“I thought he had a gun award”
Commonwealth Attorney
RAY MORROUGH
Presents
The annual Fairfax County Police
“I thought he had a gun award”
Proceeds from
the “I thought he had a gun award” will pay for training on how not to laugh in
court when saying “I thought he had a gun award”
Contribution: $100
sent in small amounts over a period of six months from out of state bank
accounts to our finance chair Sharon Bulova.
May 1 2014
At the Tysons Corner Mayflower Hotel
8080 Leesburg Pike, Tysons Corner Va.
Park wherever
you want, don’t worry we’re the law!
Or have Morrough park it for you. After
all, he’s our bitch
Taylor officer charged with computer misuse is headed to trial
By David Komer
DETROIT — A Taylor police
officer charged with misuse of a statewide law enforcement computer network is
headed to trial.
Michael Calabrese, 42, has a
jury trial scheduled to begin April 7 before Judge Daniel Hathaway in Wayne
County Circuit Court.
Calabrese, accused of 11 counts
of misusing the Law Enforcement Information Network, has maintained his
innocence throughout and had a not guilty plea entered.
Calabrese’s final conference
was held Feb. 28, where a plea bargain could have been chosen.
The 13-year veteran of the
department has been suspended without pay.
At a preliminary examination of
the evidence against him, held in 24th District Court in December, two
witnesses came forward to testify that Calabrese looked up their driving
records and license information for personal reasons unrelated to any cases.
Calabrese is accused of:
•Five counts of using LEIN
information for unauthorized disclosure.
•Two counts of motor vehicle
code false certification.
•Two counts of using a computer
to commit a crime.
•Two counts of common law
offenses, or abuse of office.
LEIN is a computerized criminal
information filing system of numerous state databases that include criminal
histories, Michigan Secretary of State records, driving records and information
that would appear on a driver’s license. Searches can be conducted using a
license plate, license number or a name.
Police Officer Shoots Dog While Responding To Possible Burglary
By Dominic Kelly,
Police in Crowley, Louisiana
have launched an internal investigation after an officer shot a homeowner’s dog
while responding to a reported burglary on that property.
The incident occurred late
Thursday night after the homeowner thought she heard glass breaking in another
room and decided to call the police. She reported a possible burglary and said
she was locking herself in her bedroom until authorities arrived. While on the
phone with the dispatcher, the woman informed them that her dog was outside in
the yard but that it was friendly and wouldn’t be aggressive.
The woman was still on the
phone with the dispatcher when, all of a sudden, she heard a gunshot. The
emergency dispatcher told her that it was safe to go outside to meet the
officers, and it was then she saw that her beloved three-year-old chocolate lab
Max had been shot behind its ear.
The officer who shot Max claims
that the dog was barking and being aggressive towards him, but a neighbor who
witnessed the incident says that’s not what happened at all. According to the
neighbor’s account, the dog did bark, but it didn’t try to move towards the
officer at all. Max was shot behind its left ear with the bullet going through
its neck. Fortunately, Max is expected to make a full recovery.
Now, Crowley Police Department
is starting a full investigation into the incident, as is required by policy if
an officer fires their weapon. Police do say that there was no sign of any
burglary or forced entry at the residence.
The Facebook page “Dogs Shot By
Cops” recently posted about the story, and many users expressed outrage over
what the officer did.
“If the dog was shot behind the
ear how could he have been lunging at the officer,” questioned one user. “Lets
see if the police investigator can make the correlation that for the bullet to
enter behind the ear the cop would have had been behind the dog. I guess the
traits of honesty and integrity are not prevalent within the law enforcement
community.”
Police have not yet released
any updates on the progress of their investigation, and it’s not clear if the
homeowner will press charges.
LPD officer involved in crash will face disciplinary action
By Kelly Roberts
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The
Lafayette police officer responsible for Saturday’s crash with a sheriff
deputy’s car will see disciplinary action.
Police Chief Patrick Flannelly
said he does not comment on disciplinary action unless it reaches the extent
that an officer is suspended for five or more days.
A review board made up of
Officer Ian O’Shields’ supervisors reviewed the facts of the wreck and
recommended disciplinary action for Flannelly. Flannelly signed off on the
recommendation.
