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Family Believes Chesapeake Virginia Police Shot At Man In Botched Drug Raid - Man Killed Officer While Protecting His Home - Police Filled Hole With After Shooting - Round Found Which Matches Rounds In Police Weapon - Misdemeanor Marijuana Charge Becomes A Felony Due To Prosecutor’s Imagination
June 26th, 2008
The hands of six Chesapeake detectives present at the botched marijuana raid on Ryan Frederick’s house have tested positive for “primer residue,” meaning they had traces of chemicals on their hands sometimes left behind when a person fires a gun, according to a lab report filed in court.
The lab report also said the residue can be left if a person is near weapon as it fires, or if a person handles a weapon with primer residue already on it. Police have insisted no officers fired during the Jan. 17 raid where police went looking for marijuana. Police contend Frederick alone opened fire, with one bullet killing narcotics detective Jarrod Shivers.
Frederick also had primer residue on both hands, according to the report.
Police refused to comment on the lab report Tuesday.
Read MoreFederal Aviation Authority (FAA) Whistleblowers Punished By Agency After Exposing Safety Concerns And Winning Awards
June 13th, 2008
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA ― Two Federal Aviation Authority whistleblowers said they’re being punished for raising safety concerns, even as they won awards for their courage Wednesday.
“I’m shackled to my desk pushing paperwork,” said FAA inspector Bobby Boutris. “I have not seen an airplane for six months.”
When Boutris and fellow inspector Doug Peters sounded the alarm about improper safety inspections at Southwest Airlines, it led to hundreds of grounded planes, thousands of cancelled flights and an unprecedented crackdown on airline maintenance.
But since they testified on Capitol Hill, the two men said they’ve lost out on promotions and been excluded from important safety decisions, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
“Does it make you regret coming forward?” asked Peters. “Absolutely not. I mean there are pressures involved with basically turning in your own agency, but I’m here for the flying public.”
Read MoreChesapeake Virginia Man Faces Questionable Capital Murder Charge For Defending His Home During Drug Raid - Police And Prosecutors Keeping Information Secret
June 7th, 2008
CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA - Two cases. Two very different sets of circumstances. The same charge: capital murder.
There is only one tragic similarity in the incidents that landed Ryan Frederick and Thomas A. Porter in jail for killing police officers in Chesapeake and Norfolk, respectively. Yet a Chesapeake grand jury’s indictment this week equates Frederick’s actions with the ruthlessness that Porter displayed in October 2005 in executing a Norfolk cop.
That equivalence appears to border on the absurd, though the legal process - at this stage - heavily favors the prosecutors, and though much about that night in Portlock remains shrouded in unnecessary secrecy.
The Chesapeake indictment seems an especially harsh reading of the law by the city’s grand jurors, guided by the prosecution to return a capital charge against the alleged killer of Detective Jarrod Shivers. Frederick is now left to fight for his life in court, following a chaotic drug raid at his house in which only a small amount of marijuana was recovered.
Read MoreExtortion Conviction Disappears After Jury Found Former Virginia Beach Police Officer Sgt. Jesse Burton Spry III - Money-Hungry Officer Threatened Man And His Son With Arrest If They Didn’t Pay Big Bucks For Beat Up Jeep
June 3rd, 2008
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA - A judge today dismissed the case against a former Virginia Beach police sergeant convicted of extortion last year.
Circuit Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr. set aside the verdict against Jesse Burton Spry III. It was the first time Canada has set aside a verdict in his 13-year tenure on the bench.
Last September, a jury found Spry guilty of the felony extortion and recommended a six-month punishment and $2,500 fine.
The issue began in May 2006 when a man started the process for obtaining the title for a Jeep CJ-7 he thought was abandoned. The vehicle belonged to Spry, who threatened to arrest the man and his son if he did not pay $8,200 for the beat-up Jeep.
Judge Canada said the case didn’t rise to extortion but was a disagreement over price.
Spry was a 28-year veteran of the Police Department when he retired. Appeared Here
Gypsy Cop: Elkton Virginia Police Officer Rob Greer Arrested And Fired After Stalking Woman
May 29th, 2008
HARRISONBURG - Elkton officials fired a town police officer five days after Rockingham County sheriff’s deputies arrested him on a misdemeanor stalking charge.
In a complaint, Elkton resident Paula Herring said that Officer Rob Greer came to her home May 19 and has “constantly” called her cell and home phones. He was arrested May 22.
Greer, who worked for at least four other police agencies in the county before coming to Elkton, has left most of them under controversial circumstances.
On Wednesday, Elkton Police Chief Jim Morris said Greer, 41, of Elkton, was suspended May 20 but not because of the stalking allegations. Morris said the department wasn’t aware of the stalking claims when they suspended Greer.
