Details

Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Workplace Violence Accidents

Published: 10 September 2010

Workplace Violence Accidents Page #2

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

Disgruntled ex-employee prompts HazMat response (a recently fired employee from the plant sent a note to his ex-manager through the U.S. Mail with a written threat and some sort of unknown substance inside, prompting a brief hazardous materials response)

Sewer Worker Shot During Robbery Attempt (around 9:30 p.m., a worker, 46, and his partner stopped for dinner and were getting back in their truck when a robber approached, shot the worker, then ran off)

Shots fired at KCK plant; no one hurt (a local blues guitarist is suspected of firing shots inside a lighting plant where he worked before killing himself at his home - no one was hurt in the afternoon shooting - wasn't clear how many shots were fired - had been an employee - he was disciplined, he did go home, he then came back into the plant and fired shots)

Malden Man Charged With Trying To Poison Co-Worker (a hardware store employee is accused of a bizarre crime - prosecutors say he tried to kill his coworker, by pouring ammonia in his drink)

Construction worker's death a homicide (apparently had an altercation with a fellow construction worker who also was staying at the motel while they worked on a local project - would not provide details of the fight between the two men)

Hanover man died of severe blow to head after fight (a 43-year-old man died after a blow to the head - had been fighting with a fellow construction worker)

Details Surface in Local Mail Facility Shooting Incident (authorities have now confirmed that six people were killed and one woman remains in critical condition - an ex-postal service employee opened fire with a 9 mm pistol at a mail sorting facility killing five employees and critically wounding another before taking her own life - was placed on medical leave in 2003 for psychological reasons after sheriff’s deputies removed her from the mail sorting facility due to her strange behavior)

Details

Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Workplace Violence Accidents

Published: 10 September 2010

Workplace Violence Accidents Page #1

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

Sicillian worker kills five 
News Headlines: World Published: 02-May-03; 16:31 By: ITN 
A disgruntled town worker who risked losing his job has gone on a shooting spree in the eastern Sicilian town of Aci Castello, killing the mayor and four other people. They said the mayor, Michele Toscano, was gunned down in his office and a male municipal employee was killed on the stairs of the town hall. The gunman then shot dead a 66-year-old pensioner who was taking the sun in the square outside, before killing two women town employees in municipal offices nearby. At least one other person was injured in the shootings. "We're certainly dealing with a psychopath," said senior police commander Vito Damiano. Police identified the attacker as Giuseppe Leotta, a 32-year-old municipal worker on a short-term contract, who apparently was upset over job issues. Helicopters hovered over the town as police threw up a massive manhunt for Leotta, who was believed to be still armed. Most of the town's residents were shut up in their houses in fear. Italian television showed people in shock being helped out of the town hall by other citizens. One man said: "I saw the mayor after he was cut down. It was terrifying." Initial reports said Leotta had wanted to speak to the mayor over conditions for employees with short-term contracts expiring soon, but his request was refused. He returned shortly afterwards and began his shooting rampage. The killings did not appear to be linked in any way to the Mafia, the Sicily-based crime organisation which has kept a low profile in recent years.

Boston Market murder
Indianapolis, April 28 - Police say a man has confessed to the murder of his co-worker at a Boston Market restaurant this weekend. Investigators say 31-year-old Maya Abraham killed Leslie Dickerson after she rejected his sexual advances. Her body was found Sunday in the dumpster outside the restaurant. Police have not released any cause of death yet. Abraham is expected to make his initial court appearance sometime later this week. 

Dunkin' Donuts worker killed over coffee, says cop 
April 29, 2003 BY ANNIE SWEENEY AND CARLOS SADOVI Staff Reporters 
Alfredo Natal was playing loud music all night again. It had been like that for a month--pounding music between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., neighbors said. The CTA worker was rude and was sometimes seen sitting in a corner of the neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts just staring at people. But no one pegged him as someone who would kill over too much sugar in his coffee. That's what police say set off Natal when he walked into the Dunkin' Donuts last week and gunned down Sukhdev Dave, 29, behind the counter. "His beverage was sweetened too much,'' Area 5 Cmdr. Lee Epplen said. "I don't know how many times that happened, but he said it happened too many times.'' Natal and Dave had had a run-in two weeks ago when Natal believed he had been charged twice for a cup of coffee, Epplen said. The two settled the dispute, but Natal remained convinced Dave was out to get him and was loading up his coffee with sugar, the commander said. On the morning of the shooting last Thursday, Natal entered a side door of the shop at 4867 W. Lawrence and, without saying a word, stepped behind the counter and shot Dave, who crumpled to the floor, prosecutors said. Natal shot Dave two more times before leaving, they said. Dave had moved to the United States from India five years ago. He was married, and his wife gave birth to their son last Friday, the day after the murder. "I know Dave. He's a very good guy," said Stanley Avorywoskie, who is setting up a fund for the son. "It's a real tragedy." Natal was armed with a .45-caliber pistol that he used for his second job, where he worked security, prosecutors said. After shooting Dave, Natal took a train to Pittsburgh and remained there until Saturday, authorities said. When he arrived back at his apartment on the West Side, police arrested him. Officer Joseph Burkhart, who was assigned to the O'Hare detail but who worked in the neighborhood up until two months ago, had recognized a composite sketch of Natal and reported it to detectives. Police recovered the gun Natal allegedly used. They also recovered a photo of Dave in Natal's personal belongings, along with photos of other clerks at neighborhood businesses and scenic shots from Pittsburgh. Epplen said detectives do not believe there was anything suspicious about the photos. In fact, a copy of the picture of Dave was hanging behind the counter at Dunkin' Donuts, he said. Natal, 48, was divorced and had children, but Epplen does not believe there had been any recent contact or conflict. Sebastiano Attardo, Natal's landlord, said Natal paid his rent on time and was not a problem tenant. At the CTA, where Natal had worked since 1986, he was known by supervisors to be "dependable, hard-working, always on time and a pleasant gentleman,'' said spokeswoman Anne McCarthy. Natal was being held on a $3 million bond.

