Fairfax County Supervisor John W. Foust: Reward moral cowardice...send John Foust to Congre...

Fairfax County Supervisor John W. Foust: Reward moral cowardice...send John Foust to Congre...: As a county supervisor John Foust could have spoken out against the murders of unarmed, innocent citizens by the Fairfax County Police....

Police Officer Charged

A Mars Hill Police Officer is off the job after an alleged late night joy ride that included guns and underage drinking. Jacob Ballard is a local who grew up in Marshall and went to Madison High School. He also served in the Navy. Ballard joined the Mars Hill Police force three months ago. He's charged with multiple counts including aiding and abetting in a D.U.I. case, carrying a concealed weapon and allowing underage drinking.

Sheriff's investigator say he was out with 20 year-old James Fender, who is charged with D.W.I. and was driving Ballard's truck at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday morning. Sheriff's reports show the two were with three other underage men who were drinking and cited for underage drinking.

Investigators don't know who yet, but one of them shot up a sign on a rural road and also several  mailboxes.

News 13 spoke with the Mars Hill Police Chief who said he was contacted immediately when it occurred, and it was handled immediately. As for his reaction to his officer's alleged actions. "I was disappointed. An officer has a certain obligation when they're enforcing the law they also need to uphold the law."

Ballard did not have his police issued weapon with him, but other guns were recovered. 

Officer Charged With Assault of Teen Ref To Have Disciplinary Hearing

A Lexington police officer accused of assaulting a teenage referee at a ten-and-under soccer game last year will be facing a diciplinary hearing.

The Lexington Hearald-Leader reports the Urban County Council will move forward with a disciplinary hearing against Keith Spears, who pleaded guilty to grabbing a 13-year-old's arm over a call the boy made during a game in Scott County.

Officer Keith Spears pleaded guilty to an amended charge of harassment, which is not considered a misdemeanor, but a violation. He was originally charged with harassment with physical contact.

LEX 18's investigative team found paperwork that says Spears applied for "permanent occupational disability" in March. If granted, he will retire from the Police Department and collect tax-free checks for life.

A member of the pension board says they haven't reached a decision.

Spears' hearing is scheduled for June 30.

Cop in Towson Confrontation Disciplined

Derek Williams

An auxiliary police officer in Baltimore County will no longer patrol the streets and has lost his authority to make arrests.

44-year-old volunteer officer Matthew Betz was caught on tape shoving and cursing at a student who was using his cell phone to record police making an arrest.

Baltimore County police chief Jim Johnson says Betz "behaved inappropriately", including using some very foul language. 

Betz is being placed on permanent administrative duty and remains an auxiliary police officer.

In a statement, Chief Johnson says “the language he used was incorrect, unnecessary and not helpful in bringing the incident to closure.”

Betz has been a volunteer with Baltimore County Police for 22 years.

Police Throw Grenade into Home and It Lands in Baby’s Crib

by Tim Lynch

Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy’s family said.

Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects

“It’s a tragic incident,” Terrell said. “The baby didn’t deserve this.”

Alecia Phonesavanh told local media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began Wednesday morning.

“The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face,” Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.

Officer accepts suspension after ‘tripping video’ surfaces

By Patrick TolbertP

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Officer George Bermudez will be suspended 40 days without pay as punishment for tripping students who were rushing the field following a high school soccer match.

“Officer Bermudez overreacted,” Georgetown Chief of Police Wayne Nero said in a statement. “The Georgetown Police Department failed to get it right.”

Nero announced the suspension Wednesday, saying Bermudez had several days to consider accepting the punishment or an indefinite suspension.

In a report for the internal investigation, Nero went on to say that he still believes Bermudez can be a viable officer for GPD but he can “confidently state that similar actions in the future will result in [Bermudez'] dismissal from our organization.”

Bermudez was placed on leave with pay after video of the incident surfaced in mid-April.

