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Archive for the ‘ALASKA’ Category
Jefferson County Alabama Sheriff’s Deputies Shoot Naked Unarmed Man Four Times With Taser Weapons
June 6th, 2008
JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA - A naked Pinson man claiming to be Jesus Christ and George Bush was shot four times with a stun gun by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies this morning after he repeatedly refused to heed their commands.
Richard Scott Odell, 30, was treated on the scene by paramedics and taken to the Jefferson County Jail.
A motorist called deputies about 4 a.m. to alert them that the man was standing nude in the middle of Alabama 79 at Bradford Road. As the motorist approached the man, he stumbled toward the car and was struck by the car’s mirror, sheriff’s authorities said. The man then ran away.
Read MoreDumbass Alaska State Troopers, Army, And ATF Agents “Dispose” Of Box Of Fireworks With 30 *POUNDS* Of C-4 Plastic Explosives, Scaring Residents And Breaking Windows In Homes - “In Retrospect, The Military Explosives And Neighborhood Evacuation Seemed A Little Like Overkill”
May 11th, 2008
BIG LAKE, ALASKA - Friday would have been a regular day out at McGhan Storage near Big Lake, but then the family of Clay Holzl, a deceased pyrotechnician, came across a large box of fireworks while sorting through his unit.
Now these weren’t your ordinary bottle rockets. They were big, commercial exploders, maybe a hundred times more potent than anything the average person can buy, and they’d been there for who knows how long.
And so began a Big Lake tale that ended with a bang big enough to shatter glass a half mile away.
Upon finding the fireworks in the unit, the family came to Kim Sinnett, who manages McGhan’s, and asked her what to do. It goes without saying that she wasn’t too pleased to discover the explosives, which are not allowed in storage as a general rule.
Read MoreAnchorage Alaska Shovels Out From Under Record Breaking 29.7 Inches Of Global Warming In April
April 26th, 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Anchorage continues to dig out from a snowfall that set a record for the day and the month.The National Weather Service says 17.2 inches fell at its office just south of Anchorage’s international airport and 22 inches fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.
The heaviest snow fell between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday at a rate of almost two inches per hour.
The monthly total at the weather service office is now 29.7 inches, breaking a record from 1963 when 27.6 inches fell during April.
The 15.5 inches that fell Friday is the third-most for any one day in Anchorage. The record is the 25.7 inches that fell six years ago on March 17, 2002.
Former San Francisco California Prosecutor Mark Avery Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud And Money Laundering Charges For 8 1/2 Federal Prison Sentenced And $52 Million In Restitution - Moron Purchased World War II Airplanes And A Fleet Of Fighter Jets With Trust Fund To Fight Unknown Rebel Armies…
April 19th, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — A former San Francisco prosecutor who inherited a role overseeing a multimillion-dollar trust has been sentenced to an 8 1/2-year prison term and ordered to repay the $52 million in trust funds he misappropriated and spent in just six months in Alaska, authorities said.
Mark Avery, 48, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money-laundering charges in federal court in Alaska in March 2007. After repeated delays, he was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline and immediately sent to federal prison.
Avery, who has filed for bankruptcy protection and most recently was living with relatives in Vallejo, worked as a prosecutor in San Francisco before he was fired by then-incoming District Attorney Terence Hallinan in 1996.
His father, Luther Avery, was one of the nation’s pre-eminent trust attorneys. When the elder Avery died in 2001, Mark Avery inherited his role in charge of a charitable trust run out of San Francisco on behalf of the late May Smith, a wealthy widow.
Read MoreUtopia: Many Alaska Villages Have No Cops
February 6th, 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - In the four hours it took Alaska State Troopers to arrive at the Eskimo village of Nunam Iqua, a man choked and raped his 13-year-old stepdaughter in front of three younger children. He had already beaten his wife with a shotgun and pistol-whipped a friend after an evening drinking home brew.
Across the remote, frozen reaches of Alaska, scores of native villages have no full-fledged police officers at all. And help in an emergency can be a long way off.
“We’re just trying to hang in there,” said Edward Adams, mayor of Nunam Iqua.
Alaska’s villages are often desperately poor, with people subsisting on hunting and fishing. Many communities cannot afford police forces. At the same time, the Alaska State Troopers don’t have the manpower to put officers on patrol in every village.
