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  • The DEA seized her father’s life savings at an airport without alleging any crime occurred, lawsuit says

    01/16/2020 9:06:33 PM PST · by bkopto · 48 replies
    WaPo/Seattle Times ^ | 1/15/2020 | Justin Jouvenal
    Every dollar Terry Rolin had saved over a lifetime was stacked in a large Tupperware container: $82,373. At 79, he was aging and worried about keeping so much cash on hand, his daughter said, so during one of her visits he asked her to open a joint bank account. Rebecca Brown was catching a flight home from the Pittsburgh airport early the next day and said she didn’t have time to stop at a bank. She confirmed on a government website that it’s legal to carry any amount of cash on a domestic flight and tucked the money in her...
  • A Shop Is Charging This Guy $48,000 For Towing His Old Jeep

    11/06/2015 8:17:12 PM PST · by Cowman · 45 replies
    truck yeah ^ | 10/27/15 7:18pm | Andrew P Collins
    Joel Ramer and his girlfriend got stuck off-roading this old Jeep Cherokee on a powerline road in Walpole, Massachusetts last week. Seems egregious that he was arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace, but the $48,000 recovery charge is downright offensive. It’s unclear whether Ramer got slapped with a trespassing charge after calling for help, or if somebody spotted and busted him while he was screwing around in the mud. And yeah, you can be jailed for that in Massachusetts. But after Walpole PD rolled up on him Fox25 says the cops called what is presumably their go-to recovery outfit,...
  • [AZ] cop illegally enters home, arrests naked woman: ‘I was in the shower! What is wrong with you?’

    07/17/2015 12:42:41 AM PDT · by Slings and Arrows · 69 replies
    NY Daily News ^ | July 16, 2015 | Meg Wagner
    An Arizona cop barged into a woman’s home while she was in the shower and handcuffed her as she stood naked and sopping wet, according to a lawsuit. Officer Doug Rose lectured an unclothed, sobbing Esmeralda Rossi in front of her daughter and told her he was in charge, even though she was in her own home. Even as an investigation determined that Rose illegally entered the home, the policeman managed to retire and start collecting his pension. -snip- “Don’t take the attitude with cops, because we don’t play,” Rose said. “When a cop shows up, you’re not the one...
  • KAREN FINLEY, EX-CEO OF REDFLEX, PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY

    06/21/2015 2:45:58 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 10 replies
    Phoenix New Times ^ | FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015 | RAY STERN
    Karen Finley, former CEO of the Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems, pleaded guilty today in federal court to an eight-year bribery-and-fraud scheme that helped the company retain photo-enforcement contracts with two Ohio cities. Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Terence P. Kemp of the Southern District of Ohio to a charge of "conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery and honest services wire and mail fraud," the U.S. Department of Justice announced this morning. She resigned from the company in 2013 after the corruption scheme was alleged by a whistle-blower. Top executives in Redflex's Australian-based parent company,...
  • City Council President Andy Ginther caught up in red-light camera bribe case ( Ohio Democrats )

    06/19/2015 1:55:50 PM PDT · by george76 · 19 replies
    The Columbus Dispatch ^ | June 19, 2015 | Lucas Sullivan & Darrel Rowland
    A former chief executive officer of the red-light camera company Redflex has pleaded guilty to bribing Columbus elected officials - including Council President Andrew Ginther - through the Ohio Democratic Party to install the cameras and keep them operating in the city. Karen L. Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, Ariz., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, according a press release from Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Records from the U.S. District in Columbus show that from 2005 to 2013, Finley made campaign contributions to elected public officials in...
  • Blurry lines between bikers, police clubs draw concern

    06/08/2015 6:18:07 AM PDT · by don-o · 89 replies
    Ap via Fox ^ | June 7, 2015
    Police officers and outlaw biker gangs often stand on common ground. Both attract the young and adventurous who value order, discipline and brotherhood. And on weekends tens of thousands of cops routinely trade their cruisers and badges for choppers and club colors. The bond doesn't mean a free pass for criminal motorcycle gangs, but even some within law enforcement worry that too many officers believe bikers are just misunderstood Robin Hoods. And empathy from officers who emulate or even aspire to the outlaw life can put police or the public at risk, gang experts warn.
  • Waco Brawl: Busted Bikers Include Retired San Antonio Detective

    05/21/2015 12:07:02 PM PDT · by a fool in paradise · 18 replies
    NBC News ^ | Tracy Connor
    The 170 bikers rounded up after a deadly battle in Texas this week included a retired police detective who traded in his badge for a Bandidos supporter patch. The San Antonio Police Department confirmed Wednesday that Martin Lewis was on the force for 32 years before retiring in 2004. It provided no further details about his service record. Lewis, 62, was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and held on $1 million bond...
  • But for the video…