Citing personnel issues, Morris said he couldn’t say why Greer was suspended.
“We took all of his equipment and last night the [Town] Council terminated his employment,” said Morris, who said the council made the decision during a special meeting.
Read MoreFormer Police Officer Kills Himself With Civil War Cannonball
May 2nd, 2008
CHESTER, VIRGINIA - Like many boys in the South, Sam White got hooked on the Civil War early, digging up rusting bullets and military buttons in the battle-scarred earth of his hometown.
As an adult, he crisscrossed the Virginia countryside in search of wartime relics - weapons, battle flags, even artillery shells buried in the red clay. He sometimes put on diving gear to feel for treasures hidden in the black muck of river bottoms.
But in February, White’s hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.
More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a quarter-mile from White’s home in this leafy Richmond suburb.
Read MoreFairfax County Virginia Police Officer Amanda R. Perry Gets Special Treatment After Running Red Light And Killing Innocent Teacher’s Aide
May 2nd, 2008
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA - A Fairfax County police officer was charged with reckless driving yesterday in a crash that killed a 33-year-old teacher’s assistant in February when the officer drove her cruiser through a red light while responding to a call.
[Comment on RateMyCop.com: “I’ve encountered Officer Perry. Her persona is that of a snotty kid who doesn’t understand how to use her authority and who is heavy-handed, disrespectful to citizens, dismissive, and rude. She is perhaps the most unpleasant cop I’ve ever met, even including some of those good ol boys one encounters farther south. She shouldn’t be a cop.”
At 5 p.m. Feb. 12, Ashley McIntosh was pulling her Toyota Corolla out of the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center after the light turned green. She crossed the southbound lanes of Route 1 and was turning north when her car was struck on the driver’s side.
Police said Officer Amanda R. Perry, 22, was driving north on Route 1 to a reported fight. Perry’s emergency lights were on, but witnesses said she was not using her siren as she drove into the intersection at Boswell Avenue against a red light.
Read MoreFormer Veteran Fairfax County Deputy Sheriff Robert A. Romero Jr. Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To Just 5+ Years In Federal Prison - Cries Like A Baby At Sentencing - Hopefully Will Soon Be Dead Or Some Biker’s Bitch Behind Bars
April 28th, 2008
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA - For nearly two decades, Centreville’s Robert A. Romero Jr. wore the uniform of a deputy with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department. But when he entered courtroom 601, Friday morning, April 18, in federal court in Alexandria, he wore the gray-and-white garb of a prisoner.
There, U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee sentenced Romero, 44, to five years, three months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. Lee also noted that the prosecution added an enhancement to the level of Romero’s wrongdoing because the child pornography found on his computer illustrated “sadistic or masochistic conduct or other portrayals of violence” toward children.
“Mr. Romero is a consumer of online, child pornography, carried out over a period of years,” said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed McAndrew with the U.S. Department of Justice. “He admitted to law-enforcement personnel that he viewed it on a daily basis. And he said he did not believe he would get in trouble because of his 19 years as a sheriff.”
Read More$25 Million Federal Lawsuit Charges Waynesboro Virginia Police Officers Alyssa Wells And Brent Uzdanovics With Illegally Recording Conversation - Rape Conviction Overturned On Appeal
April 28th, 2008
WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA - Two members of the Waynesboro police force are accused of violating the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by recording a conversation with a suspect without his knowledge and without his lawyer. Those claims got a rape conviction overturned, and now are the cornerstone of a $25 million lawsuit.
Nearly six years ago, a teenager leveled a rape allegation at Engram Bellamy. The Waynesboro man fought the charge and lost. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
But an appeals court later ruled that the jury was wrongly allowed to hear an alleged confession, spoken into a hidden recording device on a Waynesboro police officer. “I just pray that they were just trying to do their job… And that at some point, they lost….Lost the connection between what they were there for…And innocence and truth,” said plaintiff Engram Bellamy.
Read MoreFormer Greene County Virginia Deputy Sheriff Leftery Tsouroutis Convicted After Selling A Firearm To A Convicted Felon
April 27th, 2008
GREENE COUNTY, VIRGINIA - Former Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Leftery Tsouroutis has been found guilty in a Greene County Court. He was convicted Friday of selling a firearm to a convicted felon.
According to testimony, Tsouroutis knowingly gave a convicted felon a gun in exchange for a discount on bumpers for his jeep.
“This did not happen. I believe the evidence was this did not happen but there was evidence on the other side,” said Tsouroutis’ attorney Lloyd Snook
According to witnesses, the former Greene county deputy told the felon he checked his record and found he was grandfathered in, so it was okay for him to own a firearm.
