Dec 27, 8:28 PM (ET)
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Police say a man they pulled over for driving drunk continued to swig his beer during his arrest. Patrick Allain, 35, faces numerous charges after his arrest Monday night, the fourth time he's been arrested for driving while intoxicated. Police say he hit two other cars and initially refused to stop when officers tried to pull him over.

When he finally stopped, Allain allegedly continued to drink a 40-ounce bottle of beer, telling officers, "You can charge me with whatever you want. It's not going to stop me from drinking and driving."

Doh! 

Dec 29, 7:16 AM (ET)
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - A carjacking suspect called 911 and turned himself in to police after he crashed a stolen sport utility vehicle twice and got lost while fleeing the crime scene, authorities said.

Claude King, 31, called police from a Palm Springs pay phone and confessed to stealing the SUV on Tuesday night, The Palm Beach Post reported.

"Um, I committed a crime," he told the police dispatcher. "I stole a vehicle."

He asked for officers to respond to his location, but when the dispatcher asked where the vehicle was, King didn't have an answer.

"I couldn't even tell you," he said. "I don't even know where I'm at."

Boca Raton police found King waiting on a curb. He was being held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Dec 28, 11:01 PM (ET)
STERLINGTON, La. (AP) - Officers searching a suspect's car found almost $6,000 hidden in a sock in the trunk, money the suspect allegedly offered to share. Antonio Marcius Williams, 29, of Bastrop, was booked with public bribery, simple possession of marijuana and illegal carrying of a weapon.

Sterlington police officers stopped Williams's car on U.S. 165 Wednesday because the window tint was too dark, according to the report.

The officers saw a green leafy substance on Williams's shirt and they smelled marijuana; Williams told the officer he had just smoked marijuana a couple of hours previously, the report stated.

Officers found $391 in his pants pocket and a loaded .357-caliber Magnum in the front left fender, according to the report.

When officers searched the trunk, they found a sock hidden under the carpet with $5,965 rolled up inside, the report stated.

The report stated Williams told one of the officers he would give him $2,000 and another $300 later if the officer would give him his money back.

Williams was booked into Ouachita Correctional Center.

Man learns you can't get something for  nothing

Dec 29, 3:06 PM (ET)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Knoxville Fire Department investigators used a ruse of their own to nab a man suspected of making a series of bogus emergency calls on his cell phone.

After receiving a false report of a gas leak on Dec. 14, firefighters compared notes.

They confirmed 15 fake 911 calls over a two-month period, including four house fires, six car crashes and various other medical emergencies. All came from the same cell phone.

So they called the number and left a message saying the phone's owner had won a gift card from a major retailer, Fire Capt. Brent Seymour said.

Within an hour, Seymour received a call back from a man identifying himself as the phone's owner. "He willingly gave his name and address," Seymour said. "I told him I would be sending that gift card."

But that wasn't quick enough to suit the man. He wanted the gift card in time for Christmas. So the investigators set up a meeting for that evening.

Seymour said he waited only a few minutes in a business parking lot before suspect Jason Mark Harms arrived on foot, identified himself as the gift card recipient and was arrested.

Seymour said Harms' first words were, "You can't prove it."

But General Sessions Judge Charles Cerny found the evidence strong enough Wednesday to send 15 felony counts of making false reports against Harms to a Knox County grand jury.

Harms, 29, told authorities he thought he was doing taxpayers a favor by drawing otherwise lazy firefighters out of their cozy fire halls, according to court papers.

Crooks Steal Truck, Cops Couldn't Care Less

Dec 28, 3:13 PM (ET)
VILLA PARK, Ill. (AP) - Someone got way more than the recommended daily serving of vegetables when a refrigerated trailer loaded with $50,000 worth of broccoli was stolen.

The 48-foot trailer disappeared from its rented parking space in the Chicago suburb of Villa Park sometime between Sunday and Tuesday morning, police said.

Detective Ed Zorich said the thief was probably after the trailer, not the vegetables.

"What is someone going to do with that amount of produce?" Zorich said. "On the black market, I can't imagine that's something that's worth money to anybody."

Police entered the trailer into a stolen-vehicle database, but had no immediate leads.