Two killed in shooting at Massachusetts hospital
BOSTON, April 8 (Reuters) - Two people were killed in a shooting on Tuesday at a doctor's office at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, police said. Police spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said the victims were a male doctor and a female hospital worker. There were indications that the shooting was a murder-suicide, but Burns said it was too soon to confirm that because the circumstances were still under investigation. No arrests were made, and police found a firearm at the scene of the crime. "We are comfortable saying that we do not feel there is an assailant on the loose at this time," she told reporters.

Three restaurant workers shot dead in robbery; Two men and a woman found in walk-in refrigerator
By Fredrick Kunkle and Spencer Hsu Washington Post 
Monday, April 07, 2003 - WASHINGTON -- Three kitchen workers at a Northeast Washington restaurant that has been the social anchor of a diverse neighborhood around Catholic University were shot to death Sunday morning in a robbery, authorities said. In a crime that evoked memories of the 1997 triple murder at a city Starbucks, police said that two men and a woman were killed about 8:15 a.m. at Colonel Brooks' Tavern on Monroe and Ninth streets in the Brookland neighborhood. The victims, who had arrived about 45 minutes earlier to begin preparing Sunday brunch, were found in a walk-in refrigerator, and each had been shot in the head, police said. Police sources said detectives believe robbery was the motive and that an undisclosed amount of money was missing. They said police also believe two suspects were involved. Police late Sunday afternoon identified the victims as Rodney Barnes, 47, of Washington, D.C.; Neomi Payne, 48, of Hyattsville, Md; and Joshua Greenberg, 34, of Glen Echo, Md. Greenberg was pronouncd dead at Washington Hospital Center shortly after 9 a.m. He drew a breath as paramedics were moving his body, prompting them to try to revive him. Greenberg was the head chef, Payne a cook, and Barnes a dishwasher. The tavern's owner, Jim Stiegman, said one of his employees told him that he was in the second-floor office counting money from the bar's cash registers when he looked out the back window and saw two men walking toward the opened kitchen door. Stiegman said the employee told him that the two men pulled masks over their faces and entered the building. Then, Stiegman said the employee told him, he heard voices -- presumably those of the two men -- giving orders. He heard someone command the employees to direct the intruders to the office upstairs. Stiegman said the employee told him he fled the office, closing the door behind him, ran down a hall and left through a door that opened to a sub-roof. Through the door, he heard someone rattling the locked office door, and then the voices faded, the emploee told Stiegman. The employee then heard gunshots, Stiegman said. Some time later, the employee told Stiegman, he went back inside and used a phone to call police. Police later questioned both Stiegman and the employee, whose name is not being disclosed because he is considered a witness. Stiegman said there have been minor burglaries at the restaurant since he opened it in 1980 but no major crimes. "I can't for the life of me imagine why you have to kill somebody to get money," he said. As police searched for clues on foot and on bicycles, neighbors reacted with shock at the killings inside an establishment that had built up an almost "Cheers"-like hold on its clientele. The two-story brick restaurant was known for its Southern food, jazz entertainment and bartenders who knew many of their customers' names. "This place is a community treasure," said D.C. Council Member Vincent Orange, D-Ward 5, who was at the scene after learning of the tragedy while attending church. He said the restaurant is a regular stop for civic leaders, including Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D). "To see something like this happen is shocking and deplorable." Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said the employees may have been shot in the refrigerator but it was unclear whether they put up a struggle. "The employees were like a family," said Steven Clark, a waiter at the restaurant since last fall. Stiegman opened Colonel Brooks' Tavern 23 years ago, intending to create the sort of place where everybody knew each other's name, a social hub for the ethnically and economically diverse Brookland, said Susie Ryan, his wife. Into the tavern's mix went faculty and students from Catholic University, physicians and nurses from Washington Hospital Center and Providence Hospital, young families who came for Sunday brunch, and senior citizens who turned out on Tuesdays to hear the Federal Jazz Commission, a Dixieland group that recorded a CD there. Brookland is a varied mix of single family homes on tree-lined streets bordered by Catholic University, and South Dakota, Michigan and Rhode Island avenues. It is more racially mixed than most D.C. neighborhoods -- three-quarters black, and one-fifth white, according to the 2000 Census, and its crime rate is relatively low. The neighborhood has an active community association, which over the years has banded together to save the historic Brooks mansion, stop a highway from cutting through, and deal with occasional town-gown conflicts. The tavern was named for Col. Jehiel Brooks, a militiaman who eventually retired as a gentleman lawyer, and whose family home from the mid-1800s is a block away. Before opening as a tavern, the site had been a storefront church, a 1930s cigar shop and pool hall, a tailor shop and a newspaper home-delivery drop. Ryan, the owner's wife, said her husband also hired from the neighborhood, sometimes employing the teen-age children of people who had previously worked there as teen-agers. "This is his family," she said "These restaurant people are his family." In the Starbucks killing, three employees of a Georgetown store were found shot to death in the back room, victims of a bungled robbery. The convicted killer is serving a life sentence without parole.

