Cop Shoots Mom in Ankle

 

June 29, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn., --- Today the Department of Safety served Trooper Terry Rainey with a “minimum due process” letter for termination. Pursuant to Department of Personnel rules and regulations, Trooper Rainey is entitled to due process.

Colonel Mike Walker recommended to Safety Commissioner David Mitchell that Trooper Rainey be terminated as disciplinary action following an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility into a shooting at his parent’s home on Saturday May 19, 2007 in Chester County.

The investigation revealed Trooper Rainey removed a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber pistol from his private vehicle and fired a shot into the ground in an attempt to get his father’s attention. A second shot into the ground ricocheted and struck his mother in the ankle area of the leg.

As a result of the shooting incident, Trooper Rainey was charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault and one count of Reckless Endangerment. A reckless endangerment charge against him was bound over to the Chester County Grand Jury Tuesday while assault charges were dropped.

The recommendation for dismissal is due to eight violations of either Department of Personnel or Department of Safety policy, including gross misconduct and endangering the lives and property of others.

Trooper Rainey remains on administrative leave until a minimum due process hearing is held on Thursday July 12, 2007. A “minimum due process” memorandum is attached. Pending the hearing, this is all the Department of Safety can release at this time.

Duh!

Jul 20, 5:49 PM (ET)

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) - It's a bad idea to burglarize a place marked "K-9 training facility."

Police dog handlers arriving Wednesday at the abandoned nursing home where they hold training sessions discovered two men and a woman dismantling the building's copper pipes and wiring, Hall County Sheriff's Sgt. Kiley Sargent said. When the officers arrived, the three dropped their tools and ran. That was their second mistake.

"For anyone to try to run from a whole unit of canines, it's just a no-win situation," Sargent said.

Pamela Puckett, 37, quickly surrendered. Marc Black, 18, was tracked to a trash bin behind a nearby convenience store. Paul Perry, 39, was treated for a superficial dog bite just below the buttocks after his arrest, authorities said. Signs outside the northern Georgia facility warn, "Caution!!! Gainesville Police Department K-9 training facility - Keep Out."

"It's not like it was a secret," Sargent said. "I guess someone who is that determined to steal something might not pay attention."

High copper prices in recent years have led to thieves breaking into power plants and abandoned factories to rip out the wiring.

Perry, of Gainesville, and Puckett and Black, of nearby Braselton, were charged with burglary, Sargent said. Perry and Black also face misdemeanor obstruction charges.

Think You've Heard it All?

Jul 20, 6:31 PM (ET)

By NOURA MAAN

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - It's fat-free, comes in three flavors, and it's for ... dogs.

Introducing "Dogissimo" - an ice cream created specifically for canines that has gone on sale at a local ice cream parlor.

With temperatures in Vienna topping 95 degrees for almost a week, the treat - available in rice, vanilla-rice and soy flavors - has the potential to become a hit during the dog days of summer.

Simona Leonardini, who concocted the doggie delight, said she hopes it will help man's best friend deal with the sizzling heat. "I own three dogs myself and if it's hot, they desperately need to cool down," she said.

Leonardini, who declined to divulge the recipe, used her Golden Retrievers as testers to get the taste just right. She also consulted with veterinarians and stressed that the dessert doesn't contain additives or artificial coloring.

The Viennese, like the Parisians, are generally dog-loving and often take their four-legged friends along when they run errands or go about their daily lives. It's not uncommon to spot dogs snoozing in cafes, waiting outside groceries or riding the city's trams and buses.

"Dogissimo" is just one in a series of dog fads that have surfaced in Austria in recent weeks. An open-air movie theater opened Thursday night that encourages dog owners to bring their pets.

Fisherman Catches the Skull of a Friend

Jul 20, 6:10 PM (ET)

LONDON (AP) - A North Sea fisherman has netted a gruesome catch: a piece of skull belonging to his missing friend.

Barry Hunter picked the skull fragment out of his net in December while trawling near the mouth of the River Tyne, about 280 miles (450 kilometers) north of London, Northumbria police said in a statement.

Hunter turned the bone over to authorities, and forensic tests confirmed that it belonged to Brian Allison, one of two fellow fishermen who disappeared when their trawler sank during rough weather in the area on Nov. 17, 2004.

Police said Hunter and Allison were friends, but did not elaborate.

Allison and his brother Robert Temple were the only two occupants of the boat when it sank. The wreckage was later discovered, but Temple's body has never been found.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/492/police_drug_corruption

In Damascus, Virginia, the police chief was arrested Saturday on charges he was selling methamphetamine. Chief Anthony Richardson faces seven felony counts of drug distribution and possessing a weapon while possessing drugs. He went down after an undercover investigation where a snitch bought speed off the chief on June 12. Richardson was arrested without incident at the city police department. Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman said there is now a federal investigation into Richardson.

