HEADLINE:  Suspects charged in police barracks burglaries

HALIFAX -- Halifax County investigators have cracked a  professional burglary ring whose targets included state police  barracks in North Carolina and Virginia, police said.
The ring is suspected of committing 50 to 60 burglaries along  the North Carolina-Virginia border, most of them in Halifax  County, said Detective Neil Guay of the Halifax County Sheriff's Office. Losses could exceed $ 100,000.

The burglars also stole from real estate companies, insurance  companies, convenience stores and ATMs, Guay said.  The burglars stole guns and drugs from the evidence lockers at
four North Carolina state Highway Patrol offices and items from  three Virginia State Police barracks.

Police have arrested Korey Dewand Johnson, 23, of Rocky Mount  and Dalian K. Green, 37, and Lamar Arvale Lashley, 24, both from  Weldon. Each faces numerous burglary charges, Guay said.

Green, who is thought to be the main suspect, faces 40 counts,  Guay said. He was being held at the Halifax County jail under a  $ 200,000 bond, Guay said.

A fourth man, Leroy Buck Mallory Jr., is believed to have been  part of the burglary ring until his arrest on unrelated charges  in April, Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier said.  So far, the suspects have been formally charged with some of  the police office burglaries in North Carolina but none in  Virginia, which occurred in South Hill, Franklin and Emporia.

Police think the burglars ranged from Isle of Wight County to  Mecklenburg County in Virginia to Rocky Mount. Since investigators arrested three of the suspects for  breaking into a Lawrenceville convenience store May 31, investigators have been scrambling to link them to specific crimes and to return stolen property.

Guay said the burglary ring was the best-organized ring that  he had seen in 10 years. Each of the burglaries, which took place  over more than a year, had the markings of professionals:  unscrewing door locks, cutting telephone lines, sabotaging  surveillance cameras and taking the videotapes, Guay said.

The cases could bring federal charges because of the interstate traffic, Guay said.  Investigators are still putting the pieces together on the cases, Guay said. "I have no doubt that more charges are going to be drawn at another time," he said.

HEADLINE: EX-CHIEF OF POLICE WON'T BE CHARGED LANCASTER

Despite running what a special prosecutor called "a system that was conducive to theft,'' Lancaster's former police chief will not be criminally charged for using police funds to buy paintball guns and other items for personal use.

Randall Lutz, acting chief since Richard Schwader resigned in May, is scheduled to be sworn in today as chief, beginning what he said will be a new chapter for the 86-employee department.
Stark County Prosecutor Robert Horowitz, who reviewed the case at the invitation of Fairfield County Prosecutor David Landefeld, recommended against prosecuting Schwader.

Horowitz said there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing beyond the former chief's admission.

Schwader's admission, made during an administrative disciplinary hearing before the city law director, cannot be used in a criminal prosecution, Horowitz noted, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Without the evidence from his admission, "I am not convinced that a prosecution of him would be successful.''  Landefeld concurred.

"Bob Horowitz is a very respected prosecutor in Ohio, and we're following his recommendation,'' he said. "As far as this office is concerned, this matter is now closed.''
Mayor Art Wallace said he supports the decision.

Schwader resigned and repaid the city $ 1,787.81 three days after city officials charged him with 53 violations of the police force's code of conduct.

He was accused of using police funds to buy paintball guns, a computer and a camera, and of keeping an M-16 rifle for personal use.

Most of the items were recovered. The $ 1,700 covered what was not recovered.
In a report to Landefeld, Horowitz said Schwader clearly ran "below standard'' police department procedures after failing to document and monitor spending from police funds, and failing to file required reports on spending to the city and state.

"To put it simply, the chief had allowed, if not facilitated, a system that was conducive to theft,'' Horowitz said.

The former chief now works for a Lancaster car dealership. He did not return calls yesterday.
Lutz, a former deputy chief, was chosen by the city service-safety director over Jeff Gerken, another deputy chief, after outscoring him on an exam administered by the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.

"I hope to call it the new beginning,'' Lutz said.

Gerken, who was cited for ethical violations with Schwader, drew a written reprimand, a four- day suspension and an order to repay the city $ 200.

