Roza Sakhina immigrated from Russia with her family to the United States to seek a life of peace and opportunity.

Roza was nearly 100 yrs old.

She was taking a stroll through her neighborhood in St. Paul as usual, but what happened next devastated her family.

Roza was using the aid of her walker to help her across the street, when suddenly a police officer accelerated backwards and struck Roza with the patrol car.

Officer Goutlet, the driver, had parked her vehicle diagonally at an angle instead of parallel against the sidewalk, according to reports.

She then reversed from that angle and hit Roza. Roza died after the patrol car struck her body.

The question many have is: didn’t Officer Goutlet look in her rear view mirror before backing up?

It turns out that Office Goulet has a history of accidents on the job. Officer Goulet was in squad accidents in 1994, 1997, 1997, and 2007, of which three were sideswiping and two were due to inattentive driving, according reports.

In 2007, Officer Goulet backed into a vehicle and hit it, a crash that was determined to be caused by Officer Goulet’s inattention, according to reports.

Officer Goulet was still able to keep her job as a cop and continue driving, despite this history of preventable crashes.

Roza’s family was deeply saddened when Roza was killed and filed a wrongful death suit against Officer Goulet in January, 2015.

Officer Goulet “acted in a negligent manner so as to collide with Roza Sakina, a pedestrian,” the lawsuit stated.

But the city attorney’s office replied to the suit by claiming that Officer Goulet’s actions were “reasonable, proper, and necessary under the circumstances and authorized by the laws of the United States and the State of Minnesota.”

Instead, it has been determined that Roza was responsible for her own death, according to court documents.

Officer Goulet presumably is still driving and will not face charges or a conviction.

MANKATO, Minn. — 31-year-old Joseph Burrell was thrown in jail for months after he was apprehended for possessing an unidentified white powder. A field drug test wrongfully identified the white powder as drugs; they were vitamins.

Burrell was arrested in November and charged with four felony counts of drug possession. He was then held for three months in jail his bail was set at $250,000.

After 3 months of his life were stolen, the substance was tested again in a lab, and they discovered that it was actually just vitamins. He had been telling them this information all along. Burrell was finally released.

Throughout the ordeal, prosecutors pressured him to plead guilty and take a deal, but he continued to insist that the substance was not illegal. Instead of rushing a test, the prosecutors just didn’t believe him and allowed the vitamins to sit in a lab, and Burrell to sit in a cell.

The officers had been conducting surveillance on the home, which is near Reflection Ridge, at 21st and Ridge in northwest Wichita. The officers repeatedly asked the men how they were able to pay the rent on such an expensive home.

What the officers did not realize is that Michael Kostelecky’s parents own the home, and that his parents are currently living in Costa Rica, renting the home to their son and two of his friends, Tymony and Houston, who both work for Hog Wild Pit BBQ.

What also may have been unclear to the police department is that the home contains a music studio, and that local artists frequented the home on a daily basis, to record their music.

What the officers did know is that Houston, the son of Goddard’s Chief of Police, had prior drug arrests, and that three young men were living in a home that was beyond their means, and that other young men and women visited the home on a regular basis.

After breaking down the unlocked door, stomping on two men’s necks, and thrashing everything in the two-story home, the officers came away with a single piece of a broken marijuana pipe, which had not been used for years.

Tymony had roughly $300 in his possession, which was from his paycheck from Hog Wild. No drugs, and no weapons were found in the home.

The officers failed to provide a copy of the search warrant to the men at the time of the raid, and a document obtained from the police by Torrie Porter, Tymony’s mother, claims that the warrant was not presented, because there was no one home when the police entered the house, which was not true.

The men found a copy of the warrant on a counter in the home when they returned from being questioned by police. They also found a burning scarf, which had been left on top of a space heater. If they had been detained any longer, the home may have burnt to the ground.

Kansas Exposed reached out to the department for a response to this story, and Captain Doug Nolte informed us that the department has no response at this time, as the department does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey will not pursue criminal charges against a Thornton police detective who shot an Adams County sheriff's deputy in December while trying to apprehend a murder suspect.

There are no applicable criminal charges to file against Thornton Police Det. Brent Mullen, who fired the shots, Morrissey wrote in his decision letter released Wednesday. The decision does not limit the Thornton Police Department's ability to discipline Mullen.

The decision letter gives a lengthy description of the search for a murder suspect, who was considered dangerous, that led undercover officers from Thornton to Denver. Mullen shot Adams County Sheriff Department Det. Mike Robbins, who was chasing the suspect on foot through an alley.

...

Mullen was quoted in the letter as saying, "I remember thinking, 'He's going to start shooting me through the windshield! He's going to start shooting me through the windshield!' And I, I start shooting through the windshield."

But the sergeant with Mullen recognized the Adams County deputy as a fellow officer and began shouting that he was "friendly," the letter said.

Robbins was not wearing clothes or badges that identified him as a police officer, the decision letter said

A former Manatee County Sheriff's Lieutenant charged with child molestation pleads to lesser charge.