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, a state trooper was indicted and arrested June 21 on charges he stole and sold drugs seized by police. Trooper Brian Holmes, 41, had been suspended without pay since May 2006, when his partner, Trooper Moises Hernandez, pleaded guilty to aiding members of a drug ring. Hernandez is now doing a 24-year state prison sentence. Holmes was indicted on 13 counts including official misconduct, theft, falsifying records and drug trafficking for, among other things, stealing more than 10 pounds of cocaine from a 123-pound seizure at a Newark warehouse in August 2002 and giving the stolen drugs to Hernandez to sell. He is also charged with stealing a thousand ecstasy tablets from a seizure in Elizabeth in 2004 and selling them with Hernandez. In Fairton, New Jersey, a federal prison guard was arrested June 14 on charges he accepted bribes to smuggle contraband into the prison. Steven Harper, 32, a guard at the Fairton Federal Correctional Institution, is accused of taking money from a person he thought was an inmate's relative to smuggle in prescription drugs, protein powder, work-out supplements and cigarettes. That person was actually an undercover agent. Harper was snitched out by an inmate after agreeing to smuggle in the goods for $6,000. He is now out on $100,000 bond and faces up to 15 years in prison.

In Schenectady, New York, a former Schenectady narc admitted Monday that he stole crack cocaine from the vice squad evidence locker. The admission came as former narcotics officer Jeffrey Curtis pleaded guilty to drug possession and evidence tampering in a plea bargain that will limit his prison time to four years max. Earlier this year, an investigation into missing drug evidence found that cocaine had gone missing in 15 cases and marijuana in one. While Curtis confessed to taking some of the missing dope, he said he couldn't remember if he took all the cocaine State Police investigators said was missing. Curtis first came to investigators' attention after he failed a drug test given in connection with the investigation into the missing drugs. Police put him under surveillance and arrested him March 16 after they spotted him coming out of a suspected drug-dealing house. It's only the latest problem for a troubled department: Earlier this decade, four patrol officers went to prison for rewarding snitches with crack cocaine, another went to prison for giving a gun to a drug dealer, and earlier this year, another officer admitted tipping off a friend about a gambling investigation but was allowed to keep his job.

In Tucson, a former US Border Patrol agent is going to prison for stealing marijuana while on duty. Michael Carlos Gonzalez, 34, was found guilty in March of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense. Gonzales was on duty back on December 6 when an Arizona highway patrolman pulled over a vehicle and found 30 bales of weed. The patrolman left Gonzalez to guard the stash, but his dashboard camera showed Gonzalez taking one bale and putting in the trunk of his car. The weed was never recovered. Gonzales must now do 7 ? years in federal prison.

In Milwaukee, a police detective fired for his involvement in the theft of drug money planted by the FBI is seeking back pay and benefits. Milwaukee Detective Philip Sliwinski was caught up in a sting aimed at another Milwaukee police officer, Edwin Bonilla, after reports that Bonilla had taken drug money from crime scenes. In August 2000, the FBI left a bag with $23,000 in a hotel room, where Bonilla found it. Bonilla testified that he, Sliwinski, and a third officer each took $1,000. Sliwinski was never charged, but he was fired. Now he is seeking back pay and benefits after the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled he was denied the right to fully question a federal agent involved in the sting. While the court upheld his firing, Sliwinski's lawyer is arguing that even though he was fired, he should be eligible for pay and benefits up until the state Fire and Police Commission rehears his case.

In New York City, an NYPD officer faces federal drug conspiracy charges for allegedly helping a gang of drug dealers rip off other drug dealers. Officer Darren Moonan was arrested July 8 on charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics and conspiracy to commit robberies of drugs and drug money over a seven-month period beginning last December. Moonan and his five fellow co-conspirators allegedly netted at least $810,000 in cash and 200 pounds of marijuana in its robberies of competing drug dealers. Moonan is also accused of using his badge to avoid searches and driving stolen drug money away from the scenes of the crimes. He faces up to 60 years in prison. Cop Shoots Mom in Ankle

In Edenton, North Carolina, an Edenton police officer was arrested July 10 for planting drug evidence on innocent people. Officer Michael Aaron Davidson was charged with altering evidence in a criminal investigation for repeatedly planting crack pipes on a man he arrested when a member of the Kinston Police Department back in 2000. Davidson was investigated but never arrested, and left the Kinston department during the initial investigation. According to the SBI, Davidson has been investigated numerous times over allegations of missing money, excessive use of force, and planting evidence (three other times). He was also investigated but not charged in a case where more than $2,000 in seized drug cash went missing. Davidson only went down now because another Edenton cop, Police Officer Nichole Gardner, got busted on Oxycontin charges and decided to mention that she had seen Davidson planting evidence.

In Asheville, North Carolina, a criminal investigation is underway into evidence handling in the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office after an audit showed that cash, guns, and drugs had gone missing. Former Sheriff Bobby Medford, who was in office for 12 years, is in the hot seat over either sloppy or crooked evidence handling during his tenure. According to an audit, at least $217,000 in seized cash could not be accounted for, nor could 337 firearms. In addition, marijuana, cocaine, and pills listed on 1,138 evidence entry sheets have gone missing.

In Evansville, Indiana, a former Evansville Police officer has been sentenced for stealing money from a drug suspect. Former officer Gerald Rainey, a highly decorated veteran, was charged in April after admitting to stealing money from a backpack seized during the arrest of a suspect on an outstanding drug warrant. He plea-bargained to one count of theft and was sentenced July 13 to 18 months probation and 80 hours of community service. The felony conviction means Rainey will not be able to work again as a police officer.