He said O’Shields takes full
responsibility for the crash, which occurred after he ran a red light.
Flannelly said he will review the findings and see what lessons can be learned.
“We constantly look for ways to
improve the set-up in the cars, [and] our training regimen for officers in the
future, if there are lessons learned, we can take [from it],” said Flannelly.
The investigation is now
complete.
It is still not known what
repairs will be made to the cars. Total damages for both vehicles combined are
estimated between $10,000 and $25,000.
Suspended New Orleans officer refuses plea deal
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A
43-year-old suspended New Orleans Police officer accused of sexually assaulting
three teenagers dating back to the 1990s broke into tears as prosecutors sought
to again push back his trial date.
"This game gotta stop,
man!" said a tearful Desmond Pratt as he sat Tuesday in a jury box in
shackles and jail scrubs.
According to his attorney,
Robert Jenkins, Pratt had just rejected a deal from Orleans Parish District
Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office to plead guilty in the case — a deal offered
on the morning the former homicide detective was scheduled for trial on
allegations that he molested three teenagers.
The New Orleans Advocate
reports (http://bit.ly/1kMA86Y) the most recent of the alleged incidents — a
sexual battery — took place a year ago. He's been in custody for 11 months for
the alleged molestations. He also faces charges of aggravated sexual assault
and carnal knowledge of a juvenile from earlier alleged incidents.
Prosecutor Jason Napoli told
Criminal District Judge Franz Zibilich that authorities were getting no help
from the mother of the purported victim in the most recent incident, and that
the mother has "consistently stifled our ability to prepare for
trial."
Zibilich granted a request to
subpoena the girl through her mother, who was in the courtroom. She later spoke
privately with Cannizzaro outside the courtroom, then with a group of Pratt's
supporters, leaving unclear whether she continues to press for Pratt's
prosecution. She declined to speak to a reporter.
Zibilich put off the trial
until April 1 and ordered Jenkins to submit an argument by Monday on whether,
and under what circumstances, a videotaped statement from the girl could be
used at a trial.
Pratt has been in jail since
April. Zibilich reduced his bond in November from $500,000 to $400,000 but
refused to lower it further despite at least two trial delays. The judge said
there appeared to be no new evidence that warranted a bond reduction.
During Tuesday's court appearance,
Zibilich turned to Pratt and urged him to consider agreeing to a deal. He noted
that the most serious allegation could bring a sentence as high as 20 years if
Pratt is convicted.
"I'm not going to say
there's a reverse presumption (of guilt)," Zibilich said, but "some
jurors come in and say, 'Why would this little girl lie?' 'Why are these women
lying?' "
He told Pratt, "You're at
risk here."
Before his arrest, Pratt worked
in the Sixth District. Prior to that, as a homicide detective, he was a key
figure in the investigation of crimes now pinned on alleged drug lord Telly
Hankton, who is serving a life prison sentence for his conviction in a 2008
murder.
How Pratt's legal troubles
might affect that case is unclear.
Jenkins declined outside the
courtroom to specify the plea deal offered by prosecutors. Christopher Bowman,
a spokesman for Cannizzaro's office, also declined to elaborate, citing a
policy against commenting on open cases.
Ludlow Police Officer Suspended Without Pay for Stealing Drugs
LUDLOW, Mass. (AP) — A
high-ranking Ludlow police officer charged with stealing drugs from the
department’s evidence locker has been suspended without pay.
Lt. Thomas Foye had been
suspended with pay since his arrest in August, but because he was indicted by a
grand jury last week, the town’s Select Board voted unanimously Tuesday to
suspend him without pay.
According to court documents,
video surveillance captured the 49-year-old Foye entering the locked narcotics
locker at the police station, where he appears to handle and open evidence
bags. He is charged with tampering with evidence, theft of drugs from a
dispensary and cocaine possession.
In a brief statement at
Tuesday’s board meeting, the 25-year veteran thanked the board and said he
“went into surgery a hero and came out a drug addict
Disgraced ex-cop refuses to plead guilty
MENSAH M. DEAN,
RICHARD DeCoatsworth was once
called a hero cop after surviving a shotgun blast to the face. Now the
disgraced ex-cop is more like a drama king - one who really annoyed Common
Pleas Judge Charles Ehrlich yesterday.