Dale Couch was arrested in May of 2013 on three counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child.

Earlier this week, Couch pleaded no contest to lesser charges of battery.

He was sentenced to 12 months probation, anger management courses and he cannot contact the child victims in the case.

Former Broward County, Florida, Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan Bleiweiss pleaded guilty 33 times to a laundry list of crimes on Feb. 12.

In a plea deal, Bleiweiss pleaded guilty to 14 counts of armed false imprisonment, 15 counts of battery and four counts of stalking.

Bleiweiss was originally accused of forcing at least a dozen undocumented male immigrants to have sex with him, but the victims refused to testify because they are illegally in the country and feared reprisal, claimed assistant state attorney Neva Smith.

Bleiweiss, a former "Employee of the Year," was arrested in 2009.

The former chief of the Greensburg Police Department was arrested Tuesday morning, Indiana State Police announced.

Stacey L. Chasteen, 49, of Seymour, turned herself in to face charges of theft and official misconduct, which stemmed from an audit of the department's evidence records.

The audit was requested in December when an unspecified amount of cash was found to be missing from the Greensburg Police Department property room.

State police troopers with the laboratory division conducted the audit in January, resulting in the discovery of "several discrepancies" concerning evidence.

More than a dozen criminal cases in Decatur County could be in jeopardy.

Gordon VanGilder is a typically law-abiding citizen who is now facing 10 years in a New Jersey prison. That would make him 82-years-old by the time he gets out, if convicted.

What was his crime? The elderly man was arrested for having a 300 year old, antique flintlock pistol in the notoriously anti-gun state.

VanGilder is retired schoolteacher, and never gets in trouble with the law. His attorney explains that the 72-year-old was transporting an unloaded mid-1700s firearm in his vehicle.

“Beware of New Jersey,” the retired school teacher said. “This is overreach, for sure.”

Germantown police officer, Jeff Gonzalez deserves credit for not only refusing to do what so many other cops do when dogs approach them, but actually getting out in the freezing weather to see why this dog was loose.

“He stood there and barked a little bit, then I rolled down my window and called to him. Then he wagged his tail and got more friendly until I got out of my car. And then he ran a little bit,” said Gonzalez.

John Boy was seemingly trying to get the officer’s attention in an effort to help his owner.

“Yeah, he sure did. He pointed me in the right direction,” said Gonzalez.

John Boy led the officer up the street to a house where his owner, Krystal, was unresponsive. Krystal, who suffers from a heart condition, was slumped over in a chair outside her front door, still in her pajamas. It was dangerously cold out.

A Virginia State Police trooper was shot in the foot by another trooper during a joint police operation with the Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday.
Isle of Wight Officials say this occurred in the 8700 block of Smithfield Apartments Lane. They say crews were executing a search warrant which was part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.

According to a release from Virginia State Police, a dog attacked one of the team members when they were making entry into the home. The trooper attempted to shoot the attacking dog and one of the rounds hit another trooper in the foot. The dog was killed.

The trooper’s injury was non-life threatening. They were taken to the hospital, treated and released.

The mother of an 8-year-old Native American girl is suing police who maintain that they were justified in using a taser on the child. The family lives in Pierre, South Dakota and belong to the Rosebud Sioux community.

Four police officers decided that this young girl who had a small paring knife was “a danger to herself,” requiring them to taser her.

But her mother says that the officers should have used non-violent means to neutralize the threat they believed the 70-pound girl posed.

It all happened back in October of 2013, but since then family members have obtained attorneys Dana Hanna and Patrick Duffy and their tribe has released public statements against the incident of irrational police brutality.

“Within seconds,” the officer’s electroshock weapon discharged snares into the chest of the 70-pound girl, the lawsuit reads.

“The force of the electricity shot through her body, lifted her, and threw her against a wall. After the officers had stunned (the girl) into high voltage submission, they pulled the fish-hook like Taser darts from her chest, gave her emergency medical attention, bandaged the holes left by the razor-sharp hooks, and called the ambulance.”

...


Attorney Dana Hanna recounts the incident, saying that the “four trained police officers surrounding a 70-pound, 8-year-old Indian girl,” should have used tactics that were less violent and not so risky to the young girl’s health and possibly life.

“One distracts her, another grabs the girl’s arm. That’s what they should have done,” Hanna continued.

“She had a kitchen paring knife, but hadn’t cut. She was a kid throwing a tantrum. They should have made an attempt to grab the kid, not use a weapon to throw her into a wall. A Taser’s not meant to kill, but it does kill. Many people have died after being hit by a Taser by cops. It never should be used on a little child. She certainly wasn’t presenting a danger to officers.”

The girl’s father, Bobby Jones added, “I don’t fault for the police being there because they were called. They were there. But what happened while they were there is why I’m upset,” in an early interview he did with local KSFY.

