Tag Archives: police

New Sanford Police Chief Hopes to Rid of Racial Tensions, Amongst Trayvon Martin Case

May 18, 2012   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.telegraph.co.uk

The new Sanford police chief has stated that he wants to ease racial tensions between his officers and the African-American community.

Richard Myers, 58, took over the role of chief from Bill Lee, who has been placed on leave due to criticism over how he handled the Feb. 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin.  In the case of Trayvon, the 17-year-old was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.  Prosecutors and critics alike believe that Zimmerman racially profiled Trayvon because he was black.

Due to the case, the city of Sanford, in Florida, has been thrust into the national spotlight.  Myers says that he would like to bring confidence back into their community.

“It’s apparent to me that there is some tension here between the African-American community and the police.  I think both the community and people of the police department want to improve that.  I’m going to do whatever I can to help facilitate strengthening that connection,” Myers said.

While the new chief doesn’t have any plans right now to deal with racial issues, he says that he’s going to leave some of it up to residents and officers to develop a plan of action.  He also wants to look into neighborhood watch groups.

“I’ve never heard of a neighborhood watch program that authorizes people to carry guns,” Myers said.

On Feb. 26, Trayvon was shot and killed as he returned to a gated community.  His family believes he was followed by Zimmerman, 28, because he deemed him “suspicious” thanks to the teenager being black and wearing a hoodie.

Zimmerman, who is half Hispanic, has stated that he shot Trayvon in self-defense.  He currently has been charged with second-degree murder.

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Fake Police Officer Killing Mississippi Drivers

May 16, 2012   Rebecca Welk   No comments

Photo Credit: www.bossip.com

Two people have been killed in Mississippi within the past month after being pulled over by a phony police officer, according to police. Now, authorities are asking for the public’s help in tracking down the killer.

The two victims were both found in remote areas with their cars pulled over to the side of the road, which has led police to believe the shooter is posing as an officer. The shootings took place about 55 miles apart, and the victims do not have any known connection.

On May 8th, authorities found the first victim, Thomas Schlender. The 74 year old man was discovered inside of his car on Interstate 55 in Panola County around 1:30 am.

Lori Anne Carswell, 48, was found dead on Mississippi Highway 713 in Tunica County on Friday. Police found her body outside of her car in the median at 2:15 am.

All drivers are being told to pull into a well-lit area if being pulled over, and to call 911 for verification that the officer is legitimate if they have any questions.

To read more, click here.

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Theft of Tide Detergent on the Rise

March 13, 2012   Rebecca Welk   No comments

Across the United States, police are fighting an unusual crime wave. Thieves are taking Tide detergent off of shelves everywhere from Minnesota to Kentucky.

Photo Credit: www.consumerist.com

In West Paul, Minnesota, one person stole nearly $25,000 worth of Tide during a span of 15 months before his arrest.

Many thieves will sell the product for anywhere from $5 to $10 on the black market, while the detergent costs anywhere from $10 to $20 in a retail store. Thieves are even reselling Tide back to stores because the bottles are impossible to track.

Read more here.

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High School Teacher Leaves Family for Student

March 01, 2012   Rebecca Welk   24 Comments

In Modesto, California, an Enochs High School business and computer sciences teacher, James Hooker, has left his family and his job for his former student and current high school senior, Jordan Powers.

Photo Credit: www.usnews.msnbc.msn.com

Hooker, 41, met Powers, 18, when she was a freshman at Enochs. This year, Jordan was a student in one of Hooker’s classes until his suspension on February 3rd, and then his resignation on the 22nd. After Hooker left his position, the couple moved into an apartment in Modesto together. James Hooker left his wife and children to be with Powers.

Jordan’s mother, Tammy Powers, is openly against the relationship. Tammy Powers contacted local detectives after becoming suspicious of how close her daughter had become to Hooker over the past couple of months. The police’s investigation led to Hooker’s suspension in the beginning of February.

Detectives are still investigating the pair to determine if any laws were broken and if the relationship started before Jordan’s 18th birthday this past fall. According to Tammy Powers, nearly 8,000 texts have been exchanged between her daughter and Hooker since last summer.

Read more here.

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Man Leads High-Speed Chase for No Reason

February 23, 2012   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.dunyanews.tv

A middle-aged man in Butte, Mont. decided to lead a dangerous, high-speed chase for no reason.

The sober man, John C. Hughes, 55, had always wanted to be a part of a high-speed chase.  Hughes is now facing charges for trying to evade a police patrol by driving at high speeds.

Police used “stop sticks” to deflate Hughes’ tires during the chase in order to stop him.  He was arrested immediately afterwards and now faces a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving which eluding police.

Investigators noted that Hughes was not intoxicated nor had any drugs or other contraband in his car.  Police say that after being arrested Hughes had told them that he always wanted to see what it felt like to be chased by the police.

The incident started around 3:25 a.m. on Feb. 2 when Hughes began tailgating a police car for about seven blocks.  He then pulled into the center lane and began to drive at more than 70 mph.

When Hughes finally pulled over after many tries by police, officers blocked his car and had their guns drawn.  He finally complied and was taken into custody.

Hughes was released on bond later on Feb. 2.

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Nigerian City Police Stations Targeted with Bombs

January 25, 2012   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.voanews.com

Kano, the second largest Nigerian city, has a death toll of at least 131 and may even have more than 150 from Jan. 20th’s bomb attack.