Man charged over abattoir attack
Tuesday 25 March 2003, 6:05 AM 
A Melbourne man has been charged over the stabbing death of an abattoir worker in Victoria's north east Monday morning. One man died and and two others were seriously injured at the Yarrawonga meat processing plant after an incident which began at 7am, police said. Yarrawonga resident Peter Edward Murphy, 47, died at the export market abattoir at Hicks Road, Yarrawonga, police said. A 47-year-old man who received wounds to his neck and chest is in a critical condition in The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and a third man aged in his 30s who received injuries to the back, side and chest, is in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Detectives charged a 25-year-old man with murder late Monday night. He has been remanded in custody to appear in Shepparton Magistrates' Court Tuesday morning. 

Mars Hill store owner killed
Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis, March 24 -- The victim's family and friends comforted each other outside a Mars Hill supermarket. Inside, someone shot and killed 42-year-old store owner DeePak Patel shortly after he opened for business. His brother Bharat hopes someone can help detectives find the killer. "Somebody killed my brother. If they come forward and give us some information." Wonderbread delivery man Steve Rodusky arrived at the store shortly after nine a.m., just minutes after the shooting. Once inside, he knew something was wrong. "The garbage can was in front of the front door. I looked behind the counter, he wasn't here. Then I looked to my right and he was lying down the isle." While Rodusky called 911 for help, longtime customer Donna Barnes walked into the store. "I looked over to the right, Dee was laying there and there was a lot of blood around him." Barnes checked Patel's pulse, but it was too late. Now homicide detectives hope a time table can help narrow down when the was in the store. Marion County Sheriff's Sgt. Clair Stipe says, "We have nailed it down, I think, to a ten-minute window period prior to our arrival." "Got to be cold blooded to do something like that to somebody." Minutes later Thomas Pine showed up to meet the store owner for breakfast. "Why would somebody do it? Why? He helped so many people around here." Since Patel helped so many others, his family and friends hope someone helps detectives bring his killer to justice. Bharat Patel says, "Whoever did this, I feel like he as an evil mind." Barnes adds, "Dee was a good man and he didn't deserve that." Homicide detectives are still working on an exact motive in the shooting. There are no definite suspects right now. Anyone with information on the case can call Crimestoppers at 231-TIPS.

