Shootout suspect may be serial rapist

Shootout suspect may be serial rapist Just after noon on Sept. 11, Bartlett was taken into custody in the Chisel Run town house complex in James City County after a prolonged police chase in vehicles and on foot that included at least two separate shoot outs with officers attempting to apprehend him near the Prime Outlets shopping center.The incident started about 11:30 a.m. when two women reported an attempted car jacking/abduction at a Richmond Road Shell station in Norge. One of the women was pistol whipped several times during the incident.As of this morning, Bartlett faced 17 felony charges and four misdemeanor charges in James City County and Williamsburg. They include several charges of attempted murder of police officers related to Thursday's events. Bartlett has also been charged in connection with an Aug. 30 abduction, rape and robbery in the Williamsburg area. Those charge include abduction, use of a firearm in the course of an abduction and by a convicted felon and robbery.In York, Bartlett is charged with 15 felonies. They include car jacking, robbery and rape-related charges connected to the Sept. 5 abduction of a woman at gunpoint from the parking lot of the Merrimac Trail Farm Fresh grocery store.Bartlett also faces York County felonies related to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, using a firearm in the commission of felonies and using a mask in public to conceal the identity of the wearer, according to arrest warrants filed in York General District Court.A press conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the James City County Law Enforcement Center. Bartlett, 44, of Shacklefords, was arraigned by video teleconference in York and James City County District Courts Friday morning. He is currently being held without bond in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.Bartlett's Thursday arrest came just days after a Sept. 9 conviction in James City Circuit Court for failing to register, or re-register, as a sex offender. Judge Samuel Taylor Powell III sentenced Bartlett to three years in prison for the offense but suspended two years, 11 months and 26 days of the sentence, according to Circuit Court records.It was unclear Friday morning the amount of jail time Bartlett may have served related to the Sept. 9 conviction prior to his arrest Thursday.

Scott Alan Lanner,was booked into the county jail on suspicion of felony menacing and misdemeanor false imprisonment

Scott Alan Lanner, 46, was booked into the county jail on suspicion of felony menacing and misdemeanor false imprisonment, according to jail records.He is being held on $2,000 bond on each count and is due in court Monday, jail records show.
The Aug. 8 encounter occurred near Lanner's home in the 1800 block of Couch Place. According to an arrest affidavit, Lanner had just finished mowing his lawn when he decided to check on two men who were walking from house to house in brightly colored vests.He approached a parked car and told one of them, Patrick J. Wilson, that he must leave because he did not have a permit to inspect roofs. No permit is required in unincorporated El Paso County, authorities said.Wilson, of Claim Specialists International of Colorado Springs, wore a laminated identification card and said he presented Lanner with documents about his company and tried to explain that he was in the neighborhood legally when Lanner drew his weapon and ordered him to get out of the car. Wilson was handcuffed and searched.Lanner later said the documents appeared to be false and that Wilson ignored orders to put his hands up, which Wilson denied, the affidavit said.The marshal also said he was concerned about elderly neighbors because of recent home invasions, though sheriff's officials said none had been reported.Something about the men triggered his "policeman spidey sense," Lanner said, according to the affidavit."Lanner was not able to articulate any suspicious activity, reasonable suspicion or probable cause for a stop or drawing his weapon during that stop," Detective Cliff Porter with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office wrote in the affidavit.Porter noted that Wilson is black and that the second employee, who is white, was not searched or questioned."It just smacks of racism," said Glen Jessen, a co-owner of Claim Specialists International. "Patrick's a really good kid, and I don't see how something like this could happen to him."
El Paso County Sheriff's Office Bureau Chief Joe Breister said the stop did not appear to be a "black-white issue."Lanner told authorities he made a snap decision after Wilson turned away from him and dropped his hands out of view.The marshal approached the car because it was nearest to him, Breister said. The other man was down the street, walking toward the car.A prosecutor with the 4th Judicial District Attorneys Office opted to file charges after reviewing the sheriff's office investigation, Breister said.City marshals are employed by the Colorado Springs Police Department and serve warrants, provide security and perform other duties on behalf of Municipal Court.The marshals undergo the same training as patrol officers and may wear their service pistols while off-duty, said police Lt. Scott Whittington, who oversees the eight-person unit.Lanner, a police employee since 1995, was temporarily moved to a graffiti-removal unit after the department learned of the criminal investigation, Whittington said.
The marshal will be placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Dustin Allen Gaskill for carrying weapons, which is an aggravated misdemeanor, going armed with intent, a Class D felony, and public intoxication

Dustin Allen Gaskill, 24, 922 E. College St., No. D5, was arrested about 12:40 a.m. Friday for carrying weapons, which is an aggravated misdemeanor, going armed with intent, a Class D felony, and public intoxication.Police said officers responded to a report at 922 E. College St. No. D2 that a man armed with a shotgun was knocking on their door. Officers were given a description of the suspect and were told that he had just left. As they arrived, they were notified the man had returned, police said.When officers entered the building, they found Gaskill, unarmed, near the complainant's door. After questioning Gaskill and obtaining permission to search his apartment, officers found an unloaded 12-gauge shotgun outside of its case on the bedroom floor, according to the arrest report. Police said none of the complainants or Gaskill knew each other.