The city had a strict 24-hour curfew for another night as shocked police attempted to come to terms with the loss of some colleagues, as well as the security lapse that unfortunately allowed at least six attacker teams to strike at the same time.  Kano is currently under a news blackout as police search the city for suspects.

The targets of the bombs were mostly the city’s main police headquarters, including the office of the State Security Service.

There is indications that many officers died, however it it impossible to know the exact number.

At one hospital alone there is around 130 dead bodies, and 36 people with injuries.  The two other hospitals where victims were taken have not provided any numbers, which has made it hard to verify an exact death toll.

The Islamist radical group Boko Haram is currently claiming responsibility for the bombings.  The alleged reason why the police facilities were targeted is because authories haven’t released arrested members of the group.

Boko Haram is also to blame for other bombings in the past year, including one on Christmas Day that killed dozens of worshippers at a Catholic church.  The name Boko Haram translates into “Western education is sacriligious,” in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria.

Nigeria, which has a population of around 160 million, is pretty evenly divided between the predominantly Muslim north and the mostly Christian south.

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A Crash Landing Without A Getaway

January 06, 2012   Meagan Cahuasqui   No comments

At around one in the morning on Wednesday, Ralph White and his family awoke suddenly to “falling debris and smoke” from what they soon found to be a car crashed into their apartment’s roof.

The driver of the car, Benjamin Tucker, twenty-six years old, lost control of the vehicle and crash landed into the White residence’s rooftop.  Tucker had stolen the car from a nearby house and upon his escape via jumping off the house’s roof suffered a broken leg.

It seems Tucker could not handle driving a vehicle with a broken leg (and let’s be realistic, who would?) and unintentionally crashed the car into the apartment’s roof in an attempt at a getaway.

Police arrested the perpetrator not too far away from the scene of the crime.  He is held on the charge of hit-and-run and evading a police officer.

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Texas Police Open Deadly Fire on Middle School Boy

January 04, 2012   Meagan Cahuasqui   No comments

On Wednesday, 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez, a student at Cummings Middle School in Browning, Texas was fatally shot by policemen who thought he branded a weapon.  It turned out to only be a pellet gun though, but it looked like the real thing.  Now these police officers are defending their actions to the community.

The boy’s father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr., wants to know why so much excess force got used on a minor.  According to the law, if the perpetrator appears to not only be wielding a weapon but threatening innocent victims around him, then the police have the unfortunate task of using deadly force to take that threat down before anyone gets hurt.

Three shots were used to take down the young man, including one to the back of the head.  Jaime’s mother now has photos of the tragedy on her phone to show of the injustice she believes took place against her son.  Along with those photos she also has one of her son in his drumming uniform, a stark contrast of the life and vitality he held before he was killed that day.

Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez’s defense is that Jaime kept pointing the gun at him and his officers and that the child had more than enough opportunities to relinquish his weapon but did not take them.  They had a right to protect themselves and other students’ lives.

Before the confrontation occurred Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched another student in the face for no apparent reason.  Police believe his move to pull out the gun after that became a ploy for attention.

The shooting happened during the school’s first period, at which time upon hearing the confrontation, teachers locked their classroom doors, turned off the lights, and students hid under their desks in terror.

It is still unknown why a kid like Jaime Gonzalez did what he did.  His parents had spent time with him the night before the incident and nothing seemed amiss.  He was a good student and a help around his neighborhood, mowing people’s lawns and fixing other kids’ bikes.  They don’t even know where the gun came from.  That same night of the incident many of his friends gathered outside his house to pay their respects and let his parents know how much he will be missed.

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Occupy Movement Surges Forward Into New Year

January 02, 2012   Meagan Cahuasqui   No comments

As 2011 came to a close and 2012 loomed ahead of us, those now all too familiar protesters of the movement known as Occupy Wall Street brought the whole thing to a new level on New Year’s Eve with a demonstration at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.

Six weeks prior to New Year’s Eve, the park had been cleared in an overnight raid and that night a small tent no more than two feet tall was erected.  According to police and security set outside the perimeters of the park, the tent violated the rules set by the park’s owner for its use.  Several protestors and even some reporters were blocked from entering the park.

An online magazine, Newyorkist, attended the event and tweeted about the goings on the entire evening.  The representative at hand to report on the events made comments such as ‘Ppl locked arms around it’ (in reference to the small tent police attempted to remove) and ‘Now 25 ppl circling park, chanting…’

At around ten-thirty that evening police brought out a man from the crowd without explaining what he was being arrested for.  Not long after some protestors “grabbed some of the metal barricades that surrounded the park and began piling them inside,” turning what started out as a peaceful demonstration of the freedom of speech into a more chaotic uprising.  One police officer was even seen shaking a can of pepper spray.

So many protesters were arrested at the demonstration that police were still processing them on Sunday.  There were supposedly more arrests at this event than at the New Year’s celebration in Times Square.

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Man Pretends to be Deaf to Police

November 09, 2011   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.wendyista.blogspot.com

Terrance D. Godfrey, 39, of Joliet, IL, pretended he could not speak or hear when police stopped him a few weeks ago.

Godfrey ran away from the scene when his ruse was discovered to be an act.  He was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer on Oct. 15.

Will County police stopped Godfrey and his friend Brandon C. Nesbitt, 22, after their car crossed into oncoming traffic three times.  Nesbitt was the one who told the police that Godfrey was mute and deaf.

The police discovered the act when they noticed Godfrey was sweating, despite cold weather, and after he responded to a verbal command.  Godfrey tried to run away when an officer went to handcuff him, but another officer knocked down him down.

Godfrey went to trial on Nov. 4.

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