Yemeni Man Fatally Shoots 3 Oil Workers 
Tuesday March 18, 2003 5:20 PM By AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press Writer 
SAN`A, Yemen (AP) - A Yemeni man fatally shot three oil workers Tuesday, including an American, and wounded a fourth before shooting himself dead, according to oil workers and a U.S. diplomat. The attack took place in an oil field in the oil-rich northern province of Marib, about 100 miles northeast of the Yemeni capital San`a, tribesmen and oil workers said on condition of anonymity. Both Westerners worked at a Hunt Oil Co. rig, and were shot while working in the field. The motive for the attack was unclear. Gun violence is not unusual in the largely lawless tribal areas of Yemen, but the country also has been the scene of several Islamic militant terror attacks on Western targets in recent years. A diplomat at the U.S. Embassy, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the shooting and said U.S. security personnel were in contact with the Interior Ministry to obtain more details. ``We have reliable information confirming the attack. We know that an American and a Canadian were killed and another Caadian was wounded,'' he said. Canada does not maintain an embassy in Yemen. Officials at its embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which oversees Canadian interests in Yemen, said they had no immediate comment. Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman Reynald Doiron said ``preliminary indications do seem to exclude the terrorism angle,'' but he could not elaborate. Jim Oberwetter, a spokesman at Hunt Oil Co.'s headquarters in Dallas, said the assailant first killed a Hunt worker, an American supervising drilling operations. The gunman then shot two Canadians and a Yemen citizen working for the drilling company before killing himself. The only survivor was Canadian. ``Hunt has suspended our drilling operations in Yemen for the foreseeable future,'' he said, adding that the company did not know the killer's motive. Officials of the drilling company - Nabors Industries of Houston - did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday. Security officials refused to comment. On Dec. 30, a suspected Islamic militant shot dead three U.S. Christian missionaries who worked at a Baptist-run hospital. Yemen long has been a hotbed for terrorists and is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. In 2000, an explosives-laden boat rammed the American destroyer USS Cole off Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors. In November, a CIA-operated Predator drone fired a missile that killed bin Laden's top lieutenant in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, and five other suspected members of the terror group.

Two nurses attacked on hospital's crisis ward 
TWO nurses on a crisis-hit ward at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary have been attacked by patients. The two workers were caring for patients with head injuries when the assaults happened. Both nurses were treated in the hospital's accident and emergency unit. One agency nurse received serious scratches on his arms and required a hepatitis test while an auxiliary nurse had her thumb bent back and sprained by a female patient. The attacks come just weeks after the Evening Times revealed a catalogue of problems facing staff and patients on Ward 53, in the new Jubilee Building at the hospital. A total of 10 senior staff quit within months of the showpiece unit opening and nurses slammed the standards of care in the combined head and bone injury ward. It is thought a 23-year-old man, believed to be responsible for one of the attacks, was still being treated in the ward. Staff feel the ward is unsafe for patients and themselves and Friday night's incident reinforced their concerns. A senior member of staff said: "Management say the wards are safe … but what happened on Friday proves they are not. "We have had to restrain patients with head injuries in the last few days. "One member of staff has already refused to come to work because she felt so intimidated. "Staff leave here in tears after a shift as morale is so low. "A lot of nurses are leaving or are off sick with stress because there are not enough staff to run this ward properly." When the attacks took place there had been 22 patients in the ward with just two staff nurses on along with two agency and two auxiliaries. The staff nurse added: "There is not a fully-trained head injury nurse on this ward. "Elderly people on that ward are terrified when something like this happens and they get neglected while our time is taken up dealing with incidents such as this." A spokeswoman for North Glasgow NHS Trust confirmed the incident, saying: "The staffing level at the time was normal. "Head injury patients do bring with them their own difficulties so where appropriate and possible we try and treat them in separate rooms away from the rest of the patients." Just weeks ago the Evening Times exposed a catalogue of problems at the unit. One nurse who worked there, Norma Stinton, 63, quit after 33 years' service. Mrs Stinton said: "I hate to admit it but I wouldn't want my family treated there." Today a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing said nurses should not have to put up with violence as part of their job. She said: "There is supposed to be zero tolerance after guidelines introduced by the Scottish Executive last year but this is not being implemented at ground level." Earlier this year a man was jailed at Dumbarton Sheriff Court after assaulting a nurse in the town's Vale of Leven hospital. Jim Devine, Unison's Scottish health organiser, said: "Attacks on nursing and health care workers are up by 40%. "Very few of these incidents are reported to the police or ever get to court. "I will be contacting the trust to find out what action they will be taking in relation to these attacks and the safety of their staff."

Shootings keeping Columbia cabbies watchful
(Columbia) March 10, 2003 - Many taxi robberies go unreported because drivers tell WIS News 10 they don't take the time to fill out paperwork, since time is money. Cab drivers say they're well-trained on safety precautions and if they feel the least bit uncomfortable, most just won't give the ride. Still, they're all keenly aware that any one of them could've been a victim. Blue Ribbon cab driver Ronnie Frazier, during his 25 years of driving, says he's never been injured, but that doesn't mean he's never been scared, "I've had crime, them not pay, and people draw weapons on me." Frazier admits he's rethinking his career choice after a Blue Ribbon driver was shot in the head Saturday night. Frazier's co-worker was gunned down outside Columbia's Mallard Point apartments. He survived and helped police draw up a sketch of the suspect, who's still on the loose. Frederick Omondi, 24, was robbed and shot to death an hour and a half earlier in his cab outside Columbia's Hampton Hill apartments. Investigators believe the same suspect committed both robberies. Fred Fuller at Checker Yellow was one of Omondi's co-workers and he says they are trying to roll on without their friend, "He was a good driver and I never heard anything bad about him. Just a good person." Fuller says he's concerned, but, "It makes me leery, but I have to make a living. I enjoy what I do." A female passenger riding with Omondi was also shot in the head, but has been released from the hospital. Fuller says Omondi was just driving on weekends because he was a student. Fuller, whose wife also drives a cab, says he's going to be especially careful not to carry a lot of cash and to take every precaution he knows to return home safely, "I pass up a lot of fares. When they try to flag you down then I won't take them like that. It's safer to take them through dispatch." Frazier says he won't let the crimes deter him, "It's your career and what makes you happy. I'm not going to let them steal my joy." Call the Columbia Police or Richland County Sheriff's Department if you have any information about the shootings.