Charged a Sydney woman found carrying a pistol and two magazines of ammunition in her handbag.

Charged a Sydney woman found carrying a pistol and two magazines of ammunition in her handbag.The 23-year-old was stopped as she left her home at Sans Souci in Sydney's south yesterday afternoon, police said."Inside the woman's handbag police allegedly located a carry case, containing a Beretta pistol and two magazines," police said in a statement.The woman was charged with firearms offences, was refused bail and was due to face court today.The arrest followed an investigation by officers into alleged proceeds of crime offences, police said. Police yesterday raided two homes in Punchbowl and Greenacre where officers found "a substantial amount of cash buried in containers in a backyard and a quantity of steroids", police said.Two teenage brothers were arrested earlier this week and face firearms and drugs charges as part of the same police investigation.

Gardai believe convicted murderer Brian Meehan masterminded the importation of the guns found in Dublin and Belfast

Gardai believe convicted murderer Brian Meehan masterminded the importation of the guns found in Dublin and Belfast and that those weapons were bought from the Amsterdam wholesale operation.Senior detectives say Irish criminals have bought guns from the Dutch gunrunners, who had clients throughout western Europe, on a number of occasions in the past.However, gardai have stressed that there is nothing to suggest that the arsenal discovered by Dutch police on Tuesday was destined for Ireland.
"There is any number of criminal gangs around Europe who could have been waiting for the delivery of these guns," said a senior officer.PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde said yesterday that if the weapons had been destined for Ireland, the cache, which included high-powered Glock semi-automatic pistols and Steyr submachine guns, was large enough to start a war.Meanwhile, four people, three men and a woman have appeared before a judge in Rotterdam, charged in connection with the Amsterdam arms find. They were arrested in Amsterdam and a nearby town within hours of the seizure near Dublin airport. They have been remanded in custody for two weeks, and will then appear before a closed session of court. Under Dutch court procedures it is unlikely that would come to trial before November at the earliest. Brian Meehan, a drug dealer who is serving a life sentence in Portlaoise prison for murdering Veronica Guerin, a crime reporter, in 1996. Meehan, an associate of the main organiser, had helped to broker the deal using a mobile phone smuggled into prison. “Meehan’s role in the conspiracy was to act as a guarantor between all the parties. His problem was that he is a prisoner and had to do his business over a phone, which had been compromised,” said one intelligence source. “Once the main organiser’s phone was compromised, it was over. We were able to trace everything.” The gang was put under surveillance by undercover police when the arms and drugs shipment arrived in Belfast last week. At the last minute, the mastermind arranged to deliver part of the consignment to Limerick and organised a courier to collect 27 guns, 20kg of heroin and herbal cannabis from a location in Belfast. Armed gardai and surveillance units tailed the vehicle used to collect the contraband from Belfast to Dublin and it was stopped on Tuesday in Swords. Inside the vehicle officers found four types of firearms including Glock 19C semi-automatic pistols, with magazines and speed-loaders. There were also Glock 19 semi-automatic pistols, Beretta semi-automatic pistols with sound suppressors, Smith & Wesson revolvers and ammunition. More than a dozen shrink-wrapped blocks of heroin and about eight bags of herbal cannabis were also found. The value of the drugs was €4m. The other police agencies then moved into action. Another 14 handguns were seized by the PSNI in Belfast. About 1,000 rounds of ammunition for the weapons was also found.
The Dutch police raided a factory in the Oud-West area of Amsterdam where the weapons had been collected that had been under surveillance for several months. The raid yielded 165 firearms. They were hidden in small safes and concrete posts and behind wooden panels. A money counter, computers, mobile phones and documents were also seized. Almost all of those involved in the conspiracy were arrested, with the exception of Meehan. His mobile phone was not found in a search of his cell. His involvement in the operation brings into question the use of telephone intercepts in criminal investigations. The justice department said it is reviewing the law on the use of surveillance and telephone intercepts, or TIs, following the recent collapse of several prosecutions linked to organised crime. In Ireland, bugged telephone conversations must be treated as “intelligence” only by gardai and cannot be used as evidence in criminal trials. Garda headquarters claim that allowing wiretaps to become admissible in court would give away “trade secrets” and alert criminals to the extent of police eavesdropping.