"We have homicides happening in town," Zorich said. "We're not really looking for a truck of broccoli right now."

Dec 29, 7:51 PM (ET)
SMETHPORT, Pa. (AP) - Talk about the slow wheels of justice. A man was arrested on a 23-year-old bench warrant that he said he thought was taken care of years ago.

Merle Hulbert Jr., of Eldred, was brought Thursday before McKean County Judge John Yoder, who noted that Ronald Reagan was president when the warrant for failing to appear at a hearing was issued.

Hulbert said he had no idea the case, a driving-while-intoxicated charge, was still open. His former attorney has since died and he said he was stopped once or twice by police before without the warrant coming up.

Yoder ordered the case to be scheduled for a plea, then told prosecutors he hopes they have a witness with a good memory.

Law Enforcement: Crooked Cops in the News

2006-12-27
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of a 44-year-old accused child molester.

Kenneth John Freeman is wanted on multiple counts of first-degree child rape as well as federal charges of manufacturing, possessing and distributing child pornography, according to a press release from the agency.

Freeman, a former reserve deputy with the Benton County Sheriff's office, was first arrested in Richland on three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in November 2005, the agency said. He was released on $50,000 bond and later fled after additional charges were filed against him.

Freeman failed to appear before a Richland court in March, and has now been added to the U.S. Marshals' list of 15 most wanted fugitives. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.

Freeman is white, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 250 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. Because of his history in law enforcement, the agency believes he may be armed and dangerous.

2006-12-27 DEERFIELD BEACH, FLORIDA -- A Broward County Sheriff's deputy is out on bond after being arrested in connection with a bar fight.

Deputy Lazaro Mesa is accused of hitting, kicking and punching a patron at JB's On The Beach at 300 N. Ocean Blvd. in Deerfield Beach on Oct. 30. A police report indicated that Mesa responded to a fight that was reported in the bar.

The 22-year-old deputy is charged with aggravated battery and four counts of official misconduct.

2006-12-27 SANDOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE - A Sandown police officer charged with drunken driving after crashing his car on Saturday night has been placed on paid administrative leave, Chief Joseph Gordon said yesterday.

Paul DeCoste, 22, of Plaistow, was allegedly driving drunk on Route 111A in Danville just after 1 a.m. Saturday when he rolled over his 1996 Ford Bronco, state police said. He was charged with aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol.

2006-12-27 WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 15-year-old city boy has been in surgery twice to repair his broken jaw after two city police officers allegedly beat him into unconsciousness early Friday.

An internal investigation currently is under way into the officers' actions after the boy's father filed an excessive force complaint with the department, Wheeling Police Chief Kevin Gessler said.

Warwood resident Jeff McConnell said his son, Brady, was wrong to leave the family's home at about 3 a.m. Friday with another boy after the two teens drank wine. McConnell said, however, his son did not deserve the beating he received from officers after police received a report of vehicles being entered.

McConnell said the officers chased down his son, beat the boy into unconsciousness and broke his jaw in multiple places.

"My son and a friend were staying here, and they decided to go out without my knowledge," McConnell said. "They were walking here in Warwood, and his friend started opening car doors. (Brady McConnell) got scared and ran, and the police chased him. They said stop running and yelled (expletives) at him. They tackled and said more profanities. They beat him and broke his jaw in three places. He had surgery, and they released him (Monday) to go home, but his jaw isn't holding together."

Gessler confirmed Tuesday that a juvenile was arrested about 4 a.m. Friday in the 300 block of Richland Avenue on charges of breaking and entering to autos, fleeing, obstruction and underage consumption of alcohol. He said the juvenile resisted arrest and officers used force in taking him into custody.

Gessler said the internal investigation into the incident will be handled by a command-level officer, whom he declined to identify.

Under normal procedure, allegations requiring an internal investigation are made to Gessler's office. The chief, in turn, assigns one of the five command-level officers to investigate the matter. The assigned officer may delegate tasks related to the investigation to other officers, Gessler said.

He said in his more than five years as chief, he could "count on his hand" only two allegations involving excessive force made against officers. He provided no specifics on the previous incident nor its outcome.