Brooklyn Laundromat Worker Murdered, Second In Less Than A Week
(New York-WABC, March 10, 2003) — A Brooklyn laundromat worker was killed Monday, the second in less than a week. The murder occurred during the early morning hours in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. And while the time of day was nearly the same as Friday's incident, police say the two are not connected. Cheryl Fiandaca reports. Police say that while they were both early morning robberies of laundromats, the circumstances in the two incidents were very different. In Friday's murder in Queens, the victim was a female who was tied up and sexually assaulted. In Monday's murder in Brooklyn, a male victim was shot once. Workers from the corornor's office wheeled the body of a 32 year-old male out of the Laundry King Laundromat in Crown Heights late Monday morning. Police say the Russian immigrant, who was the store's manager, was shot once in the face just after 6:00am, inside the laundromat on Atlantic Avenue. Abraham Rosenberg works across the street. Abraham Rosenberg, Resident: "He told me in the beginnng when he... That place opened just only a few months ago... maybe six months ago... So he told me that when he came to work here he was scared. Monday's incident was the second murder in a laundromat during a robbery in less than a week. Last Friday, a Jamaican immigrant was found strangled in a Springfield Gardens laundromat. Her killer is still on the loose. Early Friday afternoon, police said that they did not believed the two incidents are linked. Police have not yet released the identity of the victim in Monday's murder. They did say that the laundromat was under 24-hour surveillance, so investigators were reviewing what the cameras saw Monday afternoon. Police are asking anyone with any information to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Queens Laundry Worker Strangled
By Daniel Hendrick Special to Newsday March 7, 2003, 7:22 PM EST
A Jamaican immigrant working in an all-night laundry in Springfield Gardens was found killed early Friday, a plastic bag over her head and her pants pulled down, police said. The strangled and suffocated victim, Valerie Dennis, was discovered just past 6 a.m. when a regular customer found her body behind a counter in the rear of the laundry. Police suspect she was killed earlier in the morning. It wasn’t clear if the killer stole any money — the business does not have a cash register. Police said an autopsy will determine if she was sexually assaulted. Police at the scene checked catch basins and Dumpsters for clues. It does not appear any nearby businesses are equipped with security cameras that might have captured the killer fleeing. The unnamed laundry at 125-13 Merrick Blvd. usually keeps its doors locked after 7 p.m., though police said it wasn’t clear if the killer gained access because she knew the person or because the killer posed as a customer. Patrick Berry, a superintendent of a nearby apartment building who developed a friendship with Dennis from taking laundry to her, would often buy her a cup of tea before starting his workday. “It must have been someone she trusts or someone she was used to,” Berry said of the killer. “She was a nice girl with a nice personality.” Dennis’ sister-in-law, with whom she lived in the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica, said Dennis was quiet and gentle. “She was a simple person,” said the sister-in-law, Evette Smith. “She takes care of my grandkids.” Smith said Dennis immigrated here three years ago, moving into a ground-floor room in Smith’s home. She started working at the laundry about two years ago but had recently grown apprehensive about her overnight shift because two attendants had been victimized in robberies — one tied up and one shot, Smith said. “She wanted to get another job,” Smith said. “She was looking for something.” Rachel Henry, a regular customer, said that drugs are a problem in the area but that she felt safe until hearing about the murder. “I’ve never felt so afraid as now,” she said. “This was someone I know. It’s just never gotten this close.”

A man was critically injured yesterday when he was stabbed by a co-worker at a Cambria Heights car service, police said. The violence erupted at Personal Touch Car Service on Springfield Boulevard at 11 a.m. when Jermaine Brown, 20, got into an argument with the 23-year-old victim, who was not identified, then allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed him in the stomach before fleeing. The victim was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital in critical condition. Brown was later arrested and charged with assault and weapons possession.

