Frankfort Cop Cuffed & Jailed in Middle of Court Hearing For Domestic Battery Case

Frankfort Police Officer Donald Walsh was arrested on new charges during a court appearance for his felony domestic battery case Wednesday.

Posted by Joseph Hosey

In a shocking twist, a Frankfort cop charged with beating his girlfriend in her Mokena bedroom was cuffed and taken to jail during a court appearance Wednesday.

Donald Walsh, 30 and already facing charges domestic battery and aggravated domestic battery, caught new felony cases for intimidation and telephone harassment.

"Mr. Walsh, put your hands behind your back," Will County Judge Edward Burmila commanded as Walsh stood before the bench. "The court's been informed there's a warrant for your arrest."

A deputy then put Walsh in handcuffs and sat him in the jury box to wait for his trip to jail.

The new charges stem from a June 12, 2012, telephone call Walsh's then-girlfriend, Jillian Fredericks, secretly recorded. Walsh allegedly threatened Fredericks during the call. A month and a half later, Walsh was arrested for allegedly beating Fredericks.

After Walsh's arrest, Fredericks turned the recording over to a Frankfort police officer who had been assigned to an internal investigation for a pending disciplinary proceeding. The officer shared the recording with her superiors, who let an attorney representing the village in on its existence but decided against using it at the disciplinary hearing. Frankfort also decided against sharing the recording with the Mokena police, the department investigating Walsh for the criminal case.

Special prosecutor Dave Neal only learned of the recording when Fredericks' sister, Michelle Wawerski, told him about it after the trial's first day Nov. 20. Wawerski said she let Neal know because she was bothered by the way defense attorney Steven Haney was portraying Walsh during the trial and she wanted people to hear what Walsh is "really like."

Judge Burmila ruled that the Frankfort police committed a "discovery violation and it was purposeful." He forbade the use of the recording unless Walsh takes the stand. He said Neal could then use the recording to impeach Walsh's testimony.

Burmila also said he would declare a mistrial and recuse himself from the case if that was what Walsh wished. Haney, said it was unlikely he would ask for a mistrial.

Walsh was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond. He was free on a $75,000 bond at the time of his arrest.

Okla. cop arrested in ABQ on child porn charges

Robert Mullen, 60, a former officer with the Lawton, Okla., Police Department who now lives in Albuquerque, was arrested Tuesday morning by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, a special agent with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office in August identified an IP address that was being used to share files containing child pornography, and a subsequent investigation found that the IP address was subscribed to Mullen at a residence on Albuquerque’s West Side, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

On Dec. 11, HSI agents, Albuquerque Police Department officers and other agencies participating in the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a state search warrant at Mullen’s home and seized a computer and computer-related media, federal prosecutors said.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Mullen could face a federal prison term of between five and 20 years and would be required to register as a sex offender, according to a news release

Tempe Cop Arrested After High-Speed Chase, Posts Bond, Then Leads Cops on Another Chase

By Matthew Hendley

A Tempe police officer was arrested this weekend after allegedly driving drunk at more than 120 mph in a bid to outrun on-duty officers.

Then, authorities say, Tempe Police Officer Garrett Peterson posted $10,000 bond and led law enforcement on another high-speed chase, this time near Yuma.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, Peterson's ex-wife called Gilbert police Friday night claiming that Peterson sent text messages to her new husband saying he was coming over with "guns blazing" to kill him.

Peterson also called the new husband -- in a call the new husband recorded -- and said he was "going to kill you and your whole fucking family," documents state.

The reporting officer writes that Peterson's "speech was slurred, thoughts disjointed, and he was yelling." An officer beat Peterson to the ex-wife's house and tried to pull over Peterson when he showed up around 11:30 p.m. According to the documents, Peterson tried to run, at one point heading onto the Loop 202, reaching speeds "in excess of 120 mph."

Peterson, who had an unidentified female passenger in the car this entire time, was eventually stopped, and he pulled out a weapon, creating a barricade situation. The female passenger was able to get out of the car unhurt, and Peterson finally surrendered around 12:45 a.m. According to court documents, his blood-alcohol level was 0.25, which is more than three times the legal limit.

By Saturday afternoon, a judge had set Peterson's bond at $10,000, and the bond conditions included Peterson being on house arrest.

Tempe Police Sergeant Michael Pooley says Tempe officers were able to contact Peterson by phone yesterday to start an internal investigation, and Peterson resigned during that. Peterson had been a patrol officer since May 2007.

Also yesterday, Pooley says in an e-mail, Peterson "was involved in another criminal investigation being investigated by the Gilbert Police Department which led to an 'Attempt to Locate' to statewide agencies, including Border Patrol and DPS."

Border Patrol agents had located Peterson's car, and when agents tried to pull him over, Peterson didn't stop for them either. Pooley says Peterson was arrested again after leading Border Patrol and DPS on a chase on Interstate 8 near Yuma.

Since Peterson's already out on bond, he won't be given the opportunity to post bond again.

Before yesterday, Peterson already was facing seven charges, including two felonies.

Man Is Granted $2.4 Million for False Arrest and Beating by Police

By MARC SANTORA

A federal jury awarded $2.4 million on Wednesday to a man who they found had been beaten and arrested under false pretenses in Upper Manhattan by the New York police.