Rather than plead guilty to
promoting prostitution and related counts - as was expected - the jailed
DeCoatsworth instead accused a city prosecutor of spewing lies about him,
attempted to justify ignoring Ehrlich's order to submit to a presentencing
mental-health exam and apparently decided to withdraw his guilty plea after
all.
DeCoatsworth, 28, in a blue
business suit, his bullet-scarred lower face covered by a thick growth of
beard, stood and claimed that Assistant District Attorney Ashley Lynam had told
"lie after lie after lie" about him. He said he refused to take the
mental-health exam because his lawyer had been barred from being with him.
But Ehrlich said that that was
not true, and that arrangements had been made for DeCoatsworth's lawyer to
attend the testing session earlier this week.
The judge scolded DeCoatsworth
for defying the court order, telling the defendant the test would help him make
"the most appropriate and hopefully thoughtful decision in this case"
during the sentencing hearing.
Ehrlich said he believed
DeCoatsworth's real reason for refusing to take the exam was because he already
decided to withdraw his guilty plea and was concerned that the exam findings
would be used against him at trial. The judge schooled DeCoatsworth that the
exam could be used only for sentencing purposes.
"Defendants don't
determine which exams are done," Ehrlich said. "Judges determine
that."
At the request of defense
lawyer A. Charles Peruto, Ehrlich scheduled April 1 as DeCoatsworth's next
court date. The defendant at that time must tell the judge if he will take the
guilty plea and admit to pimping, simple assault and a drug charge, or if he
will go to trial on dozens of charges tied to a May arrest involving his
girlfriend and two prostitutes.
In jail since his arrest,
DeCoatsworth became addicted to pain medication and then heroin after being
shot as a rookie cop in 2007.
Peruto told reporters that he
believes DeCoatsworth will go to trial, despite having been offered a
"sweetheart deal" that could have allowed him to be released from
jail immediately under state sentencing guidelines.
"He wants his day in
court, I'm positive of it," Peruto said. "He doesn't want to plead
guilty to a crime he didn't commit."
Before the hearing, Lynam said
that if DeCoatsworth pleaded guilty, she would ask Ehrlich to sentence him to
six to 12 years in state prison and five years of probation afterward.
DeCoatsworth retired from the
police force in 2011 after a five-year career that included his being named as
a defendant in a series of civil-rights lawsuits. The city paid out more than
$1.5 million to settle the suits.
Temple student sues Philly cops over photo incident
WILLIAM BENDER
A TEMPLE University
photojournalism student and his girlfriend are suing two Philadelphia police
officers who they say wrongly arrested them in 2012 while he was photographing
a neighbor's arrest in Point Breeze.
The lawsuit, filed last week in
Common Pleas Court by Ian Van Kuyk and Meghan Feighan, seeks compensatory and
punitive damages for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, and
malicious prosecution. The defendants are Officers Samuel Allen and Santos
Higgins.
Van Kuyk, 26, made national
headlines after his March 2012 arrest on charges of obstructing justice,
resisting arrest and disorderly conduct - an arrest that he said resulted from
his refusal to stop snapping photos of Allen and Higgins making a traffic stop
outside his home on 17th Street near Dickinson. Feighan, 24, also was charged
with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
In November 2012, Municipal
Judge Felice Stack found Van Kuyk and Feighan not guilty of all charges.
The arrest raised doubts about
whether cops were following Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey's 2011 memo
advising that civilians are allowed to record or photograph officers in public
spaces. The memo followed a September 2011 Daily News story about wrongful
arrests of civilians using cellphones to record arrests.
"The police, we don't
think, should view someone who is photographing or videotaping their activity
as an adversary," said Mark Tanner, an attorney representing the couple in
the lawsuit. "If you're a public servant and you're doing your job and
doing it well, then video evidence or photographic evidence can only help you."
In November 2012, Ramsey issued
a directive about the public's right to record officers as long as they are not
interfering with the officer's safety or ability to conduct official duties.
"All officers have been
informed of this policy via roll call and other training methods, and each
officer has been provided a copy of the policy," said Lt. John Stanford, a
police spokesman. "We haven't seen any recent issues regarding this
policy, but if we are informed of any issues then we will address those issues
properly."