Man allegedly treated worker like slave 
Contractor faces kidnapping, assault charges for allegedly withholding pay and food while giving worker beatings. A contractor accused of using nail guns, hammers and threats to force a Hilton Head Island worker into slave labor was arrested in Utah on Monday. Although he'd managed to escape capture in Beaufort County, he was working in Utah as an unofficial liaison between Hispanic residents and police. Adan Benitez, 30, faces three counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and one count of kidnapping. Beaufort County deputies have been looking for Benitez since March 2001 when one of his workers was treated for injuries. The victim, then 32, told deputies Benitez beat him often, refused to pay him and started withholding food, said Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Debbie Szpanka. "The abuse included beating him with boards, construction equipment and included shooting him with a nail gun twice in the leg, and using a hammer on his hands and feet," Szpanka said. "The victim says (Benitez) threatened him and his family in Mexico ... He was very scared." The victim once worked with Benitez in Utah. He later moved to North Carolina but Benitez called and offered him a job on Hilton Head, Szpanka said. The victim said Benitez promised to pay him $10 per hour and then $300 per week. But several months later, Benitez began a new job as a self-contractor. The victim continued to work for him, but says Benitez stopped paying and began beating him instead. "He (allegedly) beat him pretty regularly for work not done or for work not done right," Szpanka said. Then Benitez told the victim he would have to pay him thousands of dollars for rent. Finally, he stopped feeding the man, Szpanka said. When deputies were finally called, on March 9, 2001, the victim hadn't eaten for days. A witness saw the victim go into Benitez's office that day and emerge with injuries from a beating, Szpanka said. The witness urged the victim to get help and took him to an attorney's office. The victim went before a magistrate and warrants were issued for Benitez's arrest. Deputies took the victim to Hilton Head Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for visible injuries. Meanwhile, Benitez vanished, Szpanka said. Deputies didn't know where he was until Benitez helped officials track him down. He'd apparently asked police he knew through his liaison work to run a background check on him. It came back with the warrants from Beaufort County and he was detained as a fugitive from justice. Szpanka said deputies plan to have Benitez returned to Beaufort County to face charges. They are waiting to see if he will fight extradition.

Cub Foods worker attacked with hammer
Paul Gustafson, Star Tribune Published Feb. 26, 2003 BEAT26 
Roseville police arrested a man Tuesday afternoon in connection with an attack at the Har Mar Cub Foods store earlier in the day, in which a store employee was allegedly beaten with a hammer by a co-worker. The victim, a 47-year-old St. Paul woman, told police that the man attacked her at 12:14 a.m. after she saw him go into a store office he was not authorized to enter. She told authorities that she entered the office and saw the man taking money from cash drawers. He then attacked her before fleeing, she said. Police said the woman was struck many times on her head, arms and body. She was hospitalized for treatment of a broken arm and head injuries. The suspect later turned himself in to police. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects until they are charged. 

Foreman jailed for hurting worker 
FURIOUS that a Bangladeshi worker did not follow his instructions, an excavator operator swung the arm of the machine at the man. The first swing missed. The second time, the 27-year-old construction worker was hit on his left elbow, and fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Yesterday, Lim Kian Huat, 49, who was also the foreman at the worksite, was jailed for 1 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to dislocating Mr Ala Uddin Shamsul Hague's elbow. He was also ordered to be caned three strokes. A district court heard that Lim and a few workers had gone to Kandahar Street, in the Jalan Sultan area, to fix underground water pipes at about 10 am on June 24 last year. The victim's job was to carry large pieces of stone and concrete to the excavator for Lim to break into smaller pieces. At one point, Lim told Mr Ala Uddin to stop carrying the stones and move aside, but the worker did not do so. That was when Lim swung the excavator arm at him. In a written mitigation plea, defence counsel Gulab Sobhraj and T. Subramaniam asked the court not to order caning, as Lim has high blood pressure, but to no avail.