“The judge has decided he believed some of the collaborating witnesses and I disagree with judge’s interpretation of the evidence but I certainly understand how he came to it,” said Snook.
Read MoreNorfolk Virginia Police Officer Gordon Barry Gets A $57,500 Bonus For Shooting Another Officer And Quitting
April 27th, 2008
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA - The police officer who fatally shot fellow Officer Seneca Darden has resigned and will get a $57,500 severance payment from the city after threatening to sue for being stuck on desk duty.
Officer Gordon Barry shot Darden, who was in plain clothes, during a disturbance in the Young Terrace public housing neighborhood on May 21, 2006. Two inquiries cleared Barry of wrongdoing in 2006 – a criminal investigation by State Police and an internal one by the city that resulted in no discipline.
A draft of the lawsuit sent to the city states that Chief Bruce P. Marquis recommended that Barry return to duty but that City Manager Regina V.K. Williams refused.
Barry, who had worked as a K-9 officer before the incident, has remained on desk duty since the shooting.
Read MoreNorfolk Virginia Police Officer Krissie Dickens Suspended, Charged With Assaulting 10 Year Old Child
April 16th, 2008
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA - A Norfolk police officer has been charged in Virginia Beach with domestic assault after an incident in her home involving a 10-year-old child.
Krissie Dickens, 29, a Norfolk police detective who lives in the 2500 block of Olympic Court in Virginia Beach, is on administrative duties with the Norfolk police pending the outcome of the case.
She is slated to appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Virginia Beach on April 24 on the misdemeanor assault and battery charge, a court official said.
A spokeswoman with the Virginia Beach police said the incident occurred Jan. 23, and was reported to police on March 19. The spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the nature of the charge against Dickens or her relationship with the child.
Appeared Here
Roanoke Virginia Police Officer Daniel Meyer Indicted After Shooting Unarmed Teen
April 16th, 2008
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA - A Roanoke police officer was indicted Monday on a felony charge of unlawful wounding after shooting an unarmed teen in February.
A grand jury took about 45 minutes to decide early Monday evening to indict Daniel Meyer, said Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Donald Caldwell.
Meyer, an eight-year veteran of the police force, is the first Roanoke officer to be indicted in an on-duty shooting in at least the past three decades.
A judge set a $5,000 recognizance bond for Meyer, who has until Friday to turn himself in, Caldwell said. .
In a prepared statement, police Chief Joe Gaskins said that Meyer will remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the court hearings.
“Every officer-involved shooting is different and has to be judged according to the facts of each case,” he said in the statement.
Read MoreFormer Saltville Virginia Police Investigator Gary Ray Call Sentenced To Just 2 Years In Federal Prison On Drug And Gun Charges
April 16th, 2008
SALTVILLE, VIRGINIA - Former Saltville Police Investigator Gary Ray Call was sentenced Monday to serve two years in federal prison on drug and firearms charges.
He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release after serving his time and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
“It’s certainly true that your drug addiction led you to this courtroom today, but it is important to point out today that the jury found you guilty of more than just use of this dangerous drug,” Judge James P. Jones told Call. “They found that you had attempted to possess what you thought was methamphetamine with intent to distribute it to others … to inflict this deadly drug on other people, not just yourself.”
Such behavior by a police officer reduces respect for the law, which is even more dangerous to society than the crimes alone, Jones said.
Read MoreJailed Former Leesburg Virginia Police Officer Cleon Williams Gets Very Special Plea Deal And Slap On The Wrist For Rape And Kidnapping
April 15th, 2008
LEESBURG, VIRGINIA - Just days before he was scheduled to stand trial on charges of rape and abduction with the attempt to defile, Cleon Williams, a former officer with the Leesburg Police Department, pleaded guilty to two lesser charges.
According to court documents, Williams pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and assault and battery, Monday, April 7, after the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office agreed to amend the rape and abduction counts. Both of the lesser charges are misdemeanor charges.
Under the plea, Williams was sentenced to serve 12 months for each charge. In the sentencing order, Judge Thomas D. Horne suspended 12 months of the sentence for the assault and battery charge and six months for the obstruction of justice charge. Williams will also get credit for the time he has already served since his arrest last year.
Read MoreRichmond Virginia Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Milton Byrd Stakes Out Motel, Loses Gun, ID, And Badge
April 15th, 2008
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Watch out criminals: Richmond Sheriff’s Office internal-affairs investigations can happen anywhere and at any time.
That includes the Comfort Inn at 7201 W. Broad St. in Henrico County at 2:30 a.m. Feb. 1, according to Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody. It was there that Richmond Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Milton Byrd was staked out in a room with an unidentified woman.