Mary Catherine Roper, senior
staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said
some cops are not complying with the directive. The ACLU is suing the city in
federal court for allegedly arresting people in retaliation for observing or photographing
officers performing their duties.
In January, a police officer
ordered a Daily News reporter to stop photographing an arrest outside a jewelry
store at 8th and Chestnut streets. When asked for an explanation, the officer
said that it was "police business" and that photos weren't allowed.
"We get those
complaints," Roper said. "The department, I think, is slow to realize
that just because they write something down doesn't mean all of the officers
follow it."
Sometimes a camera is the only
thing between an innocent person and a jail cell.
In Bloomfield, N.J., recently
released police dashboard-camera footage helped exonerate Marcus Jeter, 30, a
disc jockey who faced several years in prison for allegedly assaulting an
officer and eluding police in 2012.
The footage raises serious
doubts about the officers' accounts of the arrest.
After seeing video of the stop,
which showed officers hitting Jeter, prosecutors dropped all charges against
him. Two Bloomfield officers were indicted last month on misconduct and
conspiracy charges.
Philly cop charged with false imprisonment of war veteran
SAM WOOD, PHILLY.COM
A Philadelphia police officer
was suspended with intent to dismiss after being charged with false
imprisonment and other counts in a 2013 arrest of an Operation Iraqi Freedom
war veteran who had pointed out the officer was driving the wrong direction on
a one-way street.
The vet, who served in the U.S.
Air Force, has filed a $1 million suit against the city claiming unlawful
search and seizure, assault and battery, and multiple violations of
Constitutional rights.
The officer, Kevin Corcoran,
has been named in other federal suits alleging police brutality.
Corcoran, 33, was on duty about
2 a.m. last Marchg 31 when he encountered a group of people at 13th and Lombard
Streets. A man in the group “commented that P/O Corcoran had made an illegal
turn,” according to a statement from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s
office.
Corcoran came closer to the
group in his cruiser, got out and yelled at them, prompting several in the
party to pull out their cell phones and record the encounter, the D.A.'s office
said.
Corcoran, a 9-year veteran of
the force, slapped one of the cell phones out of a person’s hand, stating
“Don’t f##?!g touch me,” according to the D.A.’s office.
Corcoran pressed on,
approaching the man who backed up with his hands up, making no contact with the
officer.
The officer shoved the man,
“grabbed him by the chest, threw him against the side of his police vehicle,
handcuffed him and threw him in to the back of his vehicle. Corcoran then sped
off with the victim in the back seat,” said the D.A.’s office.
The entire incident was
captured on video.
Corcoran drove north and soon
after pulled onto a street off North Broad.
When the victim asked why he
was being arrested, Corcoran claimed it was for public intoxication.
Corcoran did not fill out any
documents citing the man for public intoxication and had no evidence that could
prove the man was intoxicated, the D.A. said.
The man, who had never been
arrested before, told Corcoran he was vet. Corcoran had a change of heart and
returned the man to 13th and Rodman Streets, where he uncuffed the man and
released him without charges.
Corcoran surrendered himself to
Internal Affairs this morning. In addition to the false imprisonment count,
Corcoran was charged with obstructing the administration of law and official
oppression.
Previously, Corcoran was sued
in U.S. District Court for allegedly entering a home on 1630 S. Taney Street
without a warrant in Nov. 2008 and beating up a resident, leaving the man with
two broken vertebrae, a broken nose and a broken eye socket.
Corcoran was sued in federal
court for the Nov. 2009 beating of a South Philadelphia man who Corcoran and
another officer "kicked, stomped, beat, punched and otherwise
assaulted" leaving the man with broken bones and requiring stitched; in
May 2011, Corcoran allegedly arrested a man without probable cause at 21st and
Latona Street and "violently man handled" the man.
The 2008 and 2009 cases were
dismissed with prejudice by federal judges and the 2011 case remains open.
In addition, at least two civil
lawsuits have been brought against Corcoran in the Philadelphia Court of Common
Pleas.
In one suit, filed in June
2009, Corcoran was accused of striking a Grays Ferry man in the face, causing a
“blowout” fracture of the his orbital bone, then falsely accusing the man of
assault and possessing a controlled substance.