Maurice King III, 32, of 3555 Possum Run Road, faces four felony charges: three counts of attempted receiving stolen property

Maurice King III, 32, of 3555 Possum Run Road, faces four felony charges: three counts of attempted receiving stolen property and one count of possessing criminal tools.He also faces seven misdemeanor charges. He is accused of arranging to buy weapons from a friend and another man who supposedly had stolen the guns from Cleveland.Cindy Reed, a Mansfield Police Department crime lab technician, was asked to identify the guns that former Mansfield police Detective Eric Bosko gave to informants to show King during a sting operation. The weapons included a 12-gauge shotgun, a Glock semiautomatic pistol and a Yugoslavian SKS assault weapon with a bayonet and grenade launcher.Bosko told jurors King said he didn't alert authorities about the sale because he feared for his family's safety. However, Bosko, now a captain with the Richland County Sheriff's Department, said King couldn't explain why he called METRICH Detective Keith Porch and not the sheriff's department, which handles all calls in the jurisdiction where he resides.Defense attorney Cassandra Mayer asked Bosko about a woman, Bobby Stanford, who at the time was in Richland County Jail. Bosko said she didn't identify King by name, but in a hand-written note said the man involved in criminal activity was a Bellville cop.
Another witness for the state was Larry Davis, an inmate from Belmont Correctional Institution.Davis testified he provided a stolen laptop to King via the defendant's father, Maurice King. Davis identified a photograph of the car authorities say Maurice King III drove when he picked up stolen property. Davis told the court King paid him for some stolen Craftsman tools ordered by his father in 2008.
Terry Hitchman, King's co-counsel, asked Davis why he was testifying against King.
"Are you expecting anything?" Hitchman asked.Davis denied Hitchman's accusation that Davis wanted to "burn" King for arresting him previously in Ontario.
Jurors also viewed King's cell phone records and photographs taken inside the house. They heard from sheriff's Detective Sgt. Matt Mayer, a witness for the defense. Mayer wired the confidential informants involved in the proposed sale of guns with King.The sheriff's sergeant said officers were stationed nearby at Snow Trails, but he was stationed in the sheriff's office listening to the sting on a speaker phone, a connection he said was somewhat distorted.
In earlier testimony, Bellville police Chief Ron Willey called King a "good officer" and "aggressive."Ron Willey told jurors King, 32, contacted him Jan. 15, the same night the METRICH Enforcement Unit searched his house. It was several days after King allegedly met with two confidential informants about buying guns.Assistant Prosecutor Chris Tunnell asked Willey if King told him someone tried to sell him guns before Jan. 15."No," Willey said.Willey said the Jan. 15 conversation, when King turned in his equipment and badge, included discussions of the search warrant and property removed from his home."He told me he was accused of attempting to purchase firearms. He attempted to tell me he felt it was kind of a setup, that these people came to his house with these firearms trying to sell them," Willey said.
Willey later said King told him he was trying to string them along, that he didn't feel he could safely make an arrest himself "due to the number of people I assume ... at his home." Willey said King also told him he called Porch on his cell phone while the alleged sale of guns was taking place.
"Perhaps most damaging is what he didn't do," Tunnell said. "He does not tell his chief of what occurs, doesn't report the incident."King, who joined the Bellville Police Department in 2000, is suspended without pay. His recent performance evaluations were exemplary. His personnel file includes numerous letters of commendation.The trial will continue Tuesday before Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese. A witness for the prosecution whose driver's license was found in a closet at King's house Jan. 15 will testify. Porch is expected to testify for the defense.

Roobik Vartanian, an employee of the club, had grabbed a gun from another employee, police said. He was shouting racial slurs and obscenities

officer shot and killed an armed man who had threatened to kill 2 other men early Saturday morning, according to Tampa Police.Investigators say officer Rick Harrell and his partner were patrolling the area around 7th Avenue just before 1:30 am when they heard 35 year old Roobik Vartanian, arguing with 2 Orlando men. Investigators say the men had just been kicked out of Club Prana for banging on the walls of the bar. Vartanian, an employee of the club, had grabbed a gun from another employee, police said. He was shouting racial slurs and obscenities and threatening to kill the men when officers arrived at the scene. When officer Harrell ordered him to drop the gun, investigators say he did not comply and instead pointed the gun at Harrell. Harrell fired one shot and hit Vartanian in the stomach. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital where he later died.
Investigators say Vartanian did not have a concealed weapons permit and had 6 prior felony arrests, as well as 4 misdemeanor arrests. Neither the officers or the other men were hurt.