What Byrd was not staking out was the driver’s side window of his own patrol car. According to reports filed afterward by both Byrd and Henrico Police investigators, it was smashed with a rock.
Taken from the car were Byrd’s .357 SIG Sauer pistol, his Sheriff’s Office identification card and his deputy badge, none of which were needed for Byrd’s ongoing investigation inside the Comfort Inn suite.
Read MoreLynchburg Virginia Police Find New Ways To Waste Time And Money - Surround Wal-Mart At 5am To Save Shoppers And Employess From Pest Exterminators - Our Tax Dollars At Work
April 15th, 2008
LYNCHBURG, VA - Lynchburg police thought a hostage situation may have been afoot when they set up a barricade outside the Wal-Mart on Wards Road Tuesday morning.
A customer had noticed the 24-hour-a-day store was locked, and had seen a person inside with a gun.
There were no hostages, however. Instead, an exterminator with an air rifle was helping reclaim a store that had gone to the birds.
“Wal-Mart had hired someone to go in there and take care of that bird problem,” said Lt. T.B. Lawton with the Lynchburg Police Department.
The small birds had been in the store for several weeks and prompted concern from some customers and the Lynchburg Health Department.
The store was closed for a couple of hours Tuesday while the exterminators worked.
But police didn’t get word of the plan, Lawton said.
Read MoreRichmond Virginia Deputy Sheriff Bridget Maria Muhammad Arrested, Suspended, Charged With Beating Her Children With An Electrical Cord
April 12th, 2008
RICHMOND, VA -Sheriff C.T. Woody, Jr. today announced the arrest of a Richmond City Deputy Sheriff. Deputy Bridget Maria Muhammad, a seven year veteran was arrested following a joint investigation between Child Protective Services and the Richmond Police Department Youth and Family Violence Unit.
On Wednesday, April 9th, the deputy surrendered to police authorities. She was charged with two counts each of abuse and neglect of children and aggravated malicious wounding. The deputy was processed and released on her own recognizance.
Sheriff Woody said, “It is upsetting whenever one of our employees is arrested. Our Investigations Unit will continue to monitor the investigation and Deputy Muhammad will be placed in a non-public contact position pending the outcome of the charges in court”.
Sources close to the investigation tell CBS 6 that Muhammad has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, and that Muhammad was ordered not to have any contact with her children.
Read MoreVeteran Richmond Virginia Deputy Sheriff Bridget Maria Muhammad Arrested, Charged With Child Abuse, Neglect, And Wounding
April 11th, 2008
RICHMOND, VA - A Richmond sheriff’s deputy is free on her own recognizance after being charged in a child-abuse case.
Sheriff C.T. Woody yesterday announced that Bridget Maria Muhammad, a seven-year employee of the office, was arrested Wednesday by Richmond police and charged with two counts each of abuse and neglect of children and aggravated malicious wounding.
“It is upsetting whenever one of our employees is arrested,” Woody said in a statement. “Our Investigations Unit will continue to monitor the investigation and Deputy Muhammad will be placed in a non-public contact position pending the outcome of the charges in court.”
Kill Devil Hills Virginia Police Officer Sgt. Allen Holland Suspended - Details Hidden From Taxpayers
April 11th, 2008
KILL DEVIL HILLS, VA — A sergeant at the Kill Devil Hills Police Department was placed on paid administrative leave Friday.
District Attorney Frank Parrish asked the state to investigate Sgt. Allen Holland, according to Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Justice.
Neither Talley, the acting police chief, nor town administrators would discuss the nature of the investigation.
Holland has been on the department for 12 years and works in the patrol division.
In January, the police chief and assistant police chief were placed on paid administrative leave. The town manager did not release reasons for the suspensions.
In February, Chief Ray Davis was allowed to return to work, and has since retired.
Appeared Here
Man Dies After Arrest By Virginia State Police Trooper For Walking
April 11th, 2008
NEW KENT COUNTY, VA - A man arrested and charged yesterday evening with Obstruction of Justice, Resisting Arrest, and for being a Pedestrian on the Highway was pronounced dead at Richmond Community Hospital last night.
At approximately 7:23 p.m., yesterday evening (April 5), Virginia State Police received a phone call of a man walking along westbound Interstate 64. At approximately 7:30 p.m., a trooper arrived on scene and observed the man walking toward his patrol car at 217 mile marker. The trooper repeatedly attempted to verbally direct the man, who was waving at traffic, away from the right travel lane for his safety. After several tries for his compliance, the trooper attempted to place the man into custody. With the assistance of a passerby and the deployment of the trooper’s Oleoresin Capsicum (OC/pepper spray), the man was arrested.
