerville, Nev., cemetery. (The victim was holding a shotgun and was distraught over the death of his wife.) [WNBC-TV (New York City)-AP, 12-9-2011]

A 20-year-old man died of an apparent cocaine overdose in North Charleston, S.C., in December as a result of trying to help his older brother. The pair had been arrested and placed in a police cruiser when the older brother convinced the younger one to swallow the ounce of cocaine the older man was carrying. (According to a police report, the cocaine had been stored in the older man's "backside.") [Charleston Post & Courier, 12-21-2011]

The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality

DeKalb Co GA cop arrested for possessing pot & stealing property from the people he arrested [0] bit.ly/AsPVfS

Lincoln NE cop pleads guilty to felony theft charge for embezzling $9,000 from “santa cop” fund for poor kids [0] bit.ly/wMIbQp

Portsmouth VA cop found guilty of misd embezzlement for stealing a flat screen tv siezed during gambling raid [0] bit.ly/wzUGMt

Eaton Co MI deputy pleads guilty to felony embezzlement for taking cash from 10 out-of-state motorists during stops [0] bcene.ws/wAvYEL

The courts agree, photograph as many cops as you want, whenever you want

Eugene OR police to pay $5k to activist arrested by cop who looked through his camera after he filmed encounter [0] bit.ly/AACqMl

"mental assessment hold"

Oregon State trooper on mental assessment hold after telling cops he left explosive device in park, none found [0] bit.ly/wjC0uq

Thos dangerous Vegan bastards

Philadelphia PA settles suit for $15k to activist arrested for handing out pro-vegan fliers outside supermarket [0] bit.ly/w8G1rB

Watch this video

Lincoln RI cop convicted of felony battery with a weapon for kicking cuffed woman in the head on video [0] bit.ly/x1tzaJ