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Minn. Troopers Deliver 2 Babies in 2 Days
Source Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn., Tribune News Service
Blinking lights gave way to binkies as Minnesota State Patrol troopers helped deliver two babies in as many days in separate stops across the state. The patrol documented both on its Facebook page. The first delivery came on a Saturday afternoon about 1:30 p.m. in Minneapolis and Trooper Jason Theel responded to a call about a woman in labor on the shoulder of the road. He helped make the woman comfortable while paramedics were en route, then "helped give mom some privacy" while the baby was delivered on the side of the road.
The second happened Sunday night near Worthington, Minn. Trooper James Orlando was making an unrelated traffic stop when another car pulled up behind him. A man jumped out asking for help, saying his wife was with him and about to give birth. She had already done so by the time Orlando got to the vehicle. The trooper made sure the baby was breathing and kept watch until an ambulance arrived.
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Suspect Tries to Stab Cop With Heroin Needle
Source Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., Tribune News Service
A 63-year-old man faced multiple charges after he allegedly tried to stab a Medford police officer with a heroin needle during a DUI arrest. Burkell Arthur Kelley was charged with attempted second-degree assault, unlawful possession of heroin, driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving, recklessly endangering another person and resisting arrest. On April 10, Kelley was allegedly seen by another driver and the Medford police officer -- who was off-duty at the time -- sitting at a green light but not driving forward in his vehicle.
When Kelley began driving away, the police officer followed him. Kelley allegedly struck the curb multiple times while driving and was unable to stay in his lane. He then allegedly stopped again at a green light and sat through two cycles of light changes. The officer approached Kelley's vehicle and allegedly saw a loaded syringe and a spoon. The officer reached in through the open window and turned the vehicle key to stop Kelley from driving away again. The officer identified himself as a policeman and said more officers were on the way. Kelley allegedly tried to start the vehicle and drive away, but the officer stopped him. The officer allegedly tried to remove him from the vehicle, but Kelley fought back. An on-duty officer arrived and also tried to pull Kelley from the vehicle.
During the encounter, Kelley allegedly grabbed the fully loaded syringe from the center console area and aimed it at the off-duty officer's arm. Kelley allegedly dropped the syringe after being stunned with a Taser. The officers were able to pull him from the vehicle, but Kelley continued to fight while being taken into custody. The contents of the syringe were tested and were confirmed to be heroin.
According to reports Kelley exhibited numerous signs of impairment, including slurred speech, loss of manual dexterity and an inability to keep his eyes open -- and refused to submit to standard field sobriety tests.
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Two Bribes
DUI Driver Tries to Bribe Officer With Beer
Source The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tribune News Service
A Cobb County (Georgia) man couldn't avoid being arrested during an early-morning traffic stop, but he certainly tried. He allegedly tried to pass an officer directing traffic, and when he was pulled over, Lazaro Hernandez smelled of alcohol, according to police. There was also an open beer on his floor board when he was pulled over at 2 a.m. As Hernandez was being arrested and charged with four misdemeanors, he allegedly committed another crime. He attempted to bribe the officer, first with cash and then with beer, to avoid being arrested. First, Hernandez offered the officer $200, police said. Then $400. "How about $400 and beer?"
"No, no, no," the Smyrna officer replied.
In addition to DUI, open container, reckless driving and refusing to comply with police directions, Hernandez was also charged with bribery, a felony.
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Trooper Passes on Pizza Bribe
Source Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash., McClatchy
A 38-year-old man tried to bribe a Washington State Patrol trooper after being pulled over. The alleged offer: a pizza. The man was jailed on suspicion of bribery and a host of other charges. During the traffic stop, the suspect offered the trooper some pizza he had in the vehicle "to change the outcome of the investigation," according to an affidavit filed by the patrol. Trooper Jarryd T. Bivins was apparently not persuaded to partake. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI and the car was impounded.
When the car's owner tried to retrieve it from the impound lot, he was surprised to learn that he was being accused of DUI. It turned out that the driver had used the owner's driver's license as his own, according to the affidavit, which noted the two men looked similar.
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Fire Chief Investigated for Making Traffic Stop
Source unknown
A New Mexico fire chief was under investigation after he reportedly stopped a driver. Valencia County Fire Chief Steven Gonzales could be heard over dispatch after he pulled over a driver on I-25 in Los Lunas. After he requested a city officer to meet him, the call was canceled after the driver apparently realized he was not an officer.