Police arrested Cortney Jenkins and Lateef McGann along with Montezz Lincoln and Thomas King.

Four people have been arrested in connection to a shooting early Thursday morning in Martinsburg.City police responded to reports of gun fire near East Moler Avenue and North High Street.Officers later found a car with bullet holes.
The two victims told police they got in an argument with the suspects, and that's when someone fired a gun at the car. The victims were not injured.
Police arrested Cortney Jenkins and Lateef McGann along with Montezz Lincoln and Thomas King.
Police are still investigating and say it's possible they'll make another arrest in connection with the shooting.

Dublin crime gangs were paying up to €5,000 each to import semi-automatic handguns, such as a Glock 19 or a pistol, with a magazine and 12 bullets

Dublin crime gangs were paying up to €5,000 each to import semi-automatic handguns, such as a Glock 19 or a comparable pistol, with a magazine and 12 bullets.New firearms, such as the 70plus Glock handguns seized last week, are sold at a premium, as they do not have a ballistic record that can link the user to previous criminal activity.High-quality, used semiautomatic handguns command a price of €2,500 to €3,000, which may include a quantity of ammunition.Gardaí have known for some time that handguns are often loaned or rented by the criminal community for between €300 and €500. As a result of a four-month joint Garda, PSNI and Dutch police operation called Operation Bench, 27 firearms were seized in a swoop last Tuesday on a Dublin gang which is led by a well-known organised crime figure currently in Portlaoise prison.Another 14 weapons were recovered in Belfast by PSNI detectives, and a further 165 guns were located in the Netherlands by Dutch police. Six arrests were made, including two Irish citizens, one in Dublin and one in Belfast.A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor’s office said that the total street value of the 165 firearms seized in Amsterdam was €1 million.

Police unearthed an arms-manufacturing unit at a remote village in Bishnupur

Following a trail after the arrest of a notorious criminal, South 24-Parganas police unearthed an arms-manufacturing unit at a remote village in Bishnupur early on Sunday. Five persons were arrested for their involvement in the gun-running racket and a huge cache of arms was recovered. The arrests proved that, apart from arms made from Munger, a major quantum of illegal arms are also produced in various parts of Bengal. Jatan Naiyer of Noorshikdarchak village had been making guns for the last five years, armed with only two tools: an iron-cutting machine and a welding machine. The village is around 18 km from Baruipur Road. Naiyer and his two sons, Biswajit and Sanjit, earned their name in the murky underworld for their products. The recent arrest of Prasant Khan, a notorious criminal of Bishnupur, along with his associate Mohan Gayen, provided the first lead in the case. Police seized two guns from them, and Jatan’s name surfaced during interrogations. According to the police, the two confessed to having bought the guns from Jatan. District police superintendent Ajey Ranade soon formed a special team and raided the village in the wee hours of Sunday. Police uncovered a small workshop behind Naiyer’s home, where eight single-barrel guns and seven short-barrel pipe guns were found, along with ammunition. A probe revealed that the 50-year-old Naiyer used to make guns from iron pipes used in bicycles and cycle vans. According to police, the gun barrels were made of iron pipes. The father-sons trio has even given a demonstration to cops as to how they made the guns. The iron-cutter was used to shape the rods into a barrel. Powerful springs were then used to attach the barrel with the trigger, made from spare nuts. The barrels were perforated with a drilling machine. Unlike other improvised guns, Jatan fixed the guns with wooden butts. “Jatan probably purchased the butts. There are a few families who do outsourced jobs for the ordnance factory. Jatan might have collected the butts from them,” said an officer. According to police, Jatan’s guns might not be very well finished, but are very useful for medium-range firing. Naiyer and his sons told police that it took them four to five days to complete a single-barrel gun. The short pipe-guns took less time. The guns sold for Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500. The long-range rifles cost Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. Jatan was a known gun-supplier in Bishnupur and nearby areas. The Naiyers confessed that in last year, they had made more than 50 guns and had recently started supplying ammunition also. The trio, however, denied making small arms, as these need good quality metal, which is very costly and not easily accessible. Police claimed that criminals from other districts also collected arms from Jatan. Months ago, a similar gun manufacturer was nabbed at Basanti after a clash between RSP and CPM. “There are several units like Jatan’s in South 24-Parganas who supply arms to local criminals at rates cheaper than Munger-made guns,” said a senior police officer. “It is an important catch. We are grilling all five to get details about local criminals and gun-runners.