Read MoreFormer Beardstown Virginia Police Officer Shane Lisenbee Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison For Child Molestation Offenses - Evidently His Supporter’s Many eMails Bashing Bad Cop News And Claiming His Innocence Didn’t Help…
April 9th, 2008
BEARDSTOWN, VA — Former Beardstown Police officer Shane Lisenbee Monday accepted a plea agreement that spared him the possibility of mandatory life in prison.
Mr. Lisenbee, 32, displayed no emotion as he pleaded guilty to two Class X felony charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of a girl younger than 13 years old.
The plea agreement called for Mr. Lisenbee to serve 17 1/2 years imprisonment on each count and to serve those sentences one after the other.
Sentencing rules require that Mr. Lisenbee serve at least 85 percent of his 35-year sentence, or nearly 30 years in prison. The Illinois Department of Corrections will determine the length of his supervised parole, which must be a minimum of three years after his release from prison and could last the rest of his life.
Read MoreFormer Colonial Beach Virginia Police Officer Robert L. Jett Jr. Pleads Guilty For A Slap On The Wrist After Attemping To Purchase Drugs
April 5th, 2008
COLONIAL BEACH, VA - A former Colonial Beach police officer pleaded guilty to a drug charge this week in King George County Circuit Court.
Robert L. Jett Jr., 25, of King George received a suspended one-year prison term after pleading guilty Thursday to possession of illegal drugs.
According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Matt Britton, Jett walked into a police sting when he showed up at a King George location Oct. 17 to purchase oxycodone from a police informant.
The informant had begun working with police months earlier after being caught selling drugs.
Jett had been one of his customers, but hadn’t made a purchase for a while prior to Oct. 17. When Jett contacted him that day, the informant notified a regional drug task force.
Britton said police taped a phone call in which Jett talked about getting out of his police uniform and driving to King George to make the buy.
Read MoreRoanoke Virginia Police Officer Andrew Page Fired After Pleading Guilty To Drunken Wreck In Patrol Car
March 29th, 2008
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA - The Roanoke City Police Department now says it fired an officer who pleaded guilty to a DUI crash, while driving a police cruiser.
Police say Officer Andrew Page was terminated on March 6th. The firing happened a little more than three weeks after the original crash on Interstate 81 in Pulaski County, in the middle of February. State Police say Page crashed into a guardrail near the Dublin exit on I-81, while driving drunk in a Roanoke City Police cruiser. A breathalizer test taken at the jail showed Page’s blood alcohol level was 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.
Shortly after the crash, Roanoke Police suspended Page, and began an internal investigation.
Back on March 26th, 10 On Your Side learned that Page was no longer with the Police department, but at that time Captain Chris Perkins would not say whether Page was fired or if Page resigned.
Read MoreFormer Veteran Roanoke Virginia Police Officer Andrew Page Pleads Guilty After Drunken Wreck Which Totaled Patrol Car
March 26th, 2008
PULASKI, VIRGINIA - A former Roanoke police officer has pleaded guilty to driving his police cruiser under the influence of alcohol in Pulaski County.
Police say 33-year-old Andrew Page was off-duty when he totaled the marked cruiser last month. The 2005 Ford Crown Victoria crashed into a guard rail on Interstate 81.
Page had worked for the Roanoke force for seven years. He no longer has a job there.
Pulaski General District Court Judge Glenwood Lookabill on Tuesday suspended a 90-day jail sentence, but restricted Page’s driver’s license for a year and placed him on probation.
Court documents say that a breathalyzer test shortly after the crash showed Page had a blood alcohol content of .16%, double the legal standard for intoxication.
Former Greene County Virginia Deputy Sheriff Leftery N. “Terry” Tsouroutis Sentenced To 27 Months In Federal Prison After Sex With Teen Prisoner
March 23rd, 2008
GREENE COUNTY, VA - Six years ago, Leftery N. “Terry” Tsouroutis was married, had a child on the way and was a lieutenant with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. Since then, he has married for a second time, has another child on the way and has a nearly four-year career in heating and air conditioning in Northern Virginia.
He’s also a felon. Tsouroutis, 38, was sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison and three years of probation in federal court in Charlottesville.
“I’ve ruined my life, I’ve ruined my family’s life, I’ve embarrassed myself,” Tsouroutis said before sentencing.
Tsouroutis pleaded guilty in December to transporting a woman across state lines to have sex with her in 2002 - a violation of the federal Mann Act - and for making false statements to FBI agents in 2007.
Read More$25 Million Federal Lawsuit Charges Waynesboro Virginia Police With Innocent Man’s Conviction And Imprisonment For Rape He Didn’t Commit
March 20th, 2008
WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA - After serving three-and-a-half years in prison for a rape conviction that was later overturned, a Waynesboro man is back in court – but this time, he is on the other side of the aisle.
