Fairfax County Police Watch: 06/04/14

DUI Trial Underway For Ex-Officer Charged In ATV Crash

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Trial is underway for former Miami Beach police officer charged with four felonies after he was involved in an ATV crash on the beach which seriously injured two people in 2011.

Derick Kuilan and his partner were allegedly drinking at a bachelorette party July 4th, 2011 at the Clevelander Hotel.

“They start dancing with them. They’re having a good time,” prosecutor Eileen Keeley told the jury in her opening statement. “These police officers, they’re not acting like police officers, they’re becoming part of the entertainment.”

Maid of honor, Camille Hippensteel, testified Monday that she thought the officers, buffed out in form-fitting uniforms, could have been sent as party favors for the bridal party.

“Their uniforms were so tight that they almost looked like strippers,” Hippensteel said.

She testified that it did not occur to her that Kuilan might be impaired, but she didn’t think to look for any sign of impairment.

Keeley said Kuilan then took the 28-year bride-to-be Adalee Martin for for a joyride on a police ATV.

“They are flying down the sand and all of the sudden it’s like he hit a wall,” said Keeley.

That “wall” turned out to be Luis Almonte and Kitzie Nicanor who were out for a walk on the beach, according to authorities.

Almonte’s leg was broken. Nicanor also suffered a broken leg, was knocked unconscious and had to have several surgeries. Martin flew off the bike into the sand. Kuilan radioed for help but allegedly never mentioned the accident.

One of the first witnesses on the stand was Martin. She told the jury that she had a shot of tequila that night and a couple of Corona beers at the Clevelander. Martin also said she would not have gotten on the ATV if she suspected Kuilan had been drinking.

“I trusted him because he was a police officer, so I felt safe,” said Martin.

She added “We were going pretty fast. That’s like when I felt like we hit a brick wall.”

Traffic homicide investigator Kerry Humphrey showed jurors photos of the heavily damaged police ATV. Prosecutors believe the photos help prove Kuilan was traveling at a high rate of speed, bolstering their charge that he was driving recklessly. Humphrey said the ATV was going so fast that it flipped over on impact.

Investigators waited several hours before drawing Kuilan’s blood for testing.

Keeley told jurors Kuilan’s “face is flushed, his eye are red” and his “blood results were .088 five hours later he is still over the legal limit.

Kuilan’s defense attorney, Evan Hoffman, admitted that the ATV joyride was “probably not the smartest thing.”

“We agree that there were actions made that were not the best judgement,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman said while Kuilan’s actions and the accident were a civil matter and did not belong in a criminal court. They also plan to challenge the results of the DUI test. Hoffman said no one will testify at the trial that they ever saw Kuilan or his partner actually drinking at the bachlorette party.

Kuilan is charged with two counts of driving under the influence and causing serious bodily harm, and two counts of reckless driving. He faces a maximum prison sentence of ten years

Probation for cop in gun license case

He will pay more than $16,000 in restitution

Written by Beth LeBlanc

A former Clay Township police officer will serve a year and a half of probation and pay more than $16,000 in restitution for unlawfully granting pistol safety training certificates to 27 people.

Ralph Cierpial, 37, was sentenced Monday in front of St. Clair County Circuit Judge Daniel Kelly.

Cierpial pleaded guilty to the charge April 28, the same day he resigned from the Clay Township Police Department.

In a December preliminary examination, witnesses testified they received concealed pistol license training certificates in March 2013 without receiving required firing-range instruction.

During the sentencing, Cierpial apologized to the court and said he accepted responsibility for his actions.

Cop fantasy

“It’s not Mr. Cierpial’s intention to quibble, if you will, in terms of his overall acceptance of responsibility in this matter,” Cierpial’s lawyer Daniel Garon said during the sentencing.

Kelly said the lack of firing-range training puts those 27 certified by Cierpial at risk.

“As a law enforcement officer, your actions have reflected upon other law enforcement officers in the community,” the judgesaid.

Mona Armstrong, senior assistant prosecutor, said about $10,000 of the more than $16,000 in restitution will be given back to victims who paid for valid training and certification but did not receive it.

The remaining $6,000 will go to the St. Clair County clerk’s office.

“The clerk and the gun board literally had to spend hours and hours to determine which certifications were compromised,” Armstrong said.

St. Clair County Clerk Jay DeBoyer has said the clerk’s office contacted and interviewed more than 300 people who received certification from Cierpial.

Armstrong said the case was unfortunate from the onset.

“I’m comfortable that the defendant accepted responsibility for what he did, and the court appropriately sanctioned him,” Armstrong said.

Cop will go to prison for hacking NYPD over love triangle

By Kirstan Conley and Rich Calder

His rabid jealousy has landed a former Bronx NYPD detective in jail.

An emotional Edwin Vargas was sentenced in Manhattan federal court Monday to four months in prison for shelling out more than $4,000 to hack into police department email accounts so he could find out whether a fellow cop was sleeping with his baby mama.

Noting that the NYPD allowed Vargas to retire and keep his benefits due to an exemplary two decades of service, Judge Kevin Castel cut the ex-cop a big break. The judge didn’t hit him with a $30,000 fine he faced and sentenced Vargas well below the recommended guidelines of 10 to 16 months in prison under terms of his plea deal.

“First, I’d like to apologize to all the victims in this case, especially my son’s mother,” a choked-up Vargas told the court. “I never meant to hurt anyone. I’d like to apologize to my family and friends who, though they were disappointed by my actions, stood by me.”