Chula Vista cop on leave for allegedly attacking teen

by Sharon Chen

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – A Chula Vista police officer was placed on leave after he allegedly attacked a teenage boy at the elementary graduation, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

An investigation is underway after the alleged victim said he was assaulted at Chula Vista Elementary School by an off-duty officer, CVPD Captain Lon Turner said. The unidentified officer has not been arrested or charged as of Wednesday.

“The officer was not arrested,” said Captain Turner.  “[Investigators] conducted witness checks and spoke with several parties that evening.  That officer later has been placed on administrative leave.”

The victim’s father told Fox5 that’s not enough.

“Nothing’s being done to protect my son, there’s no ankle bracelets, no automatic restraining order,” said the father, who wanted to remain anonymous. “He attacked my son and abuses my son. He’s only 16.”

According to the father, the off-duty officer ran behind his son and placed him in a choke hold – not once, but two times.

“He ran back and put him in a choke-hold again. He shoved him up against the wall and punched him in the stomach again,” said the victim’s father.

The father said the officer has a history of violence towards his family and is in a relationship with the alleged victim’s mother.

“She was at the ceremony and she did nothing,” said the father.

“There was apparently some history obviously between the mom and the son,” said Captain Turner.  “There was an incident that happened earlier in the day between the mom and son at another graduation ceremony. We believe that may have carried over into this situation, we’re still flushing those facts out.”

The father is in the process of filing a restraining order.

“He needs to be brought to justice, he needs to be charged and prosecuted for his crimes.”

The teen’s mother declined to speak to Fox5 Wednesday.

Fort Smith police officer resigns after arrest

Fort Smith police officer resigns after arrest

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) - A Fort Smith police officer has resigned after being arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at a child and at deputies at his home near Muldrow, Oklahoma.

Police say 40-year-old Naaman Adcock resigned Wednesday after being placed on administrative leave following his arrest early Tuesday by Sequoyah County deputies who were responding to reports of shots fired at Adcock's home.

Authorities allege that Adcock threatened to shoot a 5-year-boy and pointed a weapon at deputies when they arrived at the home.

Adcock says he fired shots inside his home, but that no one was at home at the time.

Conroe police sergeant gets probation in teen's death

CONROE, TX (KTRK) –

By Deborah Wrigley

A police sergeant convicted of manslaughter in the death of a 19-year-old shoplifting suspect has been given probation.

A Montgomery County jury delivered a five year prison sentence and recommended probation. Sentences less than 10 years are automatically eligible for probation.

The mother of Russell Rios openly wept at the sentence. "He killed my son," she said through sobs outside the courtroom, "and he gets the five years?"

Neither Sgt. Jason Blackwelder nor his family had any public comments after the sentencing decision. His attorney says there is still a federal lawsuit pending against Blackwelder.

Until now, he has been on suspension from the Conroe Police Department. The conclusion of the trial means that he may now be fired. A felony on his record prevents him from working as a peace officer.

Everett Police Officer Arrested In Alleged Beating Of 10-Year-Old Son

LYNN (CBS) – A police officer from Everett faces charges for allegedly beating his 10-year-old because he got in trouble at school.

Jermaine Bellard, 32, of Saugus, was arraigned Friday in Lynn District Court on one count of assault and battery on a child with injury, according to the Essex District Attorney’s office.

Saugus police say Melrose-Wakefield hospital officials called them, saying the 10-year-old child was in the emergency room with injuries to his back and buttocks

According to prosecutors, the boy and his mother said Bellard told the boy to lie on his bed and beat him with a belt 14 times because a school principal said he’d been acting out in class.

Prosecutors said the boy told them his father has beaten him before.

A lawyer for the 260-pound Bellard described him as a “very very good police officer,” adding that “he’s been a very good father over the years.”

The judge set bail for Bellard at $1,000 and ordered him to stay away from the child.

He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 6 for a pre-trial

Denver cop arrested on child abuse, domestic violence charges

By Noelle Phillips

Denver police officer has been jailed on nine charges — including child abuse, domestic violence and a weapons charge — filed by the Thornton Police Department, officials said Monday.

Daniel Diaz Deleon, 42, was arrested for harassment, obstructing a peace officer, resisting arrest, domestic violence, child abuse, criminal mischief, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and prohibited use of weapons, according to Adams County Jail records.