With no outside legal assistance, Engram Bellamy, 44, filed a $25 million civil suit in the Harrisonburg U.S. District Court last year against two Waynesboro police officers and police Chief Douglas Davis, claiming they violated his constitutional rights while gathering evidence before the 2003 trial that landed him behind bars. Judge Samuel Wilson has dismissed the complaint against Davis but denied motions to do the same for the other two officers, writing that Bellamy’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment arguments were “adequately stated.”
Read MoreFormer Greene County Virginia Deputy Sheriff Leftery Tsouroutis Sentenced On Federal Prostitution Charges After Sex With Teen Drug Addict And Lying
March 17th, 2008
GREENE COUNTY, VIRGINIA - A former Greene County Sheriff’s deputy who pleaded guilty to engaging in prostitution with a prisoner will spend 27 months in federal prison.
Leftery Tsouroutis was sentenced in federal court Monday morning. Back in 2002 Tsouroutis picked up a suspect in Baltimore to transfer her back to Central Virginia.
He told the woman he could get her charges dropped if she had sex with him. Tsouroutis and the prisoner did engage in numerous sexual acts at various locations in Greene County.
“He targeted a 19-year-old drug addict who was in prison at the time, targeted her and then basically told her in exchange for your freedom you have to have sex with me. And so he violated every oath of a law enforcement officer” said prosecutor John Brownlee.
Read MoreFredericksburg Virginia Jail Guard Richard Zacofsky Arrested, Charged With Sodomy Of Female Inmate
March 7th, 2008
FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA - Richard Zacofsky, 39, of Stafford is charged with one count of carnal knowledge of an inmate and one count of sodomy by force, threat or intimidation.
The female victim complained to jail staff, prompting the jail to launch an investigation and notify the Sheriff’s Office, according to the release.
As a result of an investigation by Detective Tim Covington, Zacofsky was arrested and charged. He turned himself in yesterday at the Sheriff’s Office.
He’s being held at the Pamunkey Regional Jail, rather than at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, for his own protection, said Bill Kennedy, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
Sentencing Delayed For Washington Police Officer Steve Hilsinger, Who Admitted Thefts From Motorists During Traffic Stops
March 6th, 2008
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - A former Washington police officer who admitted he targeted Hispanic motorists and robbed them during traffic stops will be sentenced next Monday in federal court.
Steven Hilsinger was originally set to be sentenced today, but a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh says that’s been postponed for one week.
Hilsinger pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor civil rights violations in federal court in December.
Prosecutors say in November and December of 2005, Hilsinger stopped Hispanic motorists for minor traffic violations. Instead of merely asking for their drivers licenses, they say Hilsinger took their entire wallets. The feds say on the first occasion the officer stole $60, while the second time he took $40.
Then in September of 2006, prosecutors say again Hilsinger targeted Hispanic drivers and stole money, only this time the victim was an undercover police officer. On those occasions, $220 and $120 were taken.
Read MoreFairfax Virginia Deputy Sheriff Zachary Dennis Taylor Charged With Rape
February 28th, 2008
OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND - Police in the resort said they are charging 31-year-old Zachary Dennis Taylor of Ruther Glen, Va. with second-degree rape following an incident that took place last weekend.
Taylor, whom police said is a Fairfax County, Va. deputy sheriff, is accused of raping a 22-year-old woman after escorting her home from a nightclub.
The victim told police that Taylor left the bar with her after she became intoxicated and walked with her back to Taylor’s hotel room, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, Taylor put her on an elevator and left, police said.
Hotel employees called police after finding the woman crying in the lobby of the hotel.
Taylor is expected to surrender to police on Thursday, an Ocean City police spokesman said.
The incident occurred on Feb. 24.
Former Appalachia Virginia Councilman And Deputy Sheriff Andrew Jackson Taylor Jr. Sentenced To Home Confinement Instead Of Prison For Role In Gambling Operation
February 25th, 2008
WISE, VIRGINIA – A judge sentenced Andrew Jackson Taylor Jr. to six months home confinement on Friday, saying the former deputy sheriff and town councilman had likely beaten himself up more than anybody for his role in an Appalachia, Va., illegal gambling operation.
Taylor is the last of nearly a dozen Appalachia residents to face a judge following a March 2006 raid on three illegal gambling houses that operated in on Main Street in the small Wise County town.
He received five-year prison terms – all suspended – on racketeering and money laundering charges and a suspended 12-month jail sentence for operating an illegal gambling house.