Read MoreAnchorage Alaska Police Charge Homeowner $23,000 For What Tax Dollars Already Pay For
January 22nd, 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Anchorage police have begun sending bills to people if officers have to make more than eight trips per year to their homes.
The first homeowner to be billed under a law that allows police to charge people got a tab for $23,000 last week.
Police have been called to the home dozens of times since last summer and 10 times so far this year, they said.
An ordinance that took effect in 2002 calls for taxpayers to pay for the first eight police responses to a home in a year. After that, the homeowner may be charged $500 per visit, what police estimate it costs to pay officers and maintain equipment for a single call.
“We’re trying to tell homeowners that if you’re having an excessive amount of calls to your residence, you need to take responsibility for those calls,” said Anchorage police Sgt. Denny Allen. “We’re not encouraging people not to call the police for valid reasons.”
Read MoreFormer Veteran Anchorage Alaska Police Officer Bryan Herrera Arrested For Child Pornography, Again, After Receiving Slap On The Wrist For Child Pornography
January 10th, 2008
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - A former Anchorage police officer, already convicted once of possessing child pornography, has been arrested and charged again.
Bryan Herrera, 44, was charged last month with violating the terms of his probation for having downloaded and stored thousands of child porn images in his computer, according to police spokeswoman Marlene Lammers.
On Wednesday, the Anchorage Police Department’s Cyber Crimes Unit detectives re-arrested Herrera on a new charge of child porn possession. He is being held on that charge in lieu of $30,000 bail, Lammers said.
A 12-year veteran at the time, Herrera was charged in October 2005 with collecting images of young children having sex with each other and with adults.He was also accused of setting up a remote-controlled camera in his home so he could tape a teenage girl undressing.
Read MoreSteese Alaska Firefighters Let $180,000 House Burn
January 5th, 2008
FAIRBANKS — A Fairbanks couple lost a home to fire Thursday because it was just outside the fire service area and firefighters turned back from the scene.
Ace Callaway, the owner of the house, said officials told him his house on the Steese Highway was only 180 feet outside the area that the Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department covers, effectively putting it on the wrong side of the road. The nearest fire department is less than two miles away. Callaway says he’s been paying for fire insurance for years and he assumed that the department covered a large radius.
“I always loved the fact that there are a lot of good people in Fairbanks, but this was wrong,” he said. “We’re all supposed to be neighbors. It’s just very disheartening.”
Read MoreTSA, Airport Security, And Alaska Airlines Allow Child To Purchase Ticket With Cash, Fly Without Identification, Without Parents Permission, To Meet Online Boyfriend - Airline Also Refused To Remove Her From Flight Before It Left
August 21st, 2007
JUNEAU, ALASKA — A 15-year-old Juneau girl was allowed to board a jet and fly south to Seattle without her parents’ permission.
Elise Pringle says she wants Alaska Airlines and the Transportation Safety Administration to reconsider their policies after her daughter left to meet a boyfriend in North Carolina whom she met over the Internet.
Pringle awoke Wednesday and learned her daughter was missing. The girl nearly a week earlier had purchased a $733 one-way ticket with cash at the Juneau International Airport. On Wednesday, she was able to board a plane without identification.
“I thought, unbeknownst, that my child would not only have to have permission, but I thought she would have to have identification at the very least,” Pringle said.
According to policies at the airport, children between 13 and 17 may board a plane without identification or parental permission.
Read MoreAnchorage Alaska Police Charged With Brutality
July 31st, 2007
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — The Anchorage Police Department is facing charges of police brutality.
Last summer, Dale Urich made an emergency call to police. A friend was recovering from surgery at his house and needed medical help.
After law enforcement arrived, Urich and his friend both ended up going to the hospital.
Urich claims things got out of hand when police arrived at his house to help his friend. He ended up with a ticket and broken arm.
Despite his paralysis, Urich has made a living working with lumber and heavy machinery. Now, he said he has filed a lawsuit because injuries sustained from his encounter with the police have caused him to look for a new line of work.
“When I realized this, I’m going to have to change my life. I got about eight grandsons down there that need me bad,” Urich said.
Read MoreFree Speech Takes Another Hit From U.S. Supreme Court In ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ Decision
June 25th, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court ruled against a former high school student Monday in the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner case — a split decision that limits students’ free speech rights.