After holding back tears, he then said, “I love you guys. To my son Tristan, I’d like to say ‘I am sorry.’”

A moved Castel said he believed Vargas’ apology was “sincere.”

Vargas admitted that from April 2010 to May 2012, he paid a Los Angeles company specializing in email hacking to supply him with personal log-in credentials to help spy on his ex-lover.

The data included information on at least 20 of his NYPD colleagues, including his former girlfriend.

He admitted using the information to access the account of at least one person. Vargas also dug up personal information on two cops using the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, and accessed the phone records of another victim, authorities said.

He pleaded guilty to computer hacking and unauthorized access to a law-enforcement database and will be subject to a year of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

The feds busted Vargas in May 2013 after finding a file on his work computer with contact information for his victims, including email accounts and apparent passwords.

In some cases, Vargas communicated with the hacking company by freeloading off his neighbor’s wireless connections, authorities said.

One cop told The Post in May 2013 that Vargas’ creepy behavior had been an issue for years — and that he even pursued his co-workers’ ex-wives and girlfriends.

Vargas was disciplined two years ago for allegedly stalking his ex, sources said. He was penalized five vacation days and was transferred from the 40th to the 44th Precinct, both in The Bronx.

The woman, who was not identified, complained at the time that she was being stalked, and said that Vargas had sent her harassing texts and called her names, the sources said.

Beach cop lied to protect love interest

By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former Delray Beach Police Officer Dave Chin is now a convicted felon because of his lies and misdeeds concerning a romantic interest in a woman he arrested in 2011.

Chin, 37, pleaded guilty Monday to five felony charges: three counts of official misconduct and two counts of perjury in an official proceeding.

While those counts altogether carry maximum of 25 years in state prison, Chin was sentenced to six months in Palm Beach County Jail under a plea deal with the State Attorney's Office. He'll serve the punishment on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.

Chin, represented by defense attorneys Flynn Bertisch and Michael Salnick, appeared before Circuit Judge Robin Rosenberg and acknowledged his crimes rather than proceed to a trial and leave his fate up to a jury.

Prosecutor Marci Rex called the plea agreement "an appropriate resolution to this case."

Salnick agreed.

"Considering the fact that he is not going to jail, I believe it was a fair resolution," he told the Sun Sentinel.

According to a report filed for Chin's August 2012 arrest, the married officer had sent text messages to Natalie Jerue, a friend of a confidential informant, telling her she was pretty and asking her out on movie and dinner dates.

While he was a member of the department's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit, Chin in June 2011 charged Jerue with trafficking Oxycodone, a painkiller. But investigators accused Chin of falsifying some of the facts in Jerue's arrest report.

Later, in an effort to help Jerue's case, Chin sent a memo to the State Attorney's Office, which he attributed to his supervisor, saying that on the day of her arrest Jerue started providing information to police that led to several narcotics arrests, the seizure of approximately 200 Oxycodone pills, several handguns, a rifle and $3,800 in cash.

But it was all lies, authorities said.

The trafficking case against Jerue was later dropped, according to court records.

At the time of Chin's arrest and subsequent suspension, the police chief said the officer's actions were "not a direct reflection of the dedication and hard work done daily by the men and women of the Delray Beach Police Department."

But Chin's misconduct turned out to be quite costly for the agency, because in September 2012 the State Attorney's Office dropped at least 20 cases that involved Chin's work as a police officer.

Narcotics charges resulting from arrests of suspects from 2010 to 2012 were tossed because of the tainted connection with Chin.

Chin's felony convictions mean the disgraced cop won't be able to wear a badge ever again, prosecutor Rex said after Monday's court hearing.

"He will lose his right to vote, own firearms, and be a law enforcement officer," she said.

But Chin's already pursuing new career opportunities, anyway.

"He's turning the page and moving forward," Salnick said.

Cops and the women they abuse: Slapp'n the wife aroud

Cops and the women they abuse: Slapp'n the wife aroud: Former cop allegedly strangled wife in Malta A Saratoga County sheriff's patrol car is parked near the property where a woman was...

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: New trouble looms for suspended Bunnell police off...

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: New trouble looms for suspended Bunnell police off...: Officer Michael Stavris was put on leave after he was accused of using a fake Facebook account with his daughter’s identity to ask for na...

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: Mansfield Cop Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography C...

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: Mansfield Cop Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography C...: A Mansfield police officer has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he produced and received child pornography, and tried to prevent...

Fairfax County Police Watch

Street fighter

The new urban street fight

DUI Trial Underway For Ex-Officer Charged In ATV Crash

Probation for cop in gun license case

Cop will go to prison for hacking NYPD over love triangle

Beach cop lied to protect love interest

Cops and the women they abuse: Slapp'n the wife aroud

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: New trouble looms for suspended Bunnell police off...

This Week's Charge of Child Molestation by your Local Police: Mansfield Cop Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography C...

Todays sexual assault charges against your police: Cop to be sentenced next month for sex assault

Todays sexual assault charges against your police: Former Hattiesburg and Lamar County police officer...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Former police officer faces NINE YEARS in jail for...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Judge finds Covington cop guilty of simple battery...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: LI cop accused in beating free on bail

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Bicyclist arrested by Fort Lauderdale police calls...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Hearne Officer Fired After Killing 93-year-old Wom...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Charges held to court for Baltimore cop charged in...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Charges held to court for Baltimore cop charged in...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Gwinnett police officer arrested following inciden...