On Monday, Taylor will begin serving six months on home electronic monitoring on a misdemeanor charge of owning a gambling establishment. He agreed to pay $15,000 in restitution to the regional drug task force.
Read MoreJames City County Virginia Police Officer Andrew Baker Suspended After Being “Shot” - Shells At Scene Match His Own Gun
February 20th, 2008
JAMES CITY, VIRGINIA - A James City County police officer who was involved in a shooting in the Grove area in December has been suspended without pay from the department.
Andrew Baker, an officer with the police department for two years, had been on administrative leave since the Dec. 17 incident — a common procedure whenever an officer fires his or her weapon. He was suspended Tuesday, said police spokesman Mike Spearman.
Baker said he was shot in the abdomen by a white man in his early to mid-20s after responding to an argument behind the Grove Christian Outreach Center about 3:15 a.m. A bullet-resistant vest stopped him from being seriously injured. Investigators recovered several shell casings at the scene, but they all matched Baker’s gun.
Spearman said there is currently an ongoing criminal investigation and an open internal affairs investigation related to the incident. He said he could not comment on the internal investigation.
Read MoreDuh! - Henrico County Virgina Police Officer Shoots Fox, Hits Another Cop
February 19th, 2008
HENRICO, VIRGINIA - A Henrico Police officer is recovering after being shot while trying to fend off a rabid fox Saturday.
According to police, the animal protection officer was with two others looking for a rabid animal near Hines Road when a fox allegedly attacked him. Investigators said that officer took a bullet to the leg as the other officers tried to shoot it off.
The officer’s injuries are not considered life-threatening. The fox is being tested for rabies.
Now, the incident is under investigation to determine if the officers involved acted properly.
“Well it might have been a panic situation,” said Henrico Police spokesperson Lt. Doug Perry. “It’s a situation where you’ve got a rabid animal attacking you. You don’t know what you’re going to do.”
Update: Roanoke Police Officer Andrew Page Arrested, Suspended, Charged After Drunken Wreck Which Totaled Police Car
February 18th, 2008
PULASKI, VIRGINIA — A Roanoke city police officer has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after he wrecked his police cruiser Saturday in Pulaski County.
Officer Andrew Page was heading north on Interstate 81 when he ran off the road and struck a guardrail, according to Virginia State Police.
The Roanoke Police Department has suspended Page while it conducts an investigation.
Roanoke Virginia Police Officer Andrew Page Arrested, Suspended, Charged After Drunken Wreck
February 18th, 2008
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA - A Roanoke City police officer found himself in handcuffs Saturday night. He was arrested for driving under the influence.
State Police took Andrew Page into custody after he wrecked his car in Pulaski County around 10:15 p.m. Saturday.
Page was driving on Interstate 81 when he ran off the side of the road.
The 33-year-old has been charged with DUI and was taken last night to the New River Valley Regional Jail.
A spokesperson with the Roanoke City Police Department say the officer has been suspended from the force. The department has launched an internal investigation.
Family Of Unarmed Man Shot In The Back By Newport News Virginia Police Officer Matthew Overton Files $15 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit
February 16th, 2008
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA - The family of Robert Harper has filed a $15-million lawsuit against the City of Newport News,
This comes just days before the anniversary of Harper’s death, who was gunned down by Newport News Police Officer Matthew Overton. Harper was shot eight times on the night of February 18, 2007.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in US District Court, contends that those named, violated Harper’s civil rights. Attorney Robert Mills represents Harper’s family. He believes the facts that come from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office will show Overton used excessive force.
Newport News Police Officers where called to Harper’s home on 25th street on the night of the shooting. A bail bondsman was trying to take Harper in on a bond. When officers arrived, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s report indicated that Harper would not follow orders and police say he acted as if he was reaching for a weapon. That’s when he was shot multiple times.
Read MorePassaic County New Jersey Police Officers Outraged After Convoy Of Vehicles Was Stopped In Virgina For Reckless Driving At 95 MPH In 65 MPH Zone Without An Excuse For Speed - Cops Above The Law And Not Ticketed, Despite Speed And Danger To Public
February 15th, 2008
PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY - New Jersey police officers are furious that a Virginia sheriff’s deputy asked them to obey the traffic law in Virginia. On September 18, a speeding convoy of Passaic County, New Jersey police officers barreled through Interstate 81 in Virginia with their emergency lights blazing — but there was no emergency. The officers were just in a hurry to get home after service in the gulf region.
[Submitter Says Passaic County New Jersey Sheriff Jerry Speziale is a total jerk.]
Clocked at 95 MPH in the 65 MPH zone, the convoy of about a dozen vehicles was asked to pull over by Augusta County, Virginia Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Roane. Six of the New Jersey police sped away without stopping.