Joseph Frederick was 18 when he unveiled the 14-foot paper sign on a public sidewalk outside his Juneau, Alaska, high school in 2002.
Principal Deborah Morse confiscated it and suspended Frederick. He sued, taking his case all the way to the nation’s highest court.
The justices ruled 6-3 that Frederick’s free speech rights were not violated by his suspension over what the majority’s written opinion called a “sophomoric” banner.
“It was reasonable for (the principal) to conclude that the banner promoted illegal drug use– and that failing to act would send a powerful message to the students in her charge,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court’s majority. (Opinionexternal link)
Read MoreFairbanks Alaska State Trooper Junior Anthony Arrested, Suspended, Charged Whith Sexual Assault Of A Child
May 8th, 2007
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA – A 34-year-old Alaska State Trooper has been arrested on charges of sexual assault.
Junior Anthony, a patrol officer in Fairbanks, first joined the Department of Public Safety in August 2004. He is charged with second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony.
“Our personnel department will have to review the case and determine what to do about his employment status at this point,” said Tim DeSpain, troopers spokesman, when reached at home Sunday evening. “That (process) will start tomorrow. As of today, he’s on leave with pay until they determine after tomorrow what to do.”
DeSpain said troopers received a report Thursday alleging that Anthony sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl. Anthony was off duty at the time, DeSpain said.
The troopers did not release any more information about the incident. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation, a division within the troopers, conducted the investigation, and arrested Anthony on Saturday at his North Pole home.
Read MoreAlaska Law Now Requires Maximum Sentences For Killer Cops
April 28th, 2007
NOME, ALASKA – An act signed Friday by the governor looks to require the maximum sentence for any on-duty police officer convicted of first-degree murder.
The bill is named after Sonya Ivanoff, who was killed in 2003, by Officer Matthew Owens. In April, Owens was sentenced to 99 years in prison. The governor was joined by Ivanoff ’s parents and siblings. Senator Donny Olson, (D) Nome, spoke in the capitol about what truly drove this legislation.
“The act itself, and the subsequent acts that may be happening in the future related to victims of police, I mean peace officer, that are upholding the law and order in the state. That is what drove the bill,” said Olson.
Alaska State Trooper Jason Fieser And Others In Bitter $100,000 Battle Over Stray Cat
March 25th, 2007
PALMER, ALASKA - The custody battle over Carl the Cat is going to trial.
People on both sides of a lawsuit filed last year say all efforts to resolve ownership of the big orange tabby have failed and a trial date has been set for Sept. 10 in Palmer Superior Court.
What’s so great about Carl, a 6-year-old stray found as a kitten in 2000? According to admirers, Carl is really friendly, used to like drowning stuffed toys in the toilet and gets along great with other animals
One of the combatants tussling over him is Catherine Fosselman, who says she got legal title to Carl last year when she bought out her partner in a Mat-Su accounting firm. Carl lived at the office and thus is part of the property she bought, she said in court filings.
Read MoreFormer Alaska Prison Guard Jackie Osborne Charged With Sexual Assault
March 13th, 2007
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Jackie Osborne, a 47-year-old former Hiland Mountain Correctional Center officer, has been charged with sexually assaulting an inmate and was arraigned today.
Osborne is accused of having an ongoing relationship with a 39-year-old female inmate.
According to court documents, Osborne was caught in September when he left a love note on a desk after he went off duty, and say further that the two had sex in a vacant office during Osborne’s night shift.
Osborne is also charged with attempted tampering with physical evidence for reportedly asking another officer to destroy the love letter.
Alaska Correctional Officer Jackie Osborne Charged With Sex With Inmate
March 10th, 2007
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – A former officer at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center faces a sexual assault charge after authorities claim he had sex with a female inmate.
Jackie Osborne, 47, is accused of having an ongoing relationship with an inmate and was caught in September when he left a love note on a desk after he went off duty, according to documents filed by prosecutors in Anchorage Superior Court today.
“Osborne’s crimes are serious. They strike at the heart of the public trust placed in corrections officers,” said prosecutor James Fayette in court documents. “The public and the Superior Court should regard a crime committed by a peace officer to be atypical — and to be handled in a manner that reflects legitimate public outrage and legitimate public condemnation.”