Documents related to the weekend arrest were not immediately available.

Deleon was being held on $5,000 bail.

Deleon has been ordered to speak with his commanders, said department spokesman Sonny Jackson.

Once that meeting happens, the command staff will decide how to handle his employment status, Jackson said.

Most likely, Deleon will be put on desk duty while the charges are pending, said Detective Mary McIver, a department spokeswoman.

Deleon, a detective who was hired in 2004, is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Thornton police were dispatched at 11:53 p.m. Saturday to a domestic violence in progress call on the 900 block of Thorncreek Court.

As officers arrived, they heard gunshots inside the house. A dispatcher was able to contact Deleon inside. He then came outside, where he was arrested, said Thornton Officer Matt Barnes, a department spokesman.

Fort Smith cop and wife arrested in Sequoyah County

Naaman Adcock

By Dianna F. Dandridge-Rystrom Staff Writer

A Fort Smith, Ark., police officer, Naaman Adcock, and his wife Tabitha Adcock, who live in Sequoyah County, were arrested Tuesday and charged with numerous felony firearms charges and child endangerment.

According to Sheriff Ron Lockhart, deputies responded to a call of shots being fired at a house north of Muldrow.

Lockhart said  a five-year-old child had asked neighbors for help.

Deputies determined the couple had argued and both parents had fired a gun, while intoxicated, with the children in the house.

On Thursday, deputies served a search warrant at the Adcock home and found video equipment that might have recorded the incidence.

Lockhart said the new evidence will be sent to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for analysis.

Deputies reported that Tabitha Adcock did not want the children talking to the deputies and that her version of the incident was different from that of her husband.

Deputies removed all firearms from the house and allowed the children and Tabitha Adcock to go to a family member's home until a forensic interview could be scheduled.

Naaman Adcock was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, reckless conduct with a firearm, feloniously pointing a firearm and child endangerment.

Tabitha Adcock was charged with failure to protect, child endangerment, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and reckless conduct with a firearm.

The Adcocks were booked into the Sequoyah County Jail. His bond was set at $24,000 and hers is $14,000.Both bonded out on Wednesday.

According to Sgt. Daniel Grubbs, Fort Smith Police Department, public information officer, Naaman Adcock resigned Wednesday.

The Fort Smith Police Department closed further investigation against Adcock, upon his resignation.

Cop arrested after fleeing car accident that injured his girlfriend

Julio Jimenez, 29, hit the gas while his girlfriend leaned into the backseat of a vehicle to deal with the pair’s 3-year-old. She was thrown to the ground during early Sunday morning incident. Jimenez turned himself in to police later in the day and was charged with accident causing injury, reckless endangerment and assault, police said. The woman suffered cuts and bruises.

BY TINA MOORE 

A cop hit the gas pedal while his girlfriend was leaning into the backseat of a vehicle where their 3-year-old son was Sunday, throwing her to the ground, police said.

Julio Jimenez, 29, caused the car to jolt forward at the couple’s Bronx home around 2 a.m., police said.

He turned himself in at the 45th Precinct station house at 2877 Barkley Ave. in the Throggs Neck neighborhood.

He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing injury, reckless endangerment and assault, police said.

His 23-year-old girlfriend suffered from cuts and bruises. It wasn’t clear if she was treated at the scene or taken to a hospital.

Jimenez has been a cop for 4 years and is assigned to the 42nd Precinct in the Morrisanna neighborhood, police said.

Former MPD officer arrested, charged with kidnapping

Rebecca Burylo,

A man arrested last week and charged with kidnapping a young woman and also attempting to entice a 13-year-old into his car is a former lieutenant with the Montgomery Police Department

Bessemer police on May 21 arrested George David Salum, 53, on charges of first-degree kidnapping, enticing a child, eluding police and resisting arrest.

Detective Kenneth Reese with the Criminal Investigations at the Bessemer Police Department, said police received a call at about 7:30 a.m. May 21 concerning a white male having approached a 13-year-old girl.

