by Craig Fernandez | Jul 15, 2018 | eNews
By Raisa Habersham The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ROSWELL, Ga. — Heads, you go to jail. Tails, you get a ticket and are sent on your way.
Those were the coin-toss options two Roswell police officers used when deciding whether to arrest Sarah Webb during an April traffic stop on East Crossville and Crabapple roads, body camera footage obtained by AJC.com showed.
Now, the two officers — Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson — are on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, according to Roswell police Chief Rusty Grant.
“This behavior is not indicative of the hard-working officers of the Roswell Police Department,” Grant said in a statement Friday. “I have much higher expectations of our police officers, and I am appalled that any law enforcement officer would trivialize the decision-making process of something as important as the arrest of a person.”
Grant told Channel 2 Action News he learned about the incident just before the July 4 holiday. He said he could not discuss the details since it was an open investigation.
Webb was cited for reckless driving, too fast for conditions and speeding. The case was dismissed earlier this week, according to Channel 2.
The ordeal began when Brown pulled Webb over for speeding in her black Mercury Sable, according to a police report obtained by AJC.com. Webb explained she was running late for her job at a hair salon in Duluth.
In the body camera video, Webb sobs as Brown berates her for speeding on the wet road and “risk(ing) people’s lives.”
Brown takes Webb’s licence, but when she discovers her radar gun wasn’t working and is unable to perform a check of the licence, she calls for backup, the video shows. She later consults with Wilson, who is heard off-camera saying “‘a’ for heads and ‘r’ for tails,” and using the coin-toss app.
The coin lands on tails for release, Brown confirmed, but Webb was arrested anyway.
The police report makes no mention of the coin-toss app being used to determine the arrest. The report also doesn’t mention that Brown told Wilson her radar gun was not working.
Brown detailed in the report she had to reach roughly 88 mph to catch up to Webb before they stopped at Bent Grass and East Crossville roads. After the confrontation, according to the report, Brown then asked Webb to step out of the car and place her hands behind her back.
©2018 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)
by Craig Fernandez | Jul 15, 2018 | eNews
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police shot and killed a man Sunday suspected of shooting and wounding three Kansas City police officers, authorities said.
The suspect died Sunday afternoon after barricading himself in a house in the southeast part of the city. He emerged from the home and was killed in an exchange of gunfire, police Chief Rick Smith told reporters.
All three officers are expected to live.
Police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina said the first two officers were shot during an undercover operation at a motel less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Kauffman Stadium, where the Kansas City Royals baseball team plays. The suspect then fled in a vehicle with another person, who was arrested when officers found the vehicle.
The suspect barricaded himself inside of a home about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the motel. He shot the third officer in the arm during the standoff, Smith said.
The suspect was a person of interest in the fatal shooting of a University of Missouri-Kansas City student during a robbery earlier this month.
“We’ve been looking for him all week,” Smith said. “This is the first time we laid eyes on him.”
Two officers shot today in Kansas City. Now a third officer officer has been shot at 30th and Topping. Photos from one of the scenes at the Sky-Vu Motel located at 40 Highway and 435. One officer vehicle with damage to window. Several evidence markers on ground. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/RapO6oxbQU
— Giovanni Garcia (@giovanniggarcia) July 15, 2018
by Craig Fernandez | Jul 15, 2018 | eNews
By Sarah Betancourt Associated Press
BOSTON — A Massachusetts police officer and bystander died Sunday from wounds sustained when a suspect allegedly took the officer’s gun and fired following a vehicle crash and a foot chase.
Weymouth officer Michael Chesna was shot multiple times by his own firearm around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, and died from the injuries at South Shore Hospital, officials said.
An unidentified elderly woman also died after being hit by stray bullets in a nearby home, authorities said.
Weymouth Police Chief Richard Grimes said the shooting suspect, 20-year-old Emanuel Lopes, was in custody.
Weymouth is located approximately 16 miles (26 kilometers) south of Boston on what is known as the South Shore.
Police say the suspect crashed a car, fled the scene, and was later discovered by Chesna allegedly vandalizing a home. Prosecutors say that’s when he attacked Chesna with a rock to the head. Chesna fell to the ground, and officials say, Lopes took the officer’s gun and shot Chesna multiple times in the head and chest.
Lopes then fled and fired more shots during a chase. Police say one of those shots fatally struck the woman in her home.