The victim, a woman in prison for a felony embezzlement conviction, said in an earlier interview that she felt coerced into the relationship with Osborne because he had so much control over her prison life.
Read MoreCrazed Palmer Alaska Police Charge Wireless Surfer Using Free Service At Local Library Afterhours
February 26th, 2007
PALMER, ALASKA – Free wireless Internet service at a public library in Palmer, Alaska, doesn’t mean its available for use after hours.
A Palmer man has been waiting to see if he’ll be charged with criminal wrongdoing after a patrolling police officer seized the laptop he was using to play online video games in the parking lot.
Authorities told the Anchorage Daily News Saturday that Brian Tanner, 21, had been chased out of a number of locations around Palmer where he had been latching on to wireless service.
Police said that although Tanner was using an essentially free service, there are library rules governing its use and Tanner wasn’t following them.
State Supreme Court Finds Illegal Search By Fairbanks Alaska Police Wasn’t Justified, Overturns Conviction
October 16th, 2006
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA – In a 3-2 decision, the Alaska Supreme Court agreed Friday to throw out a drug conviction that was based on evidence found when police searched a man suspected only of planning to commit a crime.
The issue is, when are police allowed to search a person who is not being taken into custody or involved in committing a crime?
The general rule is that law enforcement officers have a right to do so-called “pat down” searches if they have a “reasonable belief” the person they are talking to “may be armed and dangerous.”
In October 2001, a Fairbanks police officer approached two men in a car parked at night near a school reportedly targeted by vandals, trespassers and burglars, according to court documents.
When questioned, the driver said they stopped to check on some whale baleen they had just picked up at Fairbanks International Airport. But the passenger, John Q. Adams, gave a different story, according to the court’s account.
Read MoreWoman Awarded $250K In Excessive Force Lawsuit After North Slope Alaska Police Officer (Now A Detective With Palmer PD) Kelly Turney And Another Assaulted And Choked 16 Year Old Girl, Duct Taping Her Mouth
September 29th, 2006
BARROW, ALASKA — An attorney representing a teenage girl who claimed that police used excessive force during an arrest said a lawsuit has been settled.
Attorney David Henderson said his client, Shinna Akpik, was awarded $250,000 from the North Slope Borough late last month, weeks before the case was to go to trial.
The case was filed against the borough and former North Slope Borough police officer Kelly Turney, who is now a detective with the Palmer Police Department.
It said Turney and a correctional officer, who was not named as a defendant, assaulted and used excessive force when arresting then-16-year-old Akpik by choking her and duct-taping her mouth. The lawsuit says the girl was intoxicated and uncooperative during the arrest.
Akpik filed the lawsuit in July 2005, seven months after her 18th birthday and almost two years after the April 2003 arrest. Henderson said she couldn’t file the lawsuit until she became an adult.
Read MoreCrazed Alaska State Trooper Uses Bulldozer To Destroy Man’s Home During Stand-Off
September 15th, 2006
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - A state trooper partially bulldozed a trailer home to compel an armed man inside to surrender, more than two days after he barricaded himself there.
Donald B. Voorhis had withstood hours of having chemical irritants forced into his home — to the surprise of authorities — but he was arrested Sunday night after the small bulldozer ripped open one side of his home near Talkeetna, about 80 miles north of Anchorage.
Voorhis, who is accused of threatening a neighbor, had exchanged gunfire with authorities during the standoff, which troopers said began Friday when he pointed a rifle at an officer attempting to arrest him on a felony warrant.
Two of Voorhis’ relatives and a mental health physician had joined negotiators in urging him to surrender, but he refused, authorities said.
Read MoreBellingham Alaska Police Sued After Police Dog Bites Ferry Employee During Search For Explosives - Bit Employee Only After An Officer Crushed Dog’s Paw In Truck’s Tailgate
August 10th, 2006
BELLINGHAM, ALASKA – An Alaska state ferry employee is suing the city of Bellingham after a police dog bit her during a routine sweep for explosives.
The lawsuit on behalf of Lynn B. Olson, an employee of the Alaska Marine Highway System, was filed in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Olson, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, was directing cars at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal onto the M/V Columbia on April 23, 2004. As she worked, Officer Shan Hanon led a police dog named Striker around the waiting cars, checking for explosives.
“The police officer closed the tailgate of a vehicle, squeezing and pinching the dog’s paw, causing him to go out of control and bite the person nearest to him, which happened to be my client,” said Charles R. Jones, the lawyer representing Olson.