"Can I have a Los Lunas police officer meet me on I-25 just south of [mile marker] 203? I have a vehicle, silver Camry pulled over [for] excessive speed and reckless driving," Gonzales is heard saying.
The officer was sent, but then Gonzales told the dispatcher: "Ma’am at this time the vehicle departed. It's the silver Toyota Camry."
Los Lunas Police Chief Naithan Gurule was not pleased after discovering the fire chief conducted the stop.
"Law enforcement are the only ones that can make a traffic stop," Gurule told the news station. "Somebody who's not law enforcement is not trained in conducting traffic stops. You also have the issue of, you don't know . . . what's gonna happen."
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Officer Stops Vehicle, Finds Shooting Victim
Source The Virginian-Pilot, Tribune News Service
A police officer discovered a gunshot victim during a traffic stop. The officer pulled the vehicle over shortly after midnight and found the wounded man inside. The officer was told that the man also had been robbed. The man was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
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K-9 Sniffs Out More Than 100 Pounds of Pot
Source The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., Tribune News Service
A drug-sniffing police dog named Jags discovered more than 100 pounds of marijuana being transported by two New York men, who were then arrested on a possession drug charge with intent to sell. Windsor, Calif. deputies on a routine traffic stop noticed the smell of marijuana when they pulled over the driver of a rented Toyota Avalon around 9 p.m.
Steven Molinero, 27, and Almir Ramic, 29, both of Staten Island, New York, were arrested after Jags identified several shrink-wrapped bags covered with air freshener. The bags contained 108 pounds of marijuana. The deputy pulled over the driver because he was driving unsafely close to the vehicle in front of him.
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NHP Outlines Shooting in Which Trooper's Badge Deflected Bullet
Source Las Vegas Sun, McClatchy
"Shield" is a slang term for a law enforcement officer's badge, but it took on a literal meaning for Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Shawn Peckham. NHP Chief Dennis Osborn said a gunshot fired at Peckham during a traffic stop along Boulder Highway hit him in the badge, possibly saving him from injury. Osborn said he'd never heard of an officer being hit in the badge until after the incident involving Peckham -- which happened the same day an officer in Huntington Beach, Calif., also took a bullet to the badge. Although Peckham was wearing a bulletproof vest, Osborn said he felt "fortunate that (the bullet) hit the badge in this case."
The shooting occured after Peckham pulled over a Cadillac sedan shortly after midnight near Desert Inn Road for having an improper license plate. One of the car's occupants, Matthew Gibbon, 41, of Las Vegas, had received a ride in the vehicle after agreeing to give methamphetamine to another occupant of the car, a 23-year-old man. The younger man's mother was driving, possibly unaware of the drug deal.
When Peckham tried to pull over the car, Gibbon told the woman to keep driving. She refused and pulled over.
Peckham approached the car and collected personal information from the occupants, none of whom had identification. As Peckham was conducting the records check, Gibbon got out of the car and started running. He had a handgun in his right hand and a backpack in the other. Peckham positioned himself near the back of his vehicle told Gibbon to stop, but Gibbon turned and fired two rounds at the trooper with a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol. One shot hit Peckham' badge, and the other missed. Peckham shot back from about 50 yards away, firing 11 rounds and striking Gibbon once in the forehead and once in the hand. Gibbon was pronounced dead at the scene.
The two occupants, who remained in the vehicle during the incident, asked Peckham if he was OK after the shooting. An undisclosed amount of methamphetamine was recovered at the scene.
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Ohio Police: Fugitive Bit Off Own Fingerprints
Source The Akron Beacon Journal, Tribune News Service
A man wanted for crimes in Florida chewed his fingerprints off early Sunday morning in an attempt to hide his identity during a traffic stop. But his gnawing was all for naught. His distinctive tattoos gave him away.
Police said they arrested Kirk Kelly, 24, on charges of evidence tampering, resisting arrest, falsification and obstructing official business. Tallmadge (Ohio) Police Chief Ron Williams said Kelly's main business was illegally selling firearms. His arrest was a stroke of luck.
A police officer was parked near an apartment complex when he saw a group of people get into a vehicle at about 3 a.m. on a Sunday. The situation seemed suspicious, so Williams said the officer ran the vehicle's license plates and found the owner had a suspended driver's license. The officer conducted a traffic stop and asked everyone inside to identify themselves. Kelly gave two false identities, including his brother's name.