Gerken and Schwader had signed a petition that called Fairfield County Sheriff Gary DeMastry an embarrassment to law enforcement. The petition demanded DeMastry resign.
DeMastry has been indicted on 323 public-corruption charges. He is accused of misspending public money and lying about it.

In May, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation began probing how marijuana, money and a gun disappeared from the sheriff's evidence room. The investigation continues.

HEADLINE: Theft charges dismissed

Adistrict judge Wednesday dismissed theft charges against former Undersheriff William Huffmier and former sheriff's deputy Dave Reser.

Judge Thomas Conklin issued the ruling in a case in which Huffmier and Reser had been accused of stealing two lockers from a former sheriff's department property room at Forbes Field.
"No reasonable minds could disagree that these lockers had been abandoned by the county as scrap," Conklin wrote.

The Kansas attorney general's office in January charged Huffmier and Reser with one count each of misdemeanor theft in connection with Reser's acquisition of the lockers with Huffmier's permission in June 1999. The lease on the sheriff's department property room at Forbes expired at the end of that month, and the contents of the room were being moved to the Law Enforcement Center and a second facility.

Reser resigned from the sheriff's department Dec. 3. Huffmier was fired as undersheriff on Feb. 24, shortly after two district judges ousted former Sheriff Dave Meneley from office, ruling Meneley committed perjury on two occasions and concealment on one occasion.

Witnesses testified in April that Huffmier gave Reser permission to take the lockers because they were going to be thrown away.

Conklin wrote in Wednesday's ruling that county employees had gone to the warehouse, used several pickup trucks to haul items they planned to take and left the rest, including the lockers.
Conklin noted that state law defines theft as "obtaining or exerting unauthorized control over property with intent to deprive the owner permanently of the possession, use or benefit of the property."

Conklin pointed out that prosecutors presented no evidence the lockers belonged to Shawnee County. "No one knew where the lockers came from," he wrote.

Conklin added, "No reasonable jury could find the property was owned by the county at the time the lockers were taken, and thus, no intent to deprive the owner permanently of the possession can possibly be found."

A prosecutor had compared Reser's asking permission before taking the lockers to the act of an officer asking permission from a supervisor before shooting a handcuffed person.

Conklin countered that the definitions and elements of those crimes were different. He wrote that Reser's act of asking for the lockers proved he had no intent to unlawfully deprive the owner of the possession.

Reser also had asked that the case against him be dismissed on grounds that prosecutors were practicing "discriminatory prosecution" against Meneley's associates.

Conklin wrote that he found that argument "compelling" but saw no need to address it because he already had decided to dismiss the case.

"No reasonable minds could disagree that these lockers had been abandoned by the county as scrap."

--- JUDGE THOMAS CONKLIN, in his ruling to dismiss charges against former sheriff's employees

HEADLINE: Charges against sheriff's officials dropped by judge

TOPEKA - Charges that two Shawnee County sheriff's officials stole evidence lockers have been dismissed.

Attorney General Carla Stovall in January accused former  Undersheriff William Huffmier and former deputy Dave Reser of  improperly taking the lockers in June 1999 from what was then a
sheriff's department property room at Forbes Field.

District Judge Thomas Conklin dismissed the charges Wednesday,  finding that the lockers did not belong to the county at the time they were taken.

"No reasonable minds could disagree that these lockers had been  abandoned by the county as scrap," Conklin wrote.  Huffmier and Reser were charged with one count each of
misdemeanor theft stemming from Reser's acquisition of the lockers with Huffmier's permission.

HEADLINE: Ex-CHP officer to plead guilty in money laundering Michael Wilcox also has agreed to have his case moved to Los Angeles.

BYLINE: Jerry Bier THE FRESNO BEE

A former California Highway Patrol officer from Fresno whose cooperation helped crack a major Southern California drug case will plead guilty to charges that he attempted to hide money that authorities said he made as a result of drug deals.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno, Michael Wilcox, 40, agreed to plead guilty and have his money-laundering case transferred to Los Angeles.