    03/01/2015 9:54:48 PM PST · by LibWhacker · 31 replies
    Washington Post ^ | 5/27/15 | Radley Balko
    The latest example of cellphone video vindicating someone from false charges is a doozy. It comes from Washington Parish, La., and WWL TV. One of the worst days of Douglas Dendinger’s life began with him handing an envelope to a police officer. In order to help out his family and earn a quick $50, Dendinger agreed to act as a process server, giving a brutality lawsuit filed by his nephew to Chad Cassard as the former Bogalusa police officer exited the Washington Parish Courthouse. The handoff went smoothly, but Dendinger said the reaction from Cassard, and a group of officers...
  • D.C. is the Wild West when enforcing tickets for traffic violators, audit finds

    09/10/2014 8:11:27 PM PDT · by dennisw · 13 replies
    washingtonpost. ^ | September 8 | Ashley Halsey III
    In Washington, D.C., where issuing traffic citations is a $179 million-a-year business, drivers get speeding tickets for violations they donÂ’t commit and for vehicles theyÂ’ve never owned. Those are among the findings in a 115-page audit of the three city agencies that issued nearly 2.5 million parking and traffic tickets in fiscal 2013, according to a withering report issued Monday by the D.C. inspector general. The report portrays the District as the Wild West of traffic enforcement when compared with neighboring jurisdictions and the states, with a shortage of regulations, a legion of ticket writers often confused about the rules,...
  • Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Charged With Plying Boy With Drugs, Groping Him

    08/14/2014 6:16:36 AM PDT · by SoFloFreeper · 11 replies
    New Times ^ | 8/14/14 | Kyle Munzenrieder
    James H. Edwards III, a Miami-Dade Police sergeant and 27-year veteran of the force, now finds himself behind bars. Edwards allegedly provided a 15-year-old boy with booze and drugs, groped the boy, and then masturbated in front of him. He now faces charges of lewd and lascivious conduct and exhibition.
  • ‘Do You Know Who the [edited] I Am?’ FL Cop Pulls over the Wrong Guy…

    07/17/2014 12:19:31 PM PDT · by blueplum · 40 replies
    Mediaite.com ^ | July 15, 2014 7:38pm | Josh Feldman
    A Miami cop pulled someone over last month on a routine traffic stop, but the ensuing mess resulted in an internal investigation because it turns out the man this police officer pulled over was actually a higher-ranking officer in the same police department. Officer Marcel Jackson pulled over Lieutenant David Ramras and things got intense really quickly. In a video captured on Jackson’s GoPro camera, you can see them fighting and Jackson forcing Ramras to the ground. Other officers nearby run up to....(video at link)
  • DHS Ransacks couple's home without explanation, strips woman naked

    06/26/2014 9:43:47 AM PDT · by Altariel · 83 replies
    Police State UsA ^ | June 20, 2014 | Site Staff
    HOMESTEAD, FL — EXCLUSIVE — A Florida couple was traumatized after a dozen heavily armed SWAT agents crashed through their front door, flash-banged their cat, aimed rifles at them and searched their home without explanation. * * * * * The raid took place in the pre-dawn hours of June 10th, 2014. At approximately 6:16 a.m., Kari Edwards and her live-in boyfriend were intruded upon by men dressed in full SWAT gear and wielding rifles. After smashing down the couple’s front door, agents tossed concussion grenades and proceeded into the home. “They busted in like I was a terrorist or...
  • Wisconsin Police Chief Allegedly Uses Tea Party Activist's Info for Porn, Dating Sites

    06/13/2014 5:25:11 AM PDT · by TurboZamboni · 10 replies
    Pioneer Press ^ | 6-12-14 | Anne Jungen
    Campbell Police Chief Tim Kelemen is on paid leave while authorities investigate whether he broke the law when he used a tea party activist's information online. Board members during a special meeting Thursday voted unanimously to take action against the embattled chief after public outcry that he lost credibility and trust from many in the small community. It's a routine move when an employee is under investigation and not an indication Kelemen is guilty of a crime, said his attorney Jim Birnbaum. "It's neither surprising nor something we don't understand," he said.
  • Santa Rosa campus officer sentenced in theft of parking cash