"So they tell the guy they're going to check his fingerprints with a mobile device we've got that can check them," Williams said, "and the guy responded by actually chewing his fingertips so he couldn't be identified."
However, officers asked Tampa police for other identifying marks and discovered Kelly had numerous distinctive tattoos on his chest. According to court records in Florida, Kelly has a long history of crime dating back to at least 2008. He's faced charges of robbery, battery, aggravated battery with a weapon, delivery and sale of marijuana, obstructing a police officer, driving under the influence of alcohol and burglary.
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Traffic Stop Nabs Man on Lam For Nine Years
Source The Sun Herald, Tribune News Service
A man who failed to report to prison in Georgia nine years ago was arrested through Operation Stonegarden, a federal program that aims to catch wanted people traveling on major corridors and around the nation's borders. Donnie Tran, 41, of Pensacola, Fla., was wanted in Gwinett County, Ga., for failing to report to prison in 2007. He was arrested early Thursday after a traffic stop.
Operation Stonegarden, led by the Department of Homeland Security, is a combined effort of local, state and federal officers to secure the nation's borders and access to U.S. borders, including states bordering Mexico and Canada and borders to international waters.
Deputies were working on a DHS detail on I-10 just after midnight Wednesday when they pulled over a white sport-utility vehicle being operated in a careless manner. Tran gave a false name and birth date but finally gave his real name. The National Crime Information Center database showed Tran was wanted.
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Fla. Detective Put on Vest Before Traffic Stop
Source The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, Tribune News Service
With enough foresight to put on a protective vest during a traffic stop on his way to work before dropping off his son at school, a Jacksonville detective survived the unthinkable as a 19-year-old opened fire hitting him in the head, body and hand. The detective fired back, but the suspect briefly got away before officers wounded him in what was described as a possible attempted “suicide by cop.”
Kevin Ryan Rojas, 19, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The unidentified detective, who works undercover in narcotics, was conscious when he was taken from the scene and also was alert following surgery but still in critical condition and stabilized.
The detective was driving his unmarked car about 7:20 a.m. when he decided to stop a white Cadillac that had driven by him erratically. After initially not stopping, the suspect pulled over near some railroad tracks and immediately got out shooting. Although he didn’t call in the traffic stop, the detective put on his body armor. The vest also was clearly marked “Police” on the front and back with a badge attached to the front. The windshield of the detective’s car was pierced several times by bullets, but his 14-year-old son was not harmed.
People who were nearby when the shooting occurred pulled the officer off the tracks and got his car moved as a train was approaching.
After the suspect fired four times from a 9mm gun and the detective shot nine times, the suspect was not hit and stole a Ford F-350 flatbed truck at a nearby business. He was quickly located by two other officers . When they tried to stop him, he drove into his subdivision at a dead end and crashed into his neighbor’s house. He then went into his own home and the two officers said they saw him pointing the gun at them through a sliding-glass door. The suspect’s girlfriend and possibly others were inside the home.
Officers Sam Pagan, a six-year veteran, and Clyde Jacobs, a seven-year veteran, fired a total of eight times, hitting Rojas at least three times in the torso and a leg and hand. It was their first police-involved shooting.
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Missouri Suspect Swallows a Bag of Meth
Source unknown
A suspect in Missouri was hospitalized after eating a bag of meth following a pursuit with deputies on an early Wednesday morning. A Vernon County Sheriff's deputy attempted to make a traffic stop after he was notified that the vehicle was stolen, and called out the pursuit when the vehicle failed to yield, according to a department news release. The vehicle reportedly pulled over several times for the deputy, but would take off again shortly after stopping.
"The driver was not able to outrun the deputy and eventually pulled over and was taken into custody," Vernon County Sheriff Jason Mosher said.
The suspect, identified as 18 year-old Dustin R Detherage, was transported to the hospital after he told deputies he had eaten a bag of meth during the pursuit because he did not want to go to jail.
"He didn’t want to go to jail so he ate a bag of meth while driving a stolen vehicle, so I'm not sure how he thought that was going to work out for him," Mosher said.
Warrants were issued, charging Detherage with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Resisting Arrest, Tampering with a Motor Vehicle, Unlawful Use of Drug Paraphernalia, and DWI – Drug Intoxication.