Four dead in shooting at Huntsville, Ala., employment agency
By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- A "very unstable" man looking for work opened fire at a temporary employment agency during an argument over a CD player Tuesday, killing four fellow job-seekers and wounding a fifth, police said. The gunman drove off after the shooting and was later cornered at his apartment, after police went to the address he had put down on his job applications, authorities said. Police said he shot at officers during the standoff and was believed to be holed up alone. Officers surrounded the building and evacuated the nearby area. Authorities provided the gunman with a phone and started talking with him around noon, but later turned off power to the building amid near-freezing temperatures, police said. The shooting happened around 6:30 a.m. CST in the lobby of Labor Ready Inc., where as many as 15 people were gathered, waiting for work. "A fight broke out among two groups of men over a CD player," said police spokesman Wendell Johnson. The man who did the shooting regularly went to the office looking for work and was well known to both employees and other laborers, he said. "People who know him say he is a very unstable individual," said Johnson. He did not elaborate. The suspect's name was not released. Michael Tucker Jr., whose father was in the Labor Ready office when the shootings occurred, said his father told him the argument "was all over something about CDs and $20. There was some guys picking at him and pushing him, laughing at him. They pushed him into a corner." Tucker said the suspect then "stepped out, stepped back in and immediately started shooting." "He shot the first guy in the head and then shot another guy and tried to shoot a woman," Tucker said. "He just started pointing the gun all over." Police Lt. Vince Dauro said when he arrived at the Labor Ready office after the shooting he found two of the dead on the floor of an entryway inside the building. Two other victims were on the ground outside, one dead and the other with fatal wounds who died at a hospital, Dauro said. A fifth man suffered a leg wound. Patricia Johnson, 38, told The Huntsville Times that the gunman turned his weapon on her and pulled the trigger, but the handgun did not fire. She ran into a closet where three or four people already were hiding. Another witness, Joseph Spears, told television station WAFF he saw the man shoot the first two victims. "I hid in the closet. I heard more shooting and screaming," he said. At the single-story brick apartment building where the standoff continued, Chester Horton said the man being sought had moved in early last week. Horton, who lives in the building, said he was awakened about 7 a.m. by a noise like a gunshot or slamming door. He and his two sons, ages 13 and 14, were able to get out safely as police swarmed the area. Horton described the man holed up in the apartment as "a strange guy" who seemed aloof and quiet. "My first impression is -- he was a weird guy," said Horton. Labor Ready, based in Tacoma, Wash., describes itself as the nation's largest provider of temporary manual labor for light industry and small businesses. The Labor Ready office is next to a building that houses law enforcement agencies, including state troopers and investigators for the sheriff's department.

EPZ factory closed following strikes
By Keya Lucas
The Altex EPZ Limited factory in Athi River, near Nairobi, closed down yesterday, with management citing persistent strikes by workers. Managers said all employees were dismissed forthwith and that new workers will be recruited starting next week. The management said persistent strikes have disrupted operations in the garment manufacturing factory within the EPZ. While making the announcement, the factory’s Human Resources Manager, Hellen Akello, advised all workers to collect their dues tomorrow from the District Labour Office in Machakos. Akello said the former workers should satisfactorily identify themselves at the time of collecting their dues. They should also make arrangements to hand over company property that might be in their possession. She said the decision to close down the factory and to dismiss workers was reached after consultations with the Tailors and Textile Workers Union, Federation of Kenya Employers and the Ministry of Labour. The strike at the Altex factory started on February 18 when workers reported on duty but refused to work and instead demanded the dismissal of a senior manager. They became rowdy and attempts by the management to get them to resume work failed. On February 19, a group of workers attacked and injured a senior member of the management staff. Meanwhile, in the Industrial Area, employees of Silpak Industries Limited went on strike yesterday, citing poor working conditions and non-payment of dues, adds Diana Etsabo The employees claimed that due to poor working conditions, four of their colleagues had died while in the line of duty. Efforts to reach Director Ritich Shah were unsuccessful as security men barred the Press and workers from entering the compound, which is located next to the Standard Newspaper Group headquarters on Likoni Road.

British Employee At BAE Gunned Down
Feb 21, 2003 Source: Arab News
A British national who worked for British Aerospace (BAE) here was killed when a Saudi man opened fire on him in his car at a traffic light yesterday. An Interior Ministry official identified the attacker as Saud ibn Ali ibn Nasser, a 30-year-old Yemen-born naturalized Saudi working as a Toyota car salesman in the capital. He was arrested in possession of the murder weapon after a massive police hunt, the official added without disclosing a motive for the attack. The shooting took place at 4.45 p.m. and the Briton was killed instantly. Robert Denis, 37, had been working as a commercial officer at BAE. He was married and lived with his wife and two children in a residential compound. John Lawley, a BAE spokesman, said security had recently been increased at both the BAE head office and the compound where most BAE workers live, and near where yesterday’s shooting took place. News of the shooting sent shockwaves through the 30,000-strong British expat community here. Last night the US Embassy updated its security advice in light of the latest attack, urging American nationals in the Kingdom to consider leaving. The British Embassy said it will be issuing new advice soon. In addition to a British BAE employee shot at in Riyadh on Feb. 6, an Australian working for the company was attacked a week earlier in the garrison town of Khamis Mushayt. Last June, another Australian employee of BAE in the northern garrison town of Tabuk was fired on by a sniper who had been lying in wait outside a BAE residential compound. All three previously targeted workers were unharmed. BAE has been in the Kingdom for more than 30 years and has won huge defense contracts. An unrelated string of bombings against Westerners has been blamed by the Saudi authorities on turf wars between rival gangs fighting for control of the black market in alcohol here.