Reese said a group of children were waiting at a bus stop when one girl was approached by an adult male, who later was identified as Salum. Witnesses said Salum offered the girl money to get into his car and leave with him, but she refused, according to Reese.

Police began a search for Salum's silver Hyundai sedan, but when they found it about noon with Salum inside and attempted to pull it over, he fled. Police pursued the vehicle to the Hoover-Bessemer city limits, where Salum stopped and was arrested without incident or injury.

A passenger in Salum's car, described by police as a woman in her 30s, told officers Salum had abducted her.

Salum had been living in an alcohol recovery house in Bessemer and had no previous run-ins with the law there, according to police.

Local attormey Julian McPhillips represented Salum when he faced allegations in 2005 of improperly using his office and selling the identity of an undercover officer.

The incident was related to the federal drug trafficking arrest of Montgomerian Leon Carmichael, who in June 2003 had built a $1.8 million, 3,000-seat entertainment facility in west Montgomery. Carmichael was arrested in November 2003 after federal agents found weapons and more than 500 pounds of marijuana. He was convicted in 2005.

A jury found that Salum had sold the police ID photo and personnel file for undercover officer Raymond David DeJohn — as well as police records and background on four prosecution witnesses — to Carmichael. DeJohn's ID photo later appeared on Carmichael's website under the banner "WANTED," along with photos of the four other witnesses.

McPhillips said he is surprised at the current charges facing Salum, adding that he always thought Salum was a fairly decent man having served in the police department for about 20 years.

"Deep down inside, he's a good guy, I don't know what went wrong," McPhillips said. "They are only allegations still. I hope it's not true, what he's been accused of."

Salum is currently being held under $80,000 bond in the Jefferson County Jail.

Video shows Boynton Beach police officer kick boy's legs

Officer placed on adminstrative duty after video surfaces

Peter Burke

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -

A South Florida police officer has been placed on administrative duty after cellphone video that seemingly shows him assaulting a boy has surfaced on the Internet.

Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said in a statement Tuesday that the department is aware of the videos, which first appeared on the website LiveLeak.com.

"We are concerned as to the initial appearance of the video, and despite the fact that we have received no formal complaints at this time, we are committed to reviewing the situation in its entirety and taking whatever action is deemed most appropriate at the conclusion of our investigation," Slater said.

According to the website, two sixth-grade students were pulled off a school bus for their behavior.

The first video apparently shows the officer putting one of the boys in a choke hold.

In the second video, it shows that same officer kicking the boy's legs, causing him to fall on his back to the ground.

The incident happened May 8 at the intersection of Northwest Fourth Street and Boynton Beach Boulevard.

Police did not say what school the boys attended.

The bastards murder him and got away with it

The new Klan

Police say video footage showed Officer George Bermudez tripping one person, attempting to trip another

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The Vandegrift girls soccer team claimed the 4A title after beating Wylie East this weekend.

It's the first time any soccer program from the Austin area has won the state championship but that's not the only thing parents and students are talking about days after. Many are outraged after witnessing a Georgetown police officer tripping and pushing students as they rushed the field to celebrate.

Police say video footage showed Officer George Bermudez tripping one person, attempting to trip another, physically restraining another person and shoving a fourth person as people leaped from the stands after Vandegrift High School won the state championship Saturday.

"We get in the dog pile and it's just crazy you know," said Gray Goolsby, a Vandegrift student who joined in the celebration.

But before long Goolsby felt a tug on his back.

"I felt this hand grab my shoulder and just pull me out of the dog pile and says, 'Get back to the stands,'" said Goolsby.

Goolsby says he holds no ill will against the officer who he believes was just trying to do his job.

"I hope he doesn't lose his job over this because we were just trying to have fun, and he's just trying to do his job, and hopefully everything works out," said Goolsby.

"These kids were excited. They wanted to celebrate," said parent Karen Morse. Morse's daughter is a junior on the team. "It was so exciting. In fact, it was so exciting, I jumped up and almost blacked out and hit the woman in front of me!"