Wilcox, who also has been charged in the drug case, has been cooperating with authorities.
His plea agreement in the Fresno case says he also has agreed to plead guilty to drug charges in Los Angeles, but that he will not be charged with drug trafficking or conspiracy.

The prosecutors also have agreed to recommend that whatever sentence Wilcox receives for both the drug and money-laundering counts will be served concurrently.

Wilcox, who resigned from the Highway Patrol, originally was charged in federal court in Fresno with 13 counts of "structuring financial transactions" in an effort to hide an unexplained accumulation of wealth.

He agreed to plead guilty to one of those counts.

Wilcox, who is free on his own recognizance, is cooperating in the Southern California drug case against former state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent Richard Wayne Parker and others. Parker already has been sentenced to life in prison and fined $16 million in a drug case in which nearly 650 pounds of cocaine was stolen July 4, 1997, from a BNE evidence locker in Riverside.

Officers said they cracked the case with the cooperation of Wilcox, who allegedly told investigators he and his former Highway Patrol partner, George Ruelas, committed the burglary with Parker's direction.

Ruelas, who was arrested in Fresno while Wilcox cooperated with authorities, and Wilcox reportedly burglarized the evidence locker using a key and a code provided by Parker.

According to investigators, Wilcox aroused suspicion when he began making a series of bank deposits throughout Fresno, Merced and Kings counties.  The frequent deposits, made between February and October 1998, ranged from $1,800 to $4,400. Deposits of less than $10,000 usually are not reported to federal authorities.

HEADLINE: FOR THE RECORD - COP ADMITS TO THEFT, EX-COP HEADS TO JAIL

A former West Bountiful police officer who pleaded guilty to stealing while moonlighting as a security guard began serving a 60-day jail sentence Monday. Patrick Jellerson, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of class A misdemeanor theft for stealing money from a Lakeview Hospital safe and a gift shop cash register. Jellerson initially was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor. But prosecutors dismissed the felony in exchange for Jellerson's promise to testify against a fellow police officer, who was charged with stealing firearms and other property from the police department's evidence room. That officer, Jamie E. Wehner, 41, last month pleaded guilty in 2nd District Court to class A misdemeanor wrongful appropriation. The plea is to be held in abeyance for 18 months, and the case will be dismissed if there are no new violations. 

Wehner also was ordered to pay $ 250 in court costs. Jellerson, after serving his jail time, must complete 80 hours of community service and pay an additional $ 1,143 in restitution to Lakeview Hospital. He reportedly has already paid $ 1,000 to the hospital.

HEADLINE: Police officer facing charges

DATELINE: NEW CASTLE, Pa.

A police officer from Lawrence County faces multiple criminal charges alleging he threatened a man at gunpoint, stole evidence and provided alcohol and marijuana to minors last month.

Daryl Glynn Quimby, 30, has been a part-time police officer for the last two years. He was arrested Wednesday, arraigned and released on $50,000 bond. Charges include simple assault, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, criminal coercion, theft, official oppression, corruption of minors and providing liquor to minors.

Police say Quimby approached Travis James Sallmen, 19, in the parking lot of a pizzeria. After Sallmen declined Quimby's request to go to a party with him, the officer pulled out his gun, waved it and pointed it at Sallmen, police said.

Sallmen claims he walked away, but when he returned, Quimby was holding a knife against his car, as if he were going to scratch it, and threatened to charge Sallmen with loitering if he reported what happened.

Sallmen says he got into Quimby's truck at gunpoint and rode with the officer to the Union Township police station, where Quimby removed marijuana from an evidence locker and held the knife to his throat, threatening to kill Sallmen if he told anyone what happened.

Quimby then allegedly ordered Sallmen to drink a wine cooler that he took from the evidence locker before driving with him to a convenience store, where he offered a ride to two girls. While Quimby was talking to the girls, police said Sallmen telephoned two male friends and asked them to follow Quimby's truck.

After they drove from the convenience store, Quimby allegedly put his gun to Sallmen's head, threatened him and told Sallmen to put his head out the window "so I don't get brains all over my truck."

Quimby is accused of driving to the Shenango China Hunting and Fishing Club in Hickory Township, getting beer from a machine and giving it to Sallmen, the two girls and Sallmen's two friends. He then rolled marijuana cigarettes and passed them around to everyone present, police said.