Read MoreNorth Pole Alaska Police Officer William Perry Sentenced To Just 6 Months In Prison After Bribery Attempt In Witness Tampering Case
July 28th, 2006
NORTH POLE, ALASKA ? A 27-year-old former North Pole police officer is serving a six-month prison sentence after cutting a deal with prosecutors on a witness tampering charge.
William Perry was sentenced Tuesday in Anchorage Superior Court. According to prosecutors, a paramedic who drove an ambulance for the Air Force was arrested for driving under the influence after she left a North Pole bar with Perry last November.
Prosecutors say Perry — a police officer at the time — used his position of influence to try to bribe the arresting officer into not testifying in court.
Prosecutors say the bribery attempts continued after Perry quit his job and moved to Anchorage. In Tuesday’s sentencing, Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton ordered Perry to surrender his police certificate to the Alaska Police Standards Council.
Mom anxious for answers - Mother of airport shooting victim waits as investigation comes to a close
June 14th, 2006
HOMER ALASKA – Early on the evening of March 1, police cruisers surrounded Jason Karlo Anderson in his rented Jeep at the Homer airport. Wanted on federal drug-trafficking charges, Anderson reportedly pressed the muzzle of his .45 caliber handgun against his 2-year-old son’s cheek and pulled the trigger. Then he reportedly shot himself through the head.
Those two shots immediately altered the life of Cherry Dietzmann, girlfriend of Anderson and mother of 2-year-old Jason Anderson. Dietzmann helped U.S. Marshals and Homer Police lure her boyfriend and the father of her two children to the airport. Now, because of the events that transpired there, Dietzmann knows her son will never be what he could have been. She knows she will probably care for him for the rest of his life. And now she’s looking for answers for why this happened.
Read MoreFormer Police Officer Pleads No Contest To Felony Witness Tampering, Faces 6 to 12 Months in Jail
May 19th, 2006
NORTH POLE, ALASKA A former North Pole police officer pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge of felony witness tampering in an Anchorage court.
William Perry, 27, faces six to 12 months in jail under a deal that dropped three other charges, including attempted extortion, according to attorneys involved in the case.
“I’ve never heard of a case like this before, which I am going to argue is an outright attempt for one police officer to bribe another police officer, not to show up at a trial,” said James J. Fayette, assistant attorney general and chief of special prosecutions. “I think that Mr. Perry realized that what he did was wrong.”
Alaska State Troopers launched a two-month investigation earlier this year after a report from former North Pole Officer Joseph Hames. He said Perry called him offering to have a debt paid if Hames failed to testify in a drunken driving case involving Alysia Yates, a 24-year-old U.S. Air Force medic who Hames arrested in November.
Read MoreThree Sue City Over Assaults By Single Former Police Officer
April 27th, 2006
NOME, ALASKA – Three people are suing the city of Nome, claiming ex-police officer Matthew Owens assaulted them.
The 30-year-old Owens was sentenced last week to 99 years in prison for the first-degree murder in 2003 of 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff.
He received another two years for tampering with evidence in the case.
Two women plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed last week claim they were stalked and sexually assaulted by Owens while he was on duty.
They say they reported the assaults to the Nome Police Department but no action was taken.
The lawsuit says the city should have known that Owens would be a danger to young women and that the city hired him anyway.
And they say the city retained, promoted and failed to adequately supervise Owens.
Read MorePolice Officer Arrested For Brokering Deal To Fix Drunk Driving Ticket
April 26th, 2006
NORTH POLE, ALASKA – A former North Pole police officer is in jail on suspicion of brokering a bribe between another former officer and a female friend accused of drunken driving.
William Perry, 27, is accused of calling former North Pole colleague Joseph Hames and offering to arrange to pay off $3,400 Hames owed for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. In return, Hames was expected to ask the district attorney to drop or reduce DUI charges against Alysia Yates, a 24-year-old U.S. Air Force medic Hames had arrested on Nov. 4. Yates had been drinking at The Refinery Lounge with Perry, who was off-duty at the time. Perry also asked Hames not to testify if the case against Yates went to trial.
Perry was employed by the North Pole Police Department when he offered the bribe, while Hames had left the department in January on good terms and moved to Sterling.