On Friday, officers initially took the boy home but then transported him to Wheeling Hospital at his father's request.

McConnell, who at one time was a police officer in Bethlehem, said he does not believe his son broke into any vehicles, and officers apparently told him his son will not be charged. Police did not file a report on the matter.

McConnell also alleges the officers made threats toward his son.

"They said they would smash his head in if he didn't tell them who he was with. My son said he thought his jaw was broken, and one of the officers said that's what he deserved," McConnell said.

He was released on $10,000 bond.

2006-12-27 CALCASIEU PARISH, LOUISIANA - A Calcasieu Parish sheriff's deputy faces a second charge of vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal traffic accident earlier this month.

Joshua Louis Foch, 21, already charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Jerica Devil-lier, had a second vehicular homicide charge added to his report following the Saturday death of fellow Deputy Jarred Malone. Ma-lone, like Devillier, was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by Foch.

Lake Charles police spokesman Sgt. Mark Kraus said the additional charge which will be turned in to the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney's Office.

Foch's pickup truck went off Interstate 210 near Legion Street and tumbled at about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 11. Devillier, 23, died later that day from her injuries. Malone, 27, suffered head injuries that required surgery.

A third passenger, Deputy Gregory Nall, 29, was treated at an area hospital and released.

Foch, a corrections officer who was fired by Sheriff Tony Mancuso, has also been charged with underage driving while intoxicated.

He was 20 at the time of the accident.

2006-12-27 VICTORIA, TEXAS - A 35-year-old Victoria Police officer was arrested last week following his indictment on a charge of making unwanted sexual advances toward a woman earlier this year.

Carlos Javier Echeverry was arrested Dec. 21 on the charge of official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor. The charge stems from an incident on Aug. 20, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, Echeverry was "then and there acting under color of his employment as a public servant, namely, a Victoria Police Department employee!."

The officer has since been released on $20,000 bail.

Kraus said police are also investigating who might have served Foch alcohol. It's unlikely Nall will be charged with an offense, "but not entirely impossible" as the investigation unfolds, he said.

2006-12-27 FLORENCE, ALABAMA -- Law enforcement is considered a high-profile position.

Sometimes, when the spotlight is on the force, it's not that flattering.

Two members of the Florence Police Department -- a former community police officer and a former captain over investigation -- both pleaded guilty to criminal actions and were sentenced during the year.

Those cases combined to make them the fifth most important story of 2006, as voted on by TimesDaily reporters and editors.

"Law enforcement is no different from any other profession,'' said Florence Police Chief Rick Singleton. "People in every profession make bad choices from time to time. The nature of our work puts these type situations in the spotlight for us.

"No one is above the law, and we dealt with it.''

On Aug. 25, Basil Ken Stanley, a former department captain, pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of child pornography.

Stanley was sentenced in federal court Dec. 12, to seven years in prison. He is to surrender to U.S. marshals in Huntsville on Feb. 26, to begin his sentence.

The 50-year-old Stanley, of Killen, was arrested at the police department June 19. He resigned form the force 11 days later after 26 years of service.

Stanley was accused of uploading pornography to a photo-sharing Web site, which enabled others to view and download the material.

In October, former police officer Patrick Robert Wilson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree assault.

The 33-year-old Wilson, of New Market, was indicted in November on a charge of second-degree sexual abuse. He was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. The indictment accused Wilson of inappropriately touching her on more than one occasion.

Wilson agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offense that included a 12-month sentence, which was suspended for 24 months. He was ordered to pay $10,000 to the victim, who is now 20.

The police department is moving forward after the negative incidents. Singleton said the department can't dwell on the past.

"It was unfortunate that it happened,'' the chief said. "One thing that sets law enforcement apart is that we took an oath to uphold the law and when someone violates that, it has to be dealt with and the fact is, those who have committed those violations are no longer working here.

"It's unfortunate that people tend to lump everyone in the same group. The fact remains that we have some outstanding individuals in our department. These cases in no way reflect on the rank and file members of the police.

"We have to deal with the good, the bad and the ugly, and when that happens, we deal with it and move forward.''