Oakland security officer shot to death privateofficer.com | PRIVATE OFFICER MEDIA

March 13, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

Oakland security officer shot to death privateofficer.com

Oakland CA March 13 2014 Family and friends are mourning the loss of Jacob Velasquez, 24, who was shot and killed in Oakland on March 5.

Velasquez attended Wells Middle School and was a graduate of Dublin High school.

According to the Mercury News, Velasquez played baseball and football while at Dublin High and had been working as a security guard at a hospital at the time of his death.

Amy Wolfish, a former schoolmate of Velasquez, calls his death a tragedy and says he was “so loved.”

Services for Velasquez will be held in Oakland on March 18 at 2 p.m. at the Chapel of Chimes located at 4499 Piedmont Ave.

Alannah Gutierrez, a friend of the Velasquez family, told Patch, “We are asking that everyone come dressed in yellow and white as those are Jacob’s favorite colors.”

Gutierrez says a fundraiser for Velasquez’ family is being held on March 17 at Gallagher’s Dublin Pub.

Post Tagged with Jacob Velasquez, Oakland security officer shot to death

via Oakland security officer shot to death privateofficer.com | PRIVATE OFFICER MEDIA.

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March 12, 2014March 12, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

General Liability , Workers Comp, Business auto for armed guards

At Least 137 Shooting Security officer Incidents Reported

February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

FEBRUARY 26 2014

Security officers were involved in at least 137 shooting incidents resulting in thirteen deaths and more than two dozen injuries, and the arrest of eleven security officers during the first month of 2014.

The three leading areas of armed confrontations continue to be nightclubs, apartment complexes and armored car robberies but retail establishments continue to lead the way for security officer assaults, mainly involving suspect shoplifters.

There was also one confirmed security officer suicides in January.

Security officers charged during shooting incidents are facing aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, unlicensed weapon or not having a license to carry a firearm charges.

via At Least 137 Shooting Incidents Reported – dan@californiaspecialservices.com – California Special Services Mail.

Security Officer Killed During Robbery –

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

Security Officer Killed During Robbery

FEBRUARY 23 2014

RANCHO CUCAMONGA CA

A 45-year-old security officer was shot and killed at a mini-mart Saturday night in Rancho Cucamonga police say.

West Coast Metro Patrol officer Dean Sena was shot around midnight during a robbery of a store in the 1000 block of Arrow Route, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said a man armed with a handgun entered the store just before midnight and demanded money from store workers. One worker gave the robber an undisclosed amount of money and another clerk was able to escape the store.

As the robber left the store, Sena drove up to the scene and tried to stop him but was shot several times. Sena later died at San Antonio Community Hospital.

Sena, was armed with a gun, was never able to pull out the weapon, authorities said.

The robber fled on foot following the shooting.

A witness who lives nearby the scene said he heard the incident as it happened.

“I was in my apartment when I heard all these gunshots, I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

Investigators were reviewing surveillance footage and other evidence to locate the shooter, described by authorities as a Hispanic male.

Sena’s son, Dereck Sena, told NBC4 that his father was getting ready to retire.

via Security Officer Killed During Robbery – dan@californiaspecialservices.com – California Special Services Mail.

Teen Sues Pasadena Unified School District and Security Guard for Sexual Abuse

February 12, 2014February 12, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

Teen Sues Pasadena Unified School District and Security Guard for Sexual Abuse

A 19-year-old woman alleges was sexually assaulted by a district security guard during the 2010-11 school year.

Posted by Michelle Mowad (Editor) , February 12, 2014 at 02:26 PM

A young woman is suing Pasadena Unified School District and a former PUSD security guard who she alleges sexually abused her when she was a student at Marshall Fundamental High School.

The 19-year-old plaintiff, identified in the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint filed Monday as Jane Doe, alleges sexual abuse of a minor, negligence and breach of a district’s mandatory duty to supervise and protect students.

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

District spokesman Adam Wolfson said he was unaware of the complaint and had no immediate comment.

According to the suit, the plaintiff was 16 when she was in the 11th grade at Marshall Fundamental High during the 2010-11 school year. The guard, Shawn Johnson, was 30 and “developed a friendly relationship with plaintiff at school and eventually obtained (her) cell phone number …,” the suit states.

Johnson sent the girl text messages that were “flirtatious and sexual in nature during school hours while he was working,” the suit states.

In early March 2011, Johnson picked up the girl and drove her to an isolated location where he “manipulated, sexually assaulted and sexually abused her,” the suit states.

Instead of protecting the plaintiff, Johnson “took advantage of the minor,” according to the complaint.

The guard groomed the girl with his frequent text messages along with his “inappropriate touching (of) her on the campus,” according to the complaint.