Read MoreCrazed Police With Military Dogs Search North Pole and Find Nothing
April 22nd, 2006
NORTH POLE, ALASKA – Military dogs were taken through North Pole Middle School to confirm it is clean of firearms as police continued to investigate threats of violence while school employees strove to maintain normalcy for the students.
Police launched an investigation at the school Monday after a student told a parent about a plot that a group of seventh-graders planned to take guns to school and shoot other students, according to authorities. Twelve students who principal Ernie Manzie said may have been involved in the plot or had knowledge of the plot and did not report it have been suspended.
Few students interviewed later in the week said they were scared by the reports that a handful of students were planning to kill classmates. Manzie said attendance was noticeably, though not dramatically, down this week.
Manzie said the dogs from Fort Wainwright were brought into the school Thursday to reassure parents.
Read MoreFormer Police Officer Sentenced To 99 Years For On-Duty Murder of 19 Year Old Girl
April 17th, 2006
NOME, ALASKA - Former Nome police officer Matthew Owens on Monday was sentenced to 99 years for killing 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff.
Owens also received an additional two years for tampering with evidence.
Owens maintained his innocence when addressing Superior Court Judge Ben Esch before sentencing Monday. “It’s most unfortunate for the family for that loss, but I’m not guilty,” he said.
Owens showed no reaction when Esch announced the sentence.
Owens was convicted Dec. 6 of first-degree murder for the 2003 shooting death of Ivanoff, an office worker who had moved from Unalakleet to Nome about a year before her death. He was accused of picking her up in his police cruiser and then killing her on the outskirts of town with a single shot to the head.
The jury conviction came in Owens’ second trial, held in Kotzebue. The first ended with a mistral earlier last year because of a hung jury.
Read MoreCrazed Officials Install Massive Camera System In Tiny Town in Alaska, 80 Eyes on 2,400 People, One Camera For Each 30 Residents
March 30th, 2006
DILLINGHAM, Alaska - From Anchorage it takes 90 minutes on a propeller plane to reach this fishing village on the state’s southwestern edge, a place where some people still make raincoats out of walrus intestine.
This is the Alaskan bush at its most remote. Here, tundra meets sea, and sea turns to ice for half the year. Scattered, almost hidden, in the terrain are some of the most isolated communities on American soil. People choose to live in outposts like Dillingham (pop. 2,400) for that reason: to be left alone.
So eyebrows were raised in January when the first surveillance cameras went up on Main Street. Each camera is a shiny white metallic box with two lenses like eyes. The camera’s shape and design resemble a robot’s head.
Workers on motorized lifts installed seven cameras in a 360-degree cluster on top of City Hall. They put up groups of six atop two light poles at the loading dock, and more at the fire hall and boat harbor.
Read MoreState Supreme Court tackles police frisking issue after reversed conviction appealed
February 20th, 2006
ALASKA, FAIRBANKS - When is it appropriate for police to frisk people?
The Alaska Supreme Court is taking a look at the issue.
Arguments before the court Friday stemmed from an October 2001, incident involving a Fairbanks police officer. Officer Jonathan Terland searched a man parked near a school reportedly targeted by vandals, trespassers and burglars. The officer said John Q. Adams was acting nervous.
Terland found a crack pipe and cocaine when he searched Adams, who was later convicted on a drug charge. Adams successful appealed the conviction, but the state appealed the reversal, which is now before the Supreme Court.
Terland is no longer with the police department.
[tags]Bad Cop News, Police, Bad Cop, Bad Cops, Cop, Cops, Officer, Crime, Criminal, Officers, Law Enforcement, Deputy, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff, Arrest, Arrested, Charged, Charges, Indictment, Indicted, Sentence, Sentenced, FAIRBANKS, ALASKA[/tags]
Another Village man victim of mistaken identity as sexual offender - Sign Placed In Yard :)
February 11th, 2006
ALASKA, BELLA VISTA - The village man mistakenly identified as a sex offender by a woman who posted a sign on his home claiming the man was a child molester won?t press charges, a Sheriff?s Office deputy said.
The registered sex offender lives a few houses down from where she posted the sign.
Carolyn Hansen of 9 Penny Lane said she posted the sign on the house and posted similar ones in nearby Metfield Park. The sign stated: “Don?t play here. Child molester lives here,” according to a report at the Bella Vista division of the Benton County Sheriff?s Office.