Lopes suffered a leg wound while being arrested and is hospitalized at South Shore Hospital. He will be arraigned on two counts of homicide on Monday, at either his bedside or in court.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said on Twitter that his thoughts were with the families of the officer and bystander.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Officer Chesna and an innocent bystander today and my thoughts and prayers are with their families, loved ones and the @WeymouthPD after this tragic loss,” Baker tweeted.
Grimes described Chesna as a 42-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 4 and 9. Chesna was from Weymouth and graduated in 1994 from Weymouth High School.
“I hired Mike Chesna six years ago tomorrow,” Grimes said.
Grimes said he had spoken to Chesna’s mother and she said her son joined the military “to open the doors to get in this job.”
“He always had a kind word and a good attitude … we very much appreciated his service to the Weymouth Police Department,” said Grimes, describing the overnight shifts and traffic division duties Chesna held.
Chesna’s body was removed from the hospital and transported via procession of multiple law enforcement agencies to the state’s medical examiner office in Boston, where he will be evaluated. Dozens of police, some tight-lipped and others crying, somberly saluted the vehicle carrying the officer’s body, and mourners placed bouquets by the Weymouth Police Headquarters, now draped in black bunting.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office says it cannot release more information on the suspect’s “past court involvement ” prior to court Monday.
Law enforcement groups as close as the Boston Police Department and as far as Maine are taking to social media to express their sadness.
Massachusetts State Police Colonel Kerry Gilpin offered her condolences for the “horrific crimes,” and said the State Police Crime Lab “will work tirelessly alongside District Attorney Morrissey and the Weymouth Police Department to speak for those two victims by holding the defendant accountable.”
Our prayers and condolences go out to our brothers and sisters of the @weymouthPD on the LODD of Ofc Michael Chesna, who was shot and killed earlier this morning. Our sympathies also to his family. RIP Brother. Ofc Michael Wilk, PIO Chicopee Police Department pic.twitter.com/VKFgzoSIMj
— Chicopee Police (@ChicopeeMa_PD) July 15, 2018
Police Officer Michael Chesna, age 42, a husband, and father of 2 was killed in the line of duty today In Weymouth, MA. Officer Chesna, may you rest easy sir. We hope your family finds the strength and courage they’ll need to deal with this devastating tragedy. pic.twitter.com/BuZeXIBI9y
— ManchesterMAPD (@ManchesterMAPD) July 15, 2018
Procession from South Shore Hospital for Weymouth Police Officer, Michael Chesna. He was shot and killed by a suspec https://t.co/luecOLiNNq
— Nicole Oliverio (@NicoleOliverio) July 15, 2018
by Craig Fernandez | Jul 14, 2018 | eNews
By Tonya Alanez Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Broward sheriff’s deputies failed in their response to a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport because they were eating cake in a balloon-festooned conference room and celebrating a detective’s retirement when shots rang out, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
The second wrongful death lawsuit in connection to the shooting Jan. 6, 2017, was filed Thursday in Broward Circuit Court on behalf of a Virginia Beach woman whose husband was “one of five people senselessly shot and killed” by Esteban Santiago, a military veteran who confessed to the killings.
Terry and Ann Andres had flown into Fort Lauderdale on their way to a cruise to celebrate their January birthdays.
Terry Andres was killed three days before his wife’s 62nd birthday and 14 days before his 63rd. The couple would have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary later that year. They had two daughters and four grandchildren.
“Ann constantly lives with the violent images of Terry’s traumatic death and says ‘it will never leave [her] thoughts and nightmares,’” the lawsuit said.
Santiago, then 26, had flown one way from Alaska, checking only a handgun and ammunition in a locked case. He later retrieved his checked semiautomatic 9 mm handgun from Delta, loaded it in a restroom and started shooting, the lawsuit says.
Santiago surrendered to law enforcement immediately and admitted shooting the victims, according to the FBI.
The suit claims negligence against the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the Broward County Commission, which oversees the international airport’s operations, as well as Delta Airlines and three security companies.
Fault lies with the Sheriff’s Office because its deputies were not in the baggage claim area as they should have been when the shooting began, the lawsuit said. “Rather, members of BSO were having a retirement party in a conference room,” it said.
“The reason that it’s important is that there’s a security plan at the airport with deputies assigned to specific areas and that was not adhered to at the time of the shooting,” said David DiPietro, the lawyer representing Ann Andres.
The Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. The agency typically does not remark on pending litigation.
The suit demands a jury trial and seeks damages in an unspecified amount. “It’s seven figures,” DiPietro said.
The couple had skipped giving one another Christmas gifts in 2016, instead opting to take a cruise to celebrate their birthdays. The cruise was scheduled to set sail the next day.
While Ann Andres texted their daughters and her husband retrieved their luggage from the baggage carousel, she saw the gunman shoot and kill a man next to her. She crawled under chairs and tried to shield herself with her carry-on luggage, according to the suit.
“Ann watched in horror as the shooter stopped at the baggage carousel, raised his arm and started shooting in Terry’s direction,” the lawsuit said.
Afterward, she found her husband face down and unresponsive near the carousel. Ann Andres screamed for help until medics came and checked for her husband’s pulse. They put a plastic band on his wrist to indicate that he was one of the dead.
Ann Andres and a man whose wife had been killed were then escorted from location to location, including a room where “Ann observed cake and balloons inside the office, indicating that there had been a party in the office earlier that day,” the lawsuit said.
Investigators verified that there had been a retirement party for a detective that day, DiPietro said.
Santiago, now 28, is locked up in the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami and is taking prescription medication to treat his diagnosis of schizophrenia.
He initially said he acted under government mind control but later said he was influenced by reading online propaganda by the Islamic State group. So far, authorities have not found any links to organized terrorism.
Santiago has pleaded guilty. Federal prosecutors have agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for five life sentences and 120 years without the possibility of parole. Final say on Santiago’s punishment is up to the judge. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17.
©2018 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
by Craig Fernandez | Jul 14, 2018 | eNews
By Karen Nelson The Sun Herald
MOSS POINT, Miss. — Three Moss Point police officers responded to a call for a busted water pipe at the home of an elderly couple early Thursday morning.
It’s not like police officers don’t do that sort of thing as part of their job to help the community. But in this case, they not only braved a spewing kitchen water pipe to turn it off, but they also stayed to clean up the mess.
They were receiving praise on a viral Facebook post on Friday, because what they did was considered above and beyond.
There was 2 inches of water in the kitchen, living room and family room and it was starting to flood the garage. They moved furniture, mopped and swept water, sopped with towels and blankets and hung them out to dry in the yard.
At least one Moss Point employee felt it was deserving of a mention on Facebook and from there, it spread.
The call came in a little after 6:30 a.m. Thursday.
The woman was home alone. Her husband was in the hospital recovering from a recent surgery.
The spewing must have been going on for awhile, shift supervisor Sgt. Lancen Shipman said, because of the amount of water. The house was on Meadow Drive in the east part of town.
The woman woke up home alone and didn’t know what to do.
“She went outside screaming and calling for help and no one responded,” Shipman said, “The neighbor she depends on was out of town, so she called 911.”
Officer Robert Hammac was the first to arrive. He went in and got wet shutting down the water spray. Officer Justin Waltman also responded.
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Officers responded to a call this morning for a busted water pipe at the home of an elderly couple. After talking with…
Posted by City of Moss Point Police Department on Thursday, July 12, 2018
When Shipman arrived, the woman was still in her night clothes and still in a panic.
“I just grabbed her and hugged her and told her we were going to take care of it,” Shipman said.
They went to Lowe’s for parts and fixed the plumbing.
“We’ve got it all on body cam,” he said, because it was all in the line of duty.
Chief Brandon Ashley said the woman had no one to turn to and called dispatch.
“They cut the water off, fixed the pipe and cleaned up the mess,” Ashley said. “Most law officers have trades they do off duty, because the pay is not the best, so they do air conditioning, electrical work, carpeting, tile, plumbing. “
These three had skills.
When they were through, there was a yard full of towels and blankets drying. They even set up fans for the floor.
On Facebook on Friday, the post had 1,300 likes, and at the top of the 166 comments:
“Amazing guys!” “What a great deed.” “These are true angels of mercy.”
It was shared 616 times.
“We do this every day,” Shipman said, “Across the nation, officers do it all the time.”
He is second generation law enforcement and said his father taught him the importance of helping in all emergencies.
“He said, ‘If it’s an emergency to them, it’s an emergency,’” Shipman said. “We’re there to help. I’ve fixed a lady’s stove.
“I scared a ghost out of a house,” he said. “I’ve done that.”
©2018 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)