Karen Morse watched as her daughter's hard work paid off but something else on the field also caught her attention.

"All the kids are jumping over, friends, boyfriends, everybody's just running. Then I see this police officer just sticking out his leg," she said.

In the video, you see a student hit the ground then limp away. Bermudez then sticks out his leg in an attempt to trip a girl, then grabs another student and pushes him away and then another girl is pushed to the ground.

"They just wanted to, you know, go and celebrate with the girls basically and have a good time," said sophomore Rohan Gupta. "We're just kids running on to a field to celebrate our team and it was kind of too much. It was kind of a cheap shot going for his legs," he said.

Gupta also caught it on his phone and uploaded this video to YouTube.

"We've been inundated all day with not only media but concerned parents, not only from Central Texas/Georgetown but actually across the nation," said Georgetown Police Captain Roland Waits.

Waits said last year they named Bermudez officer of the year and now he's under investigation for misconduct.

"So naturally this is very alarming and concerning to us," he said.

"It wasn't like they were rowdy. They were just celebrating," said parent Lori Digesualda. "I hope that this doesn't overshadow all of the hard work and the dedication that the team, parents and coaches put in."

It was a sweet victory, turned sour. Now these parents have just one question: What was the wrong doing?

Bermudez has been with the Georgetown Police Department since 2005, and he is assigned to the Community Resources Unit. He's now on paid administrative leave.

The Georgetown Police Department Police Chief Wayne Nero issued a statement on Monday in response to the on-going internal affairs investigation:

"As would be appropriate given the circumstances, I have fielded a number of phone calls and emails regarding the recent actions of Officer Bermudez as depicted in the circulating videos. After personally watching the videos, the actions of my officer are very concerning to me as well. As the Chief of Police, it is my responsibility to ensure that this matter is investigated objectively, thoroughly, and in a timely manner without bias. We are doing just that.

I want to reassure the public that it is not the position of the Georgetown Police Department to neither condone nor tolerate misconduct of any type. This matter was immediately forwarded to the Professional Standards Division upon receiving notice of this incident. Given that we are a Civil Service agency governed by Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code, there is a well-defined process for investigating and rendering disposition of internal investigations and we are following that process. Consistent with allegations of similar nature, Officer Bermudez has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.

I realize there are many condemning Officer Bermudez and demanding his immediate termination. As an executive manager, it is my duty to ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted into this matter and that all of the appropriate and relevant facts are gathered so that a well-informed disciplinary decision can be rendered. I can assure you that this will take place in a timely manner. As a leader, it is my duty to support Officer Bermudez as both a human being and as a troop for which I am directly responsible. As a leader, I can support Officer Bermudez through the process of accountability without condoning or supporting his behavior – that is what leaders do. "

Special needs tot charged with resisting arrest by U.S. cops - 8-year-old had run away from school

By Donal MacIntyre

U.S. cops and the justice system are being held up to ridicule as an eight-year-old boy with severe learning difficulties has been charged by police after he ran away from his special needs school.

Police said that they chased 8-year-old Edward Hart, who had blted from the Hillside Learning and Behaviour Center in Allegan, Michigan. He then cursed and hit an officer when he tried to hand him back to his 'special needs' trained teachers.

The Allegan police force is facing public ridicule over the incident and the decision to charge the 8-year-old special needs student, with two juvenile charges which could result in juvenile detention, an institution not unlike the special needs school he currently attends.

Notwithstanding the fact that the child is learning disabled, the public prosecutor is adamant the charges will stick, despite the public outcry.

“I don’t even think he did anything wrong in this case. He’s special needs,” Robert Bluhm, Edward’s stepfather told Fox 17 news.

“He’s ran away from the school before… but he’s never made it as far as he did this time, he said.

Police said that when the child was asked his name, he cursed and assaulted armed officers.

The child was then thrown into the back of a police car and taken to the station in a move which is close to child cruelty, his stepfather said.

“He has special needs. He has anger issues. They know this, and they’re going to throw him in the back of a cop car all by himself,” Bluhm said.