Hansen became concerned after she heard from her daughter that Timothy Harrington, 42, who lives on Melinda Lane, was a Level 3 registered sex offender. Hansen mistakenly posted the signs two houses down from where Harrington actually resides.
Read MoreAlaska State Trooper arrested on domestic violence charges
February 9th, 2006
ALASKA, WRANGELL - An Alaska State Trooper has been arrested on domestic violence charges.
Wrangell police officers arrested 29-year-old Clinton Songer on Sunday after he allegedly forced his way into a woman’s apartment.
Dominique O’Connor told police Songer knocked on her door Saturday evening, entered the apartment and grabbed her by the neck.
Troopers’ spokesman Greg Wilkinson says the alleged incident occurred while Songer was on pre-approved leave. Wilkinson says the Wrangell-based trooper will remain on leave until March.
[tags]Bad Cop News, Police, Bad Cop, Bad Cops, Cop, Cops, Officer, Crime, Criminal, Officers, Law Enforcement, Deputy, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff, Arrest, Arrested, Charged, Charges, Indictment, Indicted, Sentence, Sentenced, WRANGELL, ALASKA[/tags]
Police Chief, Mayor, Others Arrested In Sex, Drug, Alcohol, Burglary, and Inmate Scandal Rocking Small Town
February 7th, 2006
ALASKA, LONOKE - A series of arrests involving drugs, sex and the abuse of a state inmate program shocked the small town of Lonoke on Monday, as the police chief, his wife, the mayor and two bail bondsmen were taken into custody.
Police Chief Jay Campbell and the two bail bondsmen, Bobby Cox and Larry Norwood, were arrested on allegations that include conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine, while the chief?s wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, was arrested and faces allegations of residential burglary, providing state inmates drugs and alcohol and taking two of them outside the city jail to have sex, authorities said.
In addition, Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett was taken into custody after an Arkansas State Police investigation regarding Act 309 inmates, who authorities said performed illegal work in the mayor?s home.
?I?m shocked. Absolutely. This town has never seen any problems like this,? said Dick Bransford, a City Council member for more than 20 years in the community of 4, 287.
Read MorePolice officer guilty of possessing child pornography
December 22nd, 2005
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – A longtime Anchorage police officer was found guilty Wednesday of possessing child pornography, including explicit images that showed young children engaged in sex acts.
In a plea agreement with the state, Bryan N. Herrera, 42, will serve a minimum of one year for possessing the porn, said prosecutor Teresa Foster.
He also pleaded no contest to a second count, charging him with attempted indecent viewing.
Herrera was arrested in October after police found more than 300 photographs and 50 video images of child pornography on his work and home computers, charging documents said.
Some of the pictures showed oral and vaginal sex between kids under 12 years old, court papers said.
Herrera was also accused of setting up a remote-controlled camera to photograph a 16-year-old girl as she undressed in a bedroom of his house.
Read MorePolice officer guilty in child porn case - faces up to two years in prison
December 22nd, 2005
ALASKA, ANCHORAGE - A longtime Anchorage police officer was found guilty Wednesday of possessing child pornography, including explicit images that showed young children engaged in sex acts.
In a plea agreement with the state, Bryan N. Herrera, 42, will serve a minimum of one year for possessing the porn, said prosecutor Teresa Foster.
He also pleaded no contest to a second count, charging him with attempted indecent viewing.
Herrera was arrested in October after police found more than 300 photographs and 50 video images of child pornography on his work and home computers, charging documents said.
Some of the pictures showed oral and vaginal sex between kids under 12 years old, court papers said.
Herrera was also accused of setting up a remote-controlled camera to photograph a 16-year-old girl as she undressed in a bedroom of his house.
Read MorePolice Officer Guilty of Murder, Sentencing Scheduled, Prosecution Wants 99 Years
December 19th, 2005
ALASKA, NOME - According to the Associated Press, a state prosecutor says he’ll seek the maximum 99-year sentence against Matthew Owens. The former Nome police officer faces sentencing April 17th in Nome. Owens was convicted of murder and evidence tampering in the death of a 19-year-old girl, whom witnesses said was last seen stepping into Owens’ police car while he was on duty.
