The
Amity Township supervisors have voted to advertise a Police Tenure
Act hearing set for this Tuesday for Cpl. Glenn J. Oesterling. A 12-year
veteran of the Amity Township Police Department, Oesterling was suspended in
July indefinitely without pay. He had been charged with retail theft and
receiving stolen property for two June incidents at a Giant Food Store in West
Pottsgrove Township. According to court documents, a loss prevention officer at
the supermarket saw Oesterling place several items into reusable shopping bags
in his cart and then walk out of the store without going through a checkout
line.
SAN
DIEGO - An unidentified police officer on the force for just over a
year and the town's animal control officer using their city issued gas credit
card to pump gas. The problem? It was allegedly pumped into their own vehicles."That's
not right taking our city tax money away from us," said resident Melissa
Leal. San Diego resident Melissa Everett not too happy about those who carry
the badge breaking the laws they have sworn to uphold. She's not alone. Melissa
Leal feeling much the same. "He's suppossed to be setting an
example," said Leal. We went to City Hall to get some answers but police
officials, as well as city officials, refused any on camera comment. The Police
Chief telling Action 10 News reporter John Rupolo off camera that both the
police and the animal control officer have been suspended without pay and that
the city's gas credit cards were used several times over the summer.Most
residents feel this way about the punishment should the lawmen be found guilty
of the charge."If they have evidence of the theft they should be
terminated if not they should be allowed to come back to work."
NYPD
Cop And His Brothers Arrested For Alleged Weapons Smuggling Scheme
A police officer who works at
One Police Plaza and his brothers are accused of plotting to smuggle
high-powered assault weapons out of the U.S. and sell them in the Philippines.
NYPD officer Rex-Gene Maralit was charged with conspiracy to violate the Arms
Export Control Act, as were his brothers Wilfredo Maralit, who is a U.S.
Customs officer in L.A., and Ariel Maralit, who lives in the Philippines.The alleged plan was to buy
weapons via online weapons sites in the U.S., disassemble them and then ship
them overseas to Ariel Maralit. According to the federal complaint, they didn't
have export licenses or federal firearms licenses—and they used their position
in law enforcement to buy the weapons at a discount.
FORT WORTH (AP) - A North Texas
police officer has been fired after being accused of stealing more than $20,000
from a business bank account to pay his personal bills.Fort Worth police Chief
Jeff Halstead on Wednesday night announced the dismissal of Officer Lovon
Ponder Jr. A disciplinary letter says Ponder, who was hired in October 2011,
was indefinitely suspended Aug. 23.Records show Ponder allegedly obtained the
routing and account number of a medical supply company after a refund check was
mailed to his apartment in a former tenant’s name. An apartment manager became
suspicious and contacted police.No charges were immediately filed. An attorney
for Ponder didn’t immediately comment.
Two
Sweetwater Police Officers, Civilian Employee Suspended
Less than a week after a
Sweetwater Police detective was arrested on fraud and identity theft charges, two
police officers and a civilian employee were relieved of duty Wednesday, a city
spokeswoman said.
Detective Octavio Oliu, Acting
Sergeant Reny Garcia and red-light camera reviewer Richard Brenner were
relieved of duty with pay, spokeswoman Michelle Hammontree-Garcia said.
The details behind why they
were relieved of duty were unknown. Hammontree-Garcia said no other statements
would be made. A spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association
said she was looking into the details of the suspensions.
In another incident, Oliu and
Brenner were named in a lawsuit filed against the city in May by Daniel LaRosa,
who was arrested in March 2012 for allegedly making a threat against a
Sweetwater officer on Facebook.
LaRosa had been arrested on a
charge of corruption by threat against a public servant after he posted a photo
to Facebook through the Instagram application labeled "Diary of a Cop
Killa" that showed a video game character wearing a gas mask and pointing
a gun with two dead policemen in the background, police said.
The text with the photo says
"Make my day!!!" and "It's sweetwater pd that's gotta die!!!
Lol," police said.
Man Stole N. Miami Beach Police
Car to "Drive Around": Cops
According to the lawsuit,
LaRosa, a teacher at a school for special needs students, was arrested at the
school by Oliu and Brenner.
A Sweetwater Police report
filed by Oliu and Brenner at the time of the arrest said LaRosa admitted to
making the posting and said he did it after breaking up with his girlfriend and
learning she was dating a Sweetwater cop.
The lawsuit claimed LaRosa
posed no threat to any police officer when he made the posting on January 30,
2012, up to and including when he was arrested on March 5.
"The facts and
circumstances within the knowledge of Officers Brenner and Oliu would cause no
reasonably prudent person to believe that LaRosa had committed any crime,
particularly that for which he was arrested, because it is unquestionable that
LaRosa's Instagram posting was not made with any intent to influence any act or
omission within the official discretion of any public servant," the
lawsuit states.
The charge against LaRosa was
dropped in April 2012, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the
arrest caused LaRosa abuse and harassment and violated his constitutional
rights. It claims LaRosa was falsely imprisoned, was the victim of malicious
prosecution and was defamed.
"LaRosa has suffered
humiliation and other severe emotional and psychological trauma," the
lawsuit claims.
Acting Sergeant Reny Garcia is
not named in the lawsuit. When asked whether the whether the suspensions of
Oliu, Brenner and Reny Garcia were related to the lawsuit, Hammontree-Garcia
said not to her knowledge.
The incident comes just days
after Sweetwater Det. William Garcia was arrested on charges of credit card
fraud and identity theft. According to a release from the U.S. Department of
Justice, Garcia used his credit card to help create fraudulent credit cards
from late 2010 to 2011.
He hid the evidence when he
learned that a co-conspirator had been arrested and kept and used the false
credit cards that he claimed had been seized during the course of his duties,
the release said.
Hammontree-Garcia said the
arrest of William Garcia wasn’t related to the suspensions of the other law
enforcement officers.
Last month, Sweetwater Mayor
Manuel Marono was suspended by Gov. Rick Scott after he was arrested on public
corruption charges.