The man, Noel J. Guzman, was arrested early on Feb. 14, 2009.

According to his account, he had just left a club called the Red Lounge in Inwood when his friends had an altercation with another group of people.

A fight broke out at the corner of 207th Street and Sherman Avenue, but Mr. Guzman was not involved, according to his testimony.

Several police officers arrived, and Mr. Guzman testified that they grabbed him, threw him to the ground and began “kicking and stomping” on him.

Mr. Guzman’s right knee was injured, and he was taken to Harlem Hospital Center.

Even though officers were aware that he was not involved in the fight and was in no way interfering with them, Mr. Guzman was arrested and charged with obstructing the police, according to a criminal complaint he filed.

One month after the episode, one of the officers involved, Brian Jay, perjured himself when he claimed that Mr. Guzman grabbed his shirt and tried to strike him, according to Mr. Guzman’s complaint.

The charges against Mr. Guzman were dropped by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. No criminal charges were filed against the officers involved. Police officials did not respond on Wednesday to a request for comment.

Mr. Guzman needed surgery on his knee and has sued the police for damages.

A jury believed Mr. Guzman’s account of what happened and awarded him $2.4 million, including $200,000 in punitive damages.

Morgan Kunz, an assistant corporation counsel with the city’s Law Department, said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed. We feel the jury ignored evidence that proved that the plaintiff had been drinking and was involved in a street fight beforehand. We assert that the officer did not injure Mr. Guzman. We’re weighing all options, including appeal.”

Mich. police officer leading pistol safety training charged with unlawfully granting licenses

PORT HURON, Michigan — A St. Clair County police officer will stand trial on charges he granted concealed pistol licenses to a class but failed to provide all required training.

The Times Herald of Port Huron reports (http://bwne.ws/1fE38J8 ) Clay Township officer Ralph Cierpial was bound over to circuit court Tuesday during a hearing. He faces 27 felony counts of unlawfully granting pistol safety certificates.

Cierpial declined comment and defense lawyer Daniel Garon waived the right to a preliminary examination on all but one count. Garon argued one count satisfied the training requirements but a judge overruled.

The charges stem from the training held in March at a Port Huron church. Authorities say Cierpial provided classroom training but not required firing range instruction.

The 36-year-old officer remains on leave and surrendered his gun and badge.

No Bond for D.C. Cop Charged in Prostitution Case

A District of Columbia police officer will remain behind bars on charges of running a prostitution operation from his apartment.

Superior Court Magistrate Judge Frederick Sullivan rejected a defense lawyer's request on Wednesday to release Linwood Barnhill Jr., who was arrested last week after police found a missing 16-year-old girl inside his apartment.

The judge said he believed Barnhill represented a flight risk given the seriousness of the charges he faces.

At a hearing Wednesday, an internal affairs detective testified that Barnhill waited hours to turn himself in and was drunk when he surrendered. The detective also said that the department received a tip in 2011 that Barnhill was smoking marijuana and using his apartment for prostitution purposes.

During a search of Barnhill's apartment, investigators found 100 to 200 condoms, an officer with the department's Juvenile Protection Division testified. The officer said the large amount of condoms was in line with something that would be found in a brothel.

The 16-year-old girl found inside Barnhill's apartment told authorities that Barnhill had approached her at a shopping mall about two weeks earlier and asked if she wanted to be a model. She visited his apartment several times after that, and at one point, Barnhill gave her a cellphone and told the girl he had made a "date" for her with another man to engage in sex acts, according to charging documents.

A second alleged victim, a 15-year-old girl, has also come forward, claiming that she met Barnhill at a bus stop in September. She told police that she lied about her age, before admitting that she was 15 after Barnhill asked her to "escort" for him. "The defendant informed [the girl] that he plans bachelor parties and has 'tons' of girls. [The girl] stated the defendant told her that her young age was not a problem because he had other minors who worked for him," the charging documents state.

Barnhill took nude and clothed photos of the girl and then arranged for her to have sex with a man in his 40s or 50s in Barnhill's bedroom, the documents say. Barnhill allegedly provided condoms for the encounter.

The 15-year-old girl performed the sex acts and then told Barnhill she was not interested in continuing to work for him, according to authorities.

A mirror in Barnhill's apartment displayed the names of other women whom the 16-year-old girl said were prostitutes, police said. Authorities say they know of at least six other females allegedly pimped by Barnhill. The ages of these girls or women are unknown at this point, News4 Mark Segraves reported.

Barnhill joined the D.C. police department in 1989. Barnhill, who has been with D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department for 24 years, had been on light duty since September 2012. It was revealed during Wednesday's hearing that Barnhill had accidentally shot himself. He later received a reprimand for using a holster that was not approved.

He is now on administrative leave. If convicted, Barnhill could face up to 20 years in prison.

Another police officer, Marc Washington, was arrested last week on child pornography charges. His body was pulled Tuesday night from the Washington Channel. Police haven't released any further details into his death.

A third officer is also under investigation for possibly tipping Washington off about his forthcoming arrest earlier this week, sources said.

All three officers work in MPD's Seventh District, law enforcement sources said.