In a second, unrelated suit,
filed six months later, Corcoran was accused of beating a Willow Grove man and
throwing him headfirst into a newspaper box during a disorderly conduct arrest.
In each case, the defendant was
eventually cleared in court of criminal charges.
Both suits were settled for an
undisclosed amount in 2010, before they went to trial.
Ex-cop due in court for sentencing on prostitution, assault and drug charges
BY MENSAH M. DEAN
HIS FIVE-YEAR career with the
Philadelphia Police Department was drama-filled - and so, too, is his fall from
grace.
Richard DeCoatsworth, who
survived a shotgun blast to the face as a rookie cop in 2007 and was invited to
Washington by Michelle Obama in 2009, today is scheduled to be sentenced in
criminal court for promoting prostitution and for drug and assault charges.
But the drama may not be over.
Sources yesterday said DeCoatsworth, 28, refused to submit to a mental-health
evaluation, which Common Pleas Judge Charles Ehrlich ordered when he pleaded
guilty Feb. 26.
There was also speculation that
the former cop was waffling on going through with the guilty plea, which is
scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Criminal Justice Center.
His attorney, A. Charles
Peruto, declined to comment on the speculation or on whether his client refused
to cooperate with the court system's attempt to evaluate his mental state.
Peruto said that under state
guidelines, DeCoatsworth is entitled to be sentenced to the time he has already
served and then be released.
DeCoatsworth, who retired from
the police force in 2011, was arrested last May and has been held on
multimillion-dollar bails ever since.
He was charged with more than
30 crimes related to his alleged beating of his girlfriend in May and his role
as a pimp for two prostitutes.
All of the charges were dropped
except simple assault, a misdemeanor, and two felonies: promoting prostitution
and intent to possess or distribute narcotics.
________________________________________
On Twitter: @MensahDean
Cop gets court supervision in off-duty hit-run of bicyclist
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Criminal
Courts Reporter March 12, 2014 12:58PM
Nina Pilacoutas looked Chicago
Police Officer Michael Bergeson in the eye Wednesday and branded him a “coward”
for nearly “killing” her and leaving her bleeding on the streets after ramming
his truck into her bicycle in Logan Square.
“Shame on you,” Pilacoutas said
to Bergeson before he was sentenced to a year of court supervision — similar to
probation — and 30 days of community service at a rehabilitation center for his
role in the off-duty hit-and-run crash.
As an officer trained in
high-octane situations, Bergeson should have known better when he fled and
called 911 three times without identifying himself or admitting what he had
done at the intersection of California and Wabansia avenues on Aug. 13, 2010,
Pilacoutas said.
“He is a coward and does not
deserve to wield a badge,” the 27-year-old sculptor and bartender told Cook
County Judge James Linn.
Bergeson, in turn, told Pilacoutas
that he was sorry. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” the 34-year-old
father said in a cracking voice.
Bergeson, who has been placed
on administrative duties, also told Pilacoutas that he prays for her every
night.
Linn convicted Bergeson last
month of misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident without giving aid.
Bergeson was acquitted of the
more serious charges of felony leaving the scene of an accident, filing a false
police report and disorderly conduct.
Bergeson’s license plate fell off
his Ford F-150 when he hit Pilacoutas who was cycling, Cook County Assistant
State’s Attorney Lauren Freeman said.
Police were able to trace the
license plate to Bergeson’s home in the 1800 block of North Whipple Street, but
once officers arrived, he didn’t answer the door, and the truck was nowhere to
be seen.
Two days later, Bergeson filed
a police report in the 25th District, stating that he was traveling northbound
on California when Pilacoutas disregarded a stop sign at Wabansia and hit him,
prosecutors said.
Pilacoutas suffered a
concussion, several broken bones and blunt trauma to her head after she flew
over Bergeson’s truck’s hood and landed on the pavement.
Pilacoutas’ mother, a nurse,
told Bergeson that he, like her, should be held to a higher standard.
“Society expects more from us,”
Therese Fitzpatrick told Bergeson before he was sentenced.
Bergeson was in the “wrong” but
is an otherwise “outstanding” police officer, Linn said after defense attorney
Thomas Breen described his client as a “wonderful” man who has received 114
commendations during his career.
Linn also ordered Bergeson to
pay $2,250 in restitution to Pilacoutas.