The child apparently broke a $50 camera in the back of the car and has been charged specifically with malicious destruction of police property and resisting and obstructing arrest.

“If they had him under control, why didn’t they ride with him in the back of this cop car. So this incident would have never took place?”, the stepfather told Fox news.

The police force are insistent on reclaiming the cost of the camera and the prosecutor is insistent on bringing the child to court.

Police officer charged with assault on child

A Beaufort police officer will appear in court next month on a charge that he assaulted a child, authorities said.

On April 20, deputies with the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office served Capt. Robert Dunn with the arrest warrant, according to information released by the sheriff’s office Tuesday after receiving several media inquiries.

Dunn, 46, was arrested on a warrant charging him with misdemeanor assault on a child under the age of 12, the sheriff’s office said.

The warrant indicated the female child is age 10 but little other information was available.

The charge was filed at the magistrate’s office and not by the sheriff’s office.

Dunn was released on a written promise to appear in court. He court date is scheduled for May 6.

Florida Teen Wrongly Arrested In K-9 Attack, Files Lawsuit Against Orlando Police Department

Khier Casino, Thu, April 24, 2014

A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against the Orlando Police Department after one of its officers mistook him for a robbery suspect and was attacked by a K-9.

Isaiah Montanez, 19, was riding his bicycle on March 31, 2013 when he was dragged off his bike by Orlando Officer James Parker, who was looking for a suspect.

The cop then let his K-9 loose to take Montanez down and maul him.

“He is still very much traumatized,” Bradley Laurent, Montanez’ attorney, told WESH 2 News.

He was just riding along and all of a sudden he just gets yoked off his bicycle by a police officer and the dog is immediately released on him," Laurent told WFTV Orlando. According to a police report, Parker was searching in the same area at the time for a Hispanic robbery suspect, and he believed Montanez fit the description. Parker also saw another man, identified as Joshua Mejia, riding a bicycle with Montanez. The officer claims he ordered the duo to stop, but only Mejia listened to the command, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Montanez did not stop and “tried to pedal harder and go around me,” Parker said. That's when the officer pulled him off the bike. Montanez was charged with resisting arrest without violence, but the state attorney's office did not seek to prosecute and the case is now closed - See more at: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/florida-teen-wrongly-arrested-k-9-attack-files-lawsuit-against-orlando-police#sthash.NW8JT4kX.dpuf

SEE IT: Texas cop breaks teen's arm while trying to stop school fight

BY LEE MORAN

A Texas cop has been suspended after he was caught on camera snapping a student's arm as he broke up a school fight.

Stephen Rivers was filmed harshly grabbing the teen's limb and awkwardly slamming it forward, as a female security guard held the boy firmly on the ground.

The sound of the bone breaking can be heard in the graphic cellphone clip, recorded at West Brook High School, in Beaumont, on March 7.

The Beaumont Enterprise reports that Rivers, a part-time officer on the campus, was suspended without pay following the incident.

An investigation is due to be completed in the coming days, revealed Beaumont School District Police Chief Clydell Duncan.

The circumstances that led to the fight between the teen and another male student are currently unclear.

However, it has been reported that the pair had fought on various occasions before.

Ex-cop, son charged in slaying

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Action 7 News is learning about the arrest of a former state police officer and his son who were both arrested and charged with murder.

Jack McDowell and his son were arrested last year, but the warrant was just unsealed.

Rio Rancho police raided McDowell's home in January 2013 in connection with the murder of James Chavez, 35, who was killed a year and a half earlier.

McDowell and his son were arrested and charged, but any clues about possible motives were sealed in court documents until recently.

Our media partners at the Albuquerque Journal obtained an arrest warrant affidavit, claiming McDowell was a gun runner and meth dealer with ties to the Bandidos Motorcycle Gang.

Police said they always suspected the pair, but it took a year and a half to get enough evidence.

McDowell's defense attorney said his client is innocent. He also said the prosecution's witnesses are unreliable, and he'll try to keep some of them from testifying.

One of them, he said, has a separate case pending -- the high-speed chase that severely injured Corrales police Officer Jeremy Romero.