Johnson later admitted to his employer that he had engaged in misconduct with the girl and resigned, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that the PUSD negligently hired, supervised and retained Johnson.

The girl confided in her father in March 2011, but did not do so earlier because of alleged threats of retaliation by Johnson, the suit states.

—City News Service

via Teen Sues Pasadena Unified School District and Security Guard for Sexual Abuse – Schools – Altadena, CA Patch.

Cost of armed guards at schools sought – Daily Pilot

February 10, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

Cost of armed guards at schools sought

Close vote allows for administrators to find out price of armed security at one high or elementary school.

By Jeremiah Dobruck and Hannah Fry

February 8, 2014 | 4:59 p.m.

A split school board recently asked how much it would cost to post armed guards at campuses in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

In a 4 to 3 vote Tuesday, Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees asked administrators to find out the price tag for armed security at a single elementary school or high school — something that could scale districtwide.

In interviews after the vote, trustees emphasized the exploration doesn’t mean they’ll eventually put guns in the hands of guards, but the idea was distasteful enough to some board members to vote against even finding out the price.

“I don’t feel that it would be a deterrent if someone is really set on causing harm,” said Trustee David Brooks, a retired Costa Mesa police officer.

Brooks questioned what level of training each security guard would have and whether that’s enough to entrust them with children’s safety.

“To take a person off the street that has a clean record and give them a gun, then put them in schools and say we have armed security, well no, we have armed people,” he said.

After some research over the summer, Newport-Mesa Unified administrators decided not to pursue the option of arming guards at its two high schools in Costa Mesa.

Instead they waited for the CMPD to provide officers to patrol the schools, a program that’s expected to restart Monday after more than a year’s hiatus.

The school board’s vote Tuesday, however, revives the idea and expands it to look at elementary schools as well.

School Board President Karen Yelsey said she hasn’t formed a final opinion but the district has a responsibility to at least explore the option.

“If I felt it would be appropriate security, and we had the right people, I could possibly be in favor,” Yelsey said.

School Board Vice President Martha Fluor voted with the majority Tuesday but said that doesn’t indicate how she’d vote on actually implementing the idea.

“I do not feel comfortable with armed guards on our school sites,” she said. “I’m not real crazy about that concept.”

via Cost of armed guards at schools sought – Daily Pilot.

San Diego mother suing Walmart for millions after son dies following altercation with store security

February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

San Diego mother suing Walmart for millions after son dies following altercation with store security

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego woman is suing Walmart for millions of dollars after she says they killed her son.

Only 10News has obtained police dash cam video that shows her son being held face-down on the pavement in the blazing heat in June 2012.

As police rolled up on scene just outside a Walmart store in Covina, they came up on a Walmart security guard dressed in a blue polo shirt. Police later learned the security guard had been kneeling on top of a man face-down on 135-degree asphalt for eight and a half minutes.

“Hey, can you hear me? Sit up,” said a Covina police officer is heard saying on the video.

As the security guard got up and walked away, officers tried to communicate with 41-year-old Jose Marcos Picazo.

What they did not realize is that he was already dead.

“I’m very depressed,” said Emma Mercado, Picazo’s mother. “I’m very sick, so I just want justice.”

According to witness accounts, Picazo was screaming, “I’m dying, I’m dying” while he was pinned to the ground, hands cuffed behind his back, for some of that time by two Walmart employees.

“I want these guys in jail,” said Mercado. “They’re killers.”

Police say the Walmart security guards had been watching Picazo inside the store and followed him out with $56.92 worth of body wash, socks, underwear and jeans he had not paid for.

His family admits what he did was wrong but says he should not have been killed for it.

“These people stepped over the bounds,” said King Aminpour, Mercado’s attorney. “They went over and beyond what’s acceptable, what’s reasonable and they’ve devastated this family.”

In a detailed Covina police report obtained by 10News, a detective wrote that, “Due to the fact Picazo had died after struggling with Wal-Mart employees, documented under Covina P.D. Case No. 12-3391, I transported Velazquez to the Covina Police Department to be interviewed.”

During the interview that detective wrote that Velazquez told him because he was working alone, he recruited help from a Walmart store employee to apprehend Picazo.

Police say Walmart surveillance video shows Velazquez “…confront S-Picazo, struggle with him, and tackle him to the parking lot…”

Following the altercation that resulted in Picazo’s death, a total of four Walmart employees were taken in for questioning by Covina police but later released.

After Picazo’s autopsy, the Los Angeles County coroner found “restraint maneuvers” and “… an elevated but nonlethal level of alcohol” to be the main contributing factors in Picazo’s death.