A Kotzebue jury convicted Owens last month. His first trial, held in Nome, ended in a hung jury. Owens has denied the killing, saying he had no motive. The body of Sonya Ivanoff was found outside of Nome two days after her disappearance in 2003. She died of a single gunshot.
[tags]Bad Cop News, Police, Bad Cop, Bad Cops, Cop, Cops, Officer, Crime, Criminal, Officers, Law Enforcement, Deputy, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff, Arrest, Arrested, Charged, Charges, Indictment, Indicted, Sentence, Sentenced, NOME, ALASKA[/tags]
Alaska Airport Security Accidentally Discharges Firearm
December 15th, 2005
ALASKA, KODIAK - Kodiak Airport (ADQ), Alaska AREA*: 8 CIRCUMSTANCES: An airline employee who was inspecting a rifle in the checked- baggage area accidentally discharged it. RESULT: The rifle was aimed away from people, so no one was hurt. The rifle’s owner put it in one of his checked bags at Anchorage’s Ted Stevens Int’l (ANC). The gun appeared damaged upon arrival at Kodiak, so airline employees apparently opened up the package to inspect it. Editor’s note: TSA says that passengers’ guns are supposed to be in checked luggage, unloaded, and kept in a locked, hard-shell case. DATE & SITE: Dec. 7 — Nino Aquino Int’l Airport (MNL), Manila, Philippines AREA*: 2 CIRCUMSTANCES: A police officer’s gun accidentally went off, injuring four women. RESULT: Officer Gregorio Gale, with the mobile division of the Central Police District, had just seen his wife off on a flight. He then went to a restaurant, and was asked by security guards to deposit his gun at the airport’s Police Center for Aviation Security. While emptying the gun of ammunition, it went off. The bullet hit the floor, splintering into several pieces and hitting the four women. * Codes where security incident originated: 1 - Roadway/parking lot/off airport 2 - Public ticket lobby/baggage claim 3 - Security checkpoint 4 - Sterile concourse/gate area 5 - Checked baggage/cargo screening 6 - Inside aircraft 7 - Airside operations area 8 - Airport perimeter 9 - Unknown Compiled by Airport Security Report from various news sources
Read MoreSettlement in Police Murder Lawsuit - Cop Killed 18 Year Old in 2003
December 9th, 2005
ALASKA, NOME - Nome murder victim’s family reaches monetary settlement
Wrongful death suit’s result wasn’t disclosed until after trial was over.
The family of murder victim Sonya Ivanoff announced Thursday that it has settled its wrongful death lawsuit with the city of Nome. Matthew Owens, a former Nome police officer, was convicted this week of killing the 18-year-old in 2003.
Russell Winner, an attorney for the Unalakleet family, said the case was actually resolved in September, but the city asked the family not to announce it until after the verdict in Owens’ trial was delivered to avoid possibly prejudicing the jury pool.
On Tuesday, a Kotzebue jury convicted Owens of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Winner said his clients have asked him not to disclose the amount of the settlement “because it’s not about the money from their point of view.” But he noted it will be paid from public money, so it will become public information eventually.
Read MoreMan Arrested For Stealing Car Three Minutes After Release From Jail
December 8th, 2005
ALASKA, JUNEAU - David Mulligan, 21, of Sitka, served 25 days in jail for drunken driving, and was released at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Authorities say he stole a van three minutes later.
Police said a man who lives a block from the Lemon Creek Correctional Center had left his 1997 Dodge van running to warm up when he went inside the house. It was gone when he came out.
Two hours later, the owner called police on a cell phone, saying he was following the van in traffic.
Police said they found Mulligan alone in the van.
He now faces up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted of felony vehicle theft.
[tags]Bad Cop News, Police, Bad Cop, Bad Cops, Cop, Cops, Officer, Crime, Criminal, Officers, Law Enforcement, Deputy, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff, Arrest, Arrested, Charged, Charges, Indictment, Indicted, Sentence, Sentenced, JUNEAU, ALASKA[/tags]
Police Officer Guilty of Killing Teen, Tampering With Evidence
December 7th, 2005
ALASKA, NOME - Former Nome police officer Matthew Owens swore from the witness stand that he did not shoot Sonya Ivanoff, but the people he was trying to convince did not believe him.
On Tuesday, a Kotzebue jury convicted Owens of first-degree murder in the 2003 death of