In the murder case, court documents said that witness and another were both hesitant to say anything for fear of retaliation.

McDowell and his son are being held on $1 million cash-only bonds in Sandoval County.

In 1984, McDowell was part of Gov. Toney Anaya's security detail while working for state polic

Prosecutors Won't Press Charges Against Boy Who Allegedly Threw A Snowball At A Cop

By Jeremy GornerTribune reporter

The 13-year-old boy had been singled out last month for hitting a Chicago police officer with a snowball about a block from his West Side elementary school.

“I thought he was going to drive me around the corner and say, ‘Don’t do it again” or “Don’t let me see you back around here making trouble,’” the boy said. But the officer fired questions at him for about half an hour while he sat in the back of the squad car with his hands cuffed, according to the boy.

He was then taken home briefly before being hustled to a police station, arrested for aggravated battery to a police officer and released to his mother after about six hours in a lockup, his family said.

The incident drew media attention and sparked questions about whether a juvenile with no previous arrests should face a felony charge for throwing a snowball, even at a cop. Experts contacted by the Tribune expressed surprise at how police handled the case.

“I can understand why police officers can feel the need to ensure that their authority is respected, but I do think that just looking at the nature of the charge, it sounds pretty extreme,” said Bruce Boyer, director of Loyola University Chicago’s Civitas ChildLaw Center.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office apparently agrees. Office spokeswoman Sally Daly told the Tribune that prosecutors don’t plan to press charges against the boy.

“We just don’t believe the matter rises to any level of a criminal charge based on our review,” said Daly, who indicated that prosecutors would let the boy know he won’t have to appear for a scheduled court appearance next week at the county Juvenile Justice Center.

Adam Collins, the spokesman for police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, said the boy’s conduct could have been “extremely dangerous” since the officer was driving at the time. But since the officer was not injured, Collins acknowledged, “the incident could probably have been handled in a different manner.”

The police officer who made the arrest, a nine-year veteran, declined to comment to a reporter who tried to talk to him by phone about his reasons for making the arrest.

During a recent interview at their Austin neighborhood home, the 13-year-old boy and his mother said they were baffled by the arrest. The newspaper is not identifying the family because the boy is only a juvenile. The lanky eighth grader denied he threw the snowball and said it didn’t even hit the officer, striking his police car instead. He said he was with a group of about 15 students near George Leland Elementary School after classes on Feb. 19 and that he didn’t see who threw the snowball.

Police officers have discretion on whether to arrest minors or release them to their parents. Often juveniles are given a “station adjustment” – in which police make a record of an arrest but release the minor to their parents without referring the case to juvenile court. If the minor goes to court, however, a point system -- based on the severity of the charge and criminal history -- determines if a juvenile should be held in the detention facility. Juveniles who don’t score high are sent home with new court dates.

For more than a century, Cook County’s juvenile court has operated on the understanding that children possessed great potential for rehabilitation. As a result, the court often tries to find an alternative to incarceration such as community service or simple apologies, said Elizabeth Clarke, a former Cook County assistant public defender who represented juveniles.

The 13-year-old boy was suspended from school for five days and fears the arrest and discipline could mar his chances at getting accepted into Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, regarded as one of the city’s best schools. The boy said he gets Bs, Cs and a couple of As in school, enjoys reading but is struggling with algebra. While on suspension, he said he sat around his apartment listening to rap music, watching movies and playing “NBA 2K 2014“ on his Xbox 360.

According to a police report, the school’s dean of students identified the boy to the officer as the one who threw the snowball. Police said the snowball hit the officer on his arm while he was driving by in his car. The boy said the dean had gotten angry at him earlier that same day and admitted he had talked back to him.

Leland, located in the 4900 block of West Congress Parkway, is one of more than 50 Chicago public schools part of the Safe Passage program – a security initiative that requires a police presence at the school before and after classes.

The boy denied he belongs to a gang in his crime-ridden neighborhood. He thinks he was targeted because he was the only one in the group of about 15 youths who had his hair in dreadlocks. Police, he said, often harass teens in his neighborhood with dreads, assuming they’re up to no good.