Deputy Medical Examiner Lisa Scheinin, M.D. also concluded that obesity, a severe electrolyte imbalance and dehydration could have also played a role in Picazo’s death and that “rhabdomyolysis” may have set in, which “can be related to dehydration or excessive struggling.”

Scheinin went on to state that “the role of dehydration on a hot day (pavement temperature was 135F) could be significant.”

However, Scheinin stated that “because of the multiplicity of factors that may play a role in this complicated case, the mode of death is undetermined.”

In a statement, Walmart told 10News:

“We offer our condolences to Mr. Picazo’s family for their loss. The safety and well-being of our customers and associates is always a top priority, and we take it seriously any time an incident is reported in one of our stores. Unfortunately, Mr. Picazo’s death appears to have been the result of a number of factors. The associate primarily involved is no longer with the company.”

Mediation for this case has been set for March.

via 10News – San Diego mother suing Walmart for millions after son dies following altercation with store security – 10News.com – News.

Man Dies in Struggle With Mall Security –

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

Man Dies in Struggle With Detroit Mall Security

JANUARY 29 2014

SOUTHFIELD MI

A man has died after being pepper-sprayed by Northland Center mall security officers.The 25-year-old Ferndale man died Tuesday night after the 5:40 p.m. confrontation that occurred in the mall\’s corridor outside the LA Diamonds jewelry store.After the man told the store owner he wanted to kill somebody, security responded and confronted him, Southfield police Lt. Nick Loussia said today. Paramedics took the man to Providence Hospital in Southfield, where he was pronounced dead at about 6:40 p.m., Loussia said. \”Our investigation showed no sign of blunt trauma\” that might indicate the man had been beaten, Loussia said. The cause of death is pending while toxicology tests are performed to see whether drugs or alcohol played a role, the Oakland County Medical Examiner\’s Office said. No charges have been filed in the case. The incident began when the store\’s owner saw the man staring into LA Diamonds\’ showcase windows and \”looking angry,\” so he walked into the corridor to speak to him, Loussia said.\”The guy told him, \’I want to kill somebody,\’ and that\’s when the business owner called security,\” Loussia said. The man was \”not cooperative\” with the security guards, and when it looked like he might assault them, they pepper-sprayed him and began handcuffing him as he resisted, he said.\”That\’s when they realized he\’d stopped breathing,\” Loussia said.\”When police arrived, he was found to be handcuffed, seated against a pillar and not breathing,\” Loussia said. A man who answered the phone today at LA Diamonds, formerly Corey\’s Jewel Box, declined to discuss the incident and hung up. But the owner of another jewelry store in the mall said he was familiar with the incident after seeing a video shot by a shopper. He said it looked as if the guards sat on the man after pepper-spraying him.\”From what I saw, the three guards were really laying on him,\” said Dan Hutchinson, owner of Hutch\’s Jewelry.\”He was saying, \’I can\’t breathe – I can\’t breathe.\’ They said, \’If you can talk, you can breathe,\’ \” Hutchinson said. Brent Reeves, general manager of Northland Center, said: \”I was told they did not\” sit on the man. Reeves said guards told him that the man, when asked to leave the mall, refused and \”made fists and pumped up his muscles.\”After subduing the man and leaning him against a pillar, \”the guards just assumed he was sitting there peacefully\” and were unaware that he had stopped breathing, he said.

via Man Dies in Struggle With Detroit Mall Security – dan@californiaspecialservices.com – California Special Services Mail.

via Man Dies in Struggle With Mall Security –.

Security guard chases after suspected shoplifters | FOX5 San Diego –

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 ~ insuranceagencybusiness ~ Leave a comment

SAN DIEGO — A man suspected of stealing items from a RiteAid store in Little Italy flashed a gun at a store security guard during a brief chase, but both he and his accomplice were later arrested, police said Saturday.

The store’s shoplifting guard spotted a man and a woman about 2:15 p.m. Friday as they entered the drugstore at 1411 Kettner Blvd., San Diego police Officer Frank Cali said. They were later identified by police as Isaiah Wangler, 24, and Tierra Hunter, 18.

The pair bolted from the business, and ran east on B Street with the store officer close behind, Cali said.

The officer caught up to the woman near India and Ash streets, but Wangler reportedly doubled back, and lifted his shirt to display the butt of a handgun concealed in his waistband, Cali said.

The guard backed off and the pair then ran towards downtown, according to Cali.

Police officers searched for the suspects and found them in the Civic Center Concourse, Cali said. Both were arrested, he said.

via Security guard chases after suspected shoplifters | FOX5 San Diego – San Diego news, weather, traffic, sports from KSWB.