Hanna says that the girl, “L.M.J.”, is currently receiving mental and emotional counseling from a child counselor, as a result of the trauma she experienced at the hands of police. We’ll keep you updated on how the lawsuit proceeds.

A former Starr County deputy pleaded guilty to a drug charge.

Former Deputy Amy Reyes and her brother were arrested after they tried to smuggle 77 pounds of marijuana through the Hebbronville Border Patrol checkpoint in November of 2014.

The pair was trying to get the marijuana to Houston. Reyes says she was expected to get paid $1,000 for her involvement. A Border Patrol drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to the drugs in the vehicle. An X-ray revealed that the pot was hidden under the vehicle’s floorboard.

Reyes and her brother pleaded guilty in the case. They face up to 5 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

Both will remain free until their sentencing.

An ex-police lieutenant arrested following a two-day crime spree in 2013 has admitted that he was responsible for nearly 60 burglaries across the state.

Former Waupun police officer Brad Young appeared in Green Lake County Court Tuesday afternoon and entered a no contest plea to crimes committed in seven counties, including Fond du Lac, Dodge and Green Lake.

In exchange for information detailing the breadth and depth of Young's criminal activity, special prosecutor Kyle Sargent said the state agreed to charge him with one count of burglary in each of the seven counties where crimes were committed. While each felony count carries a maximum prison sentence of 121/2 years, Sargent said the state — including all of the district attorneys in Fond du Lac, Dodge, Green Lake, Marquette, Burnett, Waushara and Waupaca — has agreed to cap Young's initial prison confinement at 10 years.

An Albuquerque police officer is accused of beating his 12-year-old stepson.

Officer Skyler McClaskey has served the Albuquerque community for nine years. Saturday, APD stripped the 31-year-old of his badge.

McClaskey and his wife, Jodi McClaskey, are accused of repeatedly slapping Jodi’s son.

“He met with the child and observed a few bruises on the child,” said New Mexico State Police Sergeant Chad Pierce.

State Police were called to Edgewood Middle School Friday afternoon to help with a Children, Youth and Families Department welfare check.

The boy told police his stepdad, Skyler McClaskey, slapped him after he pinched his younger sister.

Police say McClaskey flipped the boy onto his stomach, placed his knee on the 12-year-old’s back and struck him again and again.

According to a criminal complaint, the middle schooler tried to escape McClaskey, but he tripped over a dog. Police say the cop held the boy down again and continued to hit him for several minutes.

Jodi McClaskey is accused of then grabbing him by his hair and attempting to slap him.

“It’s terrible that these things take place and happen and definitely we hate to hear that it possibly involves someone in our law enforcement community,” said Pierce.

McClaskey also had a bench warrant. It’s tied to 2012 case out of Santa Fe County where he allegedly wrote a bad check.

Commissioners approved paying $65,000 Tuesday to a man who sued the city last year after being arrested while trying to buy a slice of pizza at a beach restaurant.

Lyle Gluck sued Officer John Hospodavis in federal court, saying the police officer had no reason to think Gluck "had committed, was committing, or was about to commit any criminal offense."

...

When a taxi dropped him off near the Quarterdeck Seafood Bar the next morning so he could retrieve his car, he stopped off at the Boccaccino Cafe and Pizzeria on South State Road A1A to get something to eat.

At about the same time, Hospodavis was responding to a call that two men were "threatening customers and throwing their shoes" at Spazio's restaurant, according to the police report. The two men had already left Spazio's by the time Hospodavis arrived. He then reported seeing Gluck and another man fitting the suspects' descriptions at Boccaccino's.

...

Gluck started to pick up a closed beer bottle that was on the counter next to him, at which point Hospodavis said he "felt threatened and took him into custody," charging Gluck with disorderly intoxication.

Gluck said Hospodavis handcuffed him and only made the cuffs tighter when Gluck complained about his hand being in pain. The suit said the cuffs caused nerve injuries to his hand.

The charge against Gluck was later dropped. Police spokeswoman DeAnna Greenlaw said she was unaware of any disciplinary action against Hospodavis and that no complaint was filed with internal affairs.

A resolution remains in sight in the case of six former Lindsay superjail bailiffs accused of billing the province for unworked overtime hours, the judge who has presided over the matter to date told the accused in Lindsay court on Tuesday.

Progress has been made towards a resolution, but the final steps are still needed to get there, Crown attorney Ron Davidson told Ontario Court of Justice.

"Unfortunately this can't be resolved today ... but I'm still confident of a resolution," Justice Rhys Morgan told the accused after meeting in chambers for about 20 minutes with the three lawyers representing the accused.

The former bailiffs could plead guilty to non-criminal traffic charges.

The proposed resolution contemplates guilty pleas to Highway Traffic Act charges laid Jan. 13 and the withdrawal of the Criminal Code charges they faced, Davidson said previously. The new traffic charges are related to bailiffs' responsibilities when it comes to keeping vehicle logs, he said.

Bailiffs are employed by the Ministry of Correctional Services and transfer prisoners from one secure facility to another.