The boy’s mother, who is raising him and his sister on her own, also expressed concern that the incident could hurt her son’s chances of qualifying for Whitney Young. A manager at a Popeye’s chicken restaurant, she said she’s never been happy with life on the West Side because of the violence and bad schools.

“I want to move far out. I want to do better. I’m trying,” she said in a somber tone. “It’s upsetting. It’s stressful.”

 Rosemary Regina Sobol contributed.

Jordan Miles testifies he did nothing wrong before arrest

            By Bob Mayo

PITTSBURGH —A former high school student said Thursday he did nothing wrong before three Pittsburgh police officers forcefully arrested him more than four years ago.

The former CAPA school honors student said he thought they were muggers when they demanded drugs, guns and money during the incident in January 2010. Miles, who is suing the officers over alleged civil rights violations, told the jurors that he slipped on ice and fell as he tried to get away, then they attacked.

"They set upon him and beat him. They beat him savagely while he laid his face in the snow. He struggled to get up. He struggled to get away, but he never touched them. He never swung at them," recounted Miles' attorney, Joel Sansone, outside the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh.

Bryan Campbell, an attorney for one of the officers, also spoke with reporters during a recess in testimony.

"There's no doubt he used force against these officers. The one officer had to go to the hospital. Today he said he didn't resist, he didn't do anything like that," Campbell said.

Officers Michael Saldutti, David Sisak and Richard Ewing previously testified that Miles resisted arrest and that they thought he had a gun, though none was found. They've suggested they may have mistaken a bottle of Mountain Dew in his coat pocket for a weapon. The officers say they discarded the bottle.  Miles said he never had a pop bottle with him and doesn't like Mountain Dew. On every major point, Miles' testimony and that of the officers is at odds and there were no independent witnesses.

"He didn't know that they were police officers, because there were no badges. There was no 'Pittsburgh police' shouted in a commanding voice. He saw three guys jump out of a car and mug him," said Sansone.

The officers have said they plainly showed their badges and repeatedly called out that they were police.

"That's what's not credible. You have three experienced police officers and he said from the very start of this to the very end, he never knew they were police officers, they never said they were police officers," said Campbell.

Miles testified they kept hitting him after he was handcuffed and that they hit him with a hard object in addition to striking him with their fists and knees.

"So he lay there and he took their beating. Then they handcuffed him. And as he lay with his face in the snow, praying, they beat him because he prayed," said Sansone.

"We find it incredible to listen to his story. That he thinks that three white males driving around Homewood at 11 o'clock at night (were) looking to mug or rob anybody," Campbell said.

Miles, who is black, alleges in his federal civil rights lawsuit that the white officers wrongfully arrested him and used excessive force

The former high school student testified Thursday that he did nothing wrong before the three Pittsburgh police officers arrested and beat him in 2010 as he was walking to his grandmother's house.

Miles testified that he had never before been arrested, played the viola in school and was an honors student.

Miles' attorney introduced pictures taken at a hospital after the arrest that showed his face swollen almost beyond recognition and said examinations showed he could have been hit 14 times in the head. The officers acknowledge kneeing Miles repeatedly and punching him in the head, but they said that was all necessary to keep him from reaching for what they believed was a gun.

After the arrest "it hurt to move just about every part of my body," Miles said.

Saldutte, Sisak and Ewing say many of Miles' facial injuries occurred when he was tackled by Sisak and driven through a shrub, head-first. Miles has insisted he was never driven through the bush and has said the officers ripped locks of hair from his head.

Miles also said he agreed to a drug test at the hospital because he never used drugs. The test came back negative.

A district judge said he didn't find the police version credible and dismissed all criminal charges against Miles. An FBI investigation resulted in no criminal civil rights charges against the officers.

Miles' lawsuit was heard by another jury two years ago, which cleared the officers of allegations they prosecuted him maliciously. But that jury couldn't decide the excessive force and wrongful arrest claims that are the focus of the current retrial.

Miles said that he felt confused and "helpless" at the jail.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he said.