He then allegedly walked to a nearby creek and fired five shots, after which Sallmen left with his friends and Quimby drove the girls back to the convenience store, police said.

State police said Quimby was not on duty at the time the incidents are alleged to have occurred.

HEADLINE: POLICE SUPERVISOR MAY SERVE TIME

The Sebastian police dispatch supervisor accused of stealing $13,000 in money from the agency's evidence room pleaded no contest Monday to the charge and likely will serve jail time and be ordered to repay the money.

Jay Bennett entered his plea as his case was called for trial Monday.

Bennett, 48, of Vero Beach, could face up to a year in Indian River County Jail, prosecutors said.

"We feel he deserves some jail time because he was in a position of trust," explained Assistant State Attorney Ed Taylor.

The cash was in a locked safe in the evidence room and Bennett was one of only two employees with access to the safe. Bennett had been in charge of police evidence for several years.
Bennett confessed to taking the money, telling both law-enforcement officials and the press that he needed the money because he was having financial problems that included mounting medical bills.

Bennett took $13,000 collected from Ann Marie Fischer's Schumann Drive house after she was murdered in May 1997. Choya Hodges is serving a life sentence for the slaying and robbery.
The money was hidden behind a water heater in the house, police said. It was not even evidence in the case and was being held pending release back to the Fischer family, Taylor said.
Taylor said part of Bennett's sentence will be to repay the money he took.

"We want that money back," Taylor added.

After the theft was discovered, Sebastian police inventoried the evidence room and found almost $7,000 in additional missing cash from other seizures.

Investigators said Bennett began taking small amounts of cash in June 1999, the same time he was promoted from communications technician to support services supervisor.

He was arrested in February after Fischer's family began asking when they could have the cash back. An audit by the city's Finance Department led to the discovery of the missing funds.

HEADLINE:  L.A. Cop Charged With Murder

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

A former partner of the police officer who ignited a corruption scandal last year was charged Friday with attempted murder and armed robbery, the most serious charges in the investigation so far.

Five officers now face prosecution for alleged corruption in the anti-gang unit at the police department's Rampart station, and more than 20 officers have left active duty.

Officer Nino Durden, 32, was arrested in the shooting of a gang member who is now paralyzed and the robbery at gunpoint of a suspected drug dealer. Charges also include filing false police reports and committing perjury.

Durden once partnered with Rafael Perez, who told investigators last year that he and other officers beat, framed and robbed people in rough neighborhoods west of downtown.

Durden's lawyer, Darryl Mounger, said his client is innocent and denounced Perez as a liar.

Perez began cooperating with investigators in exchange for a lenient sentence after he pleaded guilty to stealing cocaine from an evidence room.

District Attorney Gil Garcetti said Durden wouldn't have been charged without corroboration.
''We've always known that any case based on the testimony of Officer Perez would be very difficult to sustain in front of a jury,'' Garcetti said.

Because of the scandal, nearly 100 criminal cases have been dropped or convictions overturned.
This week, a police commission review panel asked the department's 9,300 officers to complete an 11-page questionnaire to gauge rank-and-file opinion on department problems.

Durden was charged with attempting to kill 22-year-old gang member Javier Francisco Ovando in October 1996. Ovando was convicted of assault and served three years of a 23-year sentence.

The original police report said Perez and Durden were staking out an apartment building when Ovando burst into a dark apartment and pointed a rifle at them. The report said Ovando was ordered to drop the gun, and both officers shot him when he did not comply.

In an interview of Perez by prosecutors that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Perez said he never saw Ovando with a gun and that Durden quickly left the shooting scene and returned with a sawed-off rifle that he dropped next to Ovando.

Perez said he recognized the weapon as one the officers had seized previously.

The six-count complaint also charged Durden with second-degree robbery, alleging he stole jewelry and money from Grace Cox, whom the officers suspected of dealing drugs, in August 1997.

Durden also was charged with perjury under oath in the case of Miguel Hernandez, who was convicted of a weapons violation in 1996 and served eight months in prison.