“We’re not above the law,” Roane said in an interview with WHSV-TV. “We have to obey the speed limits. We cannot run emergency equipment when there’s no emergency.”
Read MoreNewport News Virginia Deputy Sheriff Reginald Johnson Arrested, Suspended, Charged With Domestic Assault
February 7th, 2008
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA - A Newport News sheriff’s deputy was arrested Sunday on domestic assault charges.
Reginald Johnson, 26, was booked into the Newport News City Jail and released on bond.
“He was processed just like anybody else who’s newly arrested,” said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kathleen Carey. “He went before the magistrate and was given a bond.”
Johnson is on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Carey said. He has worked for the jail since March 2007.
Johnson is the son of Col. Leroy Johnson, the jail’s chief deputy.
Child Pornography Identified On 1,956 Computers In Virginia Beach, But Officials Cry About Lack Of Funding As Police Officer Sgt. K. Reilly Targets Non-Nude Advertising At Abercrombie And Fitch Store With Bogus Obscenity Charge - 19,000 Computer In State Known To Have Child Porn - Our Tax Dollars At Work
February 7th, 2008
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - One simply reads: “GOOD! 3yo gets raped during bathtime. she cries!” Another: “Lolita Rape Torture.”
Law enforcement officials have identified more than 19,000 individual computers with such hard-core child pornography files on them in Virginia, but said they simply do not have the resources to investigate all of the suspected sexual predators.
Members from Virginia’s two Internet Crimes Against Children task forces were in Richmond on Wednesday to push “Alicia’s Law,” named after a Pennsylvania teen who was brought to Virginia by an online predator, raped and tortured.
Read MoreChesapeake Virginia Police Officer Detective Jarrod Shivers Gets Wasted By Man Protecting His Home - Dumbass Cops Had Search Warrant For Pot After Snitch Sees Tomatoes Plants And Japanese Maple Trees Growing In Man’s Yard - D’oh!
February 6th, 2008
PORTLOCK, VIRGINIA - Portlock residents who saw a deadly police shooting unfold on their “quiet street” are finding it difficult to return to normalcy. The man accused of killing Detective Jarrod Shivers said he had no idea the man he shot was a police officer until it was too late.
More Info Here At Stop The Drug War.
Redstart Avenue, a street that dead-ends at a church, still was reeling Friday after a police officer was fatally shot there the night before. The residents say they are in disbelief after realizing that a 28-year-old neighbor is a suspect.
“It shocked me to death,” said Mavis Cosner, who has lived on the street since 1960. “I’m still a little nervous.”
Shivers, a 34-year-old father, was shot as was trying to enter at the house in the street’s 900 block around 8:30 p.m. He and several other officers were there with a search warrant as part of a drug investigation, police said.
Read More$3.5 Million Federal Lawsuit Charges James City County Virginia With Falsely Arresting And Imprisoning Innocent Man On Bogus Made-Up Charges
February 5th, 2008
JAMES CITY, VIRGINIA - A James City County man who claims he was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned in 2006 has filed a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit against four county police officers and the Board of Supervisors.
W. Walker Ware IV filed the suit last week in the U.S. District Court in Newport News, alleging assault and battery, false arrest and illegal imprisonment, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit states that officers came into his home Jan. 31, 2006, without a warrant, and arrested him on a charge of disorderly conduct in a public place. Ware alleges he was “bound and bruised” by officers during the arrest, but that he did not assault or batter the officers in retaliation.
On the way to the jail, the suit states, officers realized they couldn’t charge Ware with disorderly conduct because he had been in a private residence, so they “switched to a completely fabricated and unsustainable charge of assault and battery of a police officer.”
Read MoreVirginia Beach Announces They Are Dropping Bogus Obscenity Charge Filed Against Abercrombie And Fitch Store Manager By Dumbass Police Officer Sgt. K. Reilly - After Nation-Wide Humiliation For Dumb In Public - This, In A State With Woman’s Naked Breast On State Seal And Flag…
February 4th, 2008
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA - City officials said Monday that they plan to drop obscenity charges filed against an Abercrombie & Fitch store manager at Lynnhaven Mall, where police confiscated two large posters of partially dressed models over the weekend.
The Abercrombie & Fitch promotional photographs appear in the fashion retailer’s stores throughout the country, including at MacArthur Center in Norfolk. One photo depicts the backs of three shirtless men, including one holding jeans that hover well below his waistline and reveal the top of his buttocks. The other, as described by a Virginia Beach police spokesman, shows a topless woman with her hand covering a portion of her breast.
A police officer cited the store manager, Brendon Payne, Saturday with violating the city code and issued him a summons to appear March 3 in General District Court.
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