    06/01/2014 9:25:40 AM PDT · by csvset · 21 replies
    SFGATE ^ | May 31, 2014 | Henry K. Lee
    A former Santa Rosa Junior College police officer was sentenced last week to four years in prison for stealing at least $150,000 from campus parking machines to buy home furnishings and go on vacations and gambling trips, prosecutors said. Jeffrey Holzworth, who was a 28-year veteran of the campus police force, pleaded guilty last month in Sonoma County Superior Court to grand theft and 11 counts of possession of stolen property. He was sentenced Thursday by Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite.
  • Funeral For Man Killed By BLM Agents [Innocent black man stopped, harassed, shot by BLM JB thugs]

    04/25/2014 3:51:58 PM PDT · by Jim Robinson · 107 replies
    CBS Las Vegas ^ | March 31, 2014 [last month]
    KXNT photo illustration (shooting scene image courtesy Las Vegas Review-Journal) (LAS VEGAS, KXNT, ASSOCIATED PRESS)–A funeral service was held in NOrth Las Vegas for the man who died at the hands of BLM agents during a skirmish in Red Rock Canyon in February. The service for D’Andre Berghardt Jr. took place at Nehemiah Ministries Christian Church. Berghardt was moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to begin working with his brother when he was shot and killed Feb. 14. Jacob Hafter, a lawyer representing the family says that various delays, including the forensic examination of Berghardt’s body, contributed to...
  • How 7 minutes could cost a trooper’s widow millions

    04/28/2014 8:41:29 AM PDT · by Oshkalaboomboom · 59 replies
    NY Post ^ | April 27, 2014 | Susan Edelman
    On Dec. 7, 2009, New York State Police narcotics investigator Richard O’Brien fell off a ladder while fixing his mother’s roof. He lived for only three more hours after the fall — but in that brief time, fellow troopers tried to have him retired on disability. Now, Stephanie O’Brien, his widow, is fighting in court, saying a faulty fax machine and a measly seven minutes mean she and the couple’s daughter would get a $342,000 death payout — rather than lifetime benefits that could total in the millions. The case is the first involving an officer filing for a disability...
  • New York police Twitter campaign backfires badly

    04/22/2014 11:20:48 PM PDT · by Slings and Arrows · 36 replies
    New York (AFP) - New York police Tuesday were eating extra helpings of humble pie after asking people to post images of themselves and NYPD officers on Twitter -- only to face a deluge of pictures of alleged police brutality. "Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook," the department posted on its NYPD News Twitter feed, hoping to fuel a feel-good, low-cost public relations campaign. -snip- One image showing police after striking a protestor brought the remark "Here the #NYPD engages with its...
  • Judge says flashing headlights is free speech

    04/11/2014 2:47:16 PM PDT · by Da Bilge Troll · 12 replies
    WTOP 103.5 FM (Washington, DC) ^ | 4/11/2014 | JEFF BARNARD (AP)
    GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Hauling a truckload of logs to a Southern Oregon mill last fall, Chris Hill noticed a sheriff's deputy behind him and flashed his lights to warn a UPS driver coming the other way. The deputy pulled over Hill on U.S. Highway 140 in White City and handed him a $260 ticket for improperly using his headlights, saying another deputy had seen the flashing lights from behind the UPS truck and alerted him to stop the log truck because of the signaling. Outraged, Hill decided to fight the ticket, and on Wednesday, a Jackson County Justice...
  • Deputies Responding to Stabbing Mistakenly Killed WeHo Man: LASD

    04/10/2014 10:14:56 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 16 replies
    KTLA ^ | Melissa Pamer
    John Winkler, 30, rushed out of an apartment behind another victim who was bleeding profusely from the neck and covered in blood, when deputies fired on both men, according to a sheriff’s news release. The deputy-involved shooting occurred after a report of a “assault with a deadly weapon, man with a knife” at an apartment complex in the 900 block of Palm Avenue, a call that came in about 9:30 p.m. Monday, the news release stated. When deputies got to the apartment, Winkler came running out, “lunging at the back” of another man also fleeing, the release said. “Both ran...
  • Man wrongly jailed for 15 months until this video proved cop had lied

    04/04/2014 11:49:36 AM PDT · by Impala64ssa · 72 replies
    A wrongly imprisoned Dallas man, who just won his $1.1 million lawsuit against the city, would still be in jail if not for the discovery of video evidence, which proved that his arresting officer had attacked him and lied about it. In December of 2009, Dallas police Officer Matthew Antkowiak was dispatched to break up a fight between two white men. But on his way to the scene, he saw a black man, 62-year-old Ronald Jones, crossing the street. Antkowiak claimed that Jones was throwing beer bottles. He stopped his car and approached Jones. According to the officer, Jones tried...