Assault on remote oil field worker raises terror fears
By PATTY HENETZ Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Navajo Nation police and the FBI were patrolling a remote area of southeastern Utah Thursday after reports that an oil company employee had been attacked by armed men who asked questions about the oilfield's operations. The victim, whose name wasn't released, told authorities four armed men attacked him at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at the ExxonMobil oil and natural gas processing facility in Aneth, Utah. ''He did not get a good look at them,'' said Leonard G. Butler, acting executive director of Navajo Nation public safety in Window Rock, Ariz. ''They were speaking a language he did not understand.'' Aneth is on the Navajo reservation about 380 miles southeast of Salt Lake City at the sparsely inhabited Four Corners juncture of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Rick Bailey, who heads emergency planning in San Juan County, said the question of a possible terrorist threat has been raised because the man indicated his attackers were possibly of Middle Eastern descent. ''He's indicating by the way they talked, probably more than anything,'' Bailey said. Three schools - an elementary and high school in nearby Montezuma Creek, Utah, and a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school in Aneth - were on emergency lockdown Thursday. The schoolchildren likely would be allowed to go home at the end of the school day. Authorities were keeping officials informed ''so there is no panic or hysteria up there,'' Butler said. ''They are aware our officers are there. They are patrolling.'' The victim said his assailants left in a large SUV, but he didn't know in which direction, Butler said. The oilfield and processing facility are ''nothing special,'' Bailey said. The man wasn't robbed and there was nothing of value or cash to steal from the plant. ''It would be a sabotage if anything,'' he said. ''The likelihood of causing injury or death to many people would be unlikely at best.'' ExxonMobil spokesman Bob Davis of Houston confirmed there was an incident involving one of their employees but he couldn't release details. Butler said the victim, whose name has not been released, had only minor injuries. FBI agents were questioning him Thursday as 10 Navajo police officers joined other police on a security sweep of the oilfield along with ExxonMobil personnel. Calls to the FBI weren't immediately returned.

Two dead in care-facility dispute
Bee Metro Staff Published 2:15 a.m. PST Monday, February 17, 2003
An early-morning dispute in a private care facility in Placer County left two people dead Sunday of gunshot wounds, sheriff's officials said. "It appears to be a murder-suicide," Placer County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Armstrong said Sunday of the incident in the 3100 block of Spahn Ranch Road. The incident was reported at about 7:40 a.m., when residents of the home notified sheriff's officials of a disturbance, Armstrong said. Investigators believe a man, who was in his late 50s but was not identified Sunday, confronted a woman, who also was in her 50s and was a worker at the facility. The man shot and killed the woman with a handgun, Armstrong said. "There was some noise and then talking and then there were gunshots," Armstrong said. The man, who either was a resident or a worker at the home, turned the weapon on himself, inflicting a fatal wound, Armstrong said. "There were four other people in the home," Armstrong said. "That's who called us." He described the facility as a private care center inside a house in a residential area of the county near Roseville. 

Man kills ex-girlfriend, then himself; Woman shot outside workplace in Ridgeland
By Thyrie Bland and Theresa Kiely
RIDGELAND — A man who gunned down his ex-girlfriend Thursday outside a retirement home told his mother he was under pressure and didn't think he could control it. About an hour after talking to his mother, Walter J. Jones shot to death 30-year-old Brenda Vaughan of Pickens in the parking lot of The Orchard retirement home, where Vaughan worked. Jones, 34, of Camden, then turned a gun to his chest and killed himself. Jones and Vaughan, who were together for 12 years and had three children ages 2, 9 and 12, had a violent relationship, Vaughan's family members said. Vaughan had accused Jones of hitting her and sometimes had bruises when family members saw her, said her sister, Gloria Vaughan. Jones' mother, Carrie Jones, said she didn't know any details of the couple's relationship. She said she spoke briefly with her son before he left home about 6 a.m. Thursday. "He said he had pressure on him and it didn't look like he could control it," she said. "I told him to pray about it, talk to the Lord, ask the Lord to take the pressure away." Carrie Jones said her son did not explain what pressure he was under or where he was going. About an hour later, at 7:14 a.m., police were called to The Orchard at 600 South Pear Orchard Drive. Brenda Vaughan left Walter Jones some time ago, but he "never stopped hounding" her, said Gloria Vaughan of Farmhaven. "She got tired," Gloria Vaughan said. "She said that wasn't the life for her any more. She said enough was enough." She said Walter Jones wanted to rekindle the relationship he had with her sister. "I had told him you cannot make nobody want you that doesn't want you," she said. Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said Walter Jones followed Brenda Vaughan to the retirement home, where she has worked as a certified nursing assistant for about eight years. "From the information I have, she parked her car and approached his pickup truck to have a conversation with him and he apparently shot her twice and then turned the weapon on himself," McGee said. Two guns police believe were used in the shootings — a rifle and a .44-caliber Magnum revolver — were found at the scene. "We are trying to determine the motive," said Ridgeland Police Department Detective Greg Phillips. Family and friends of Brenda Vaughan quickly gathered outside the retirement home as word of the shooting spread. "I just couldn't believe it," said Latice Mobley, one of Brenda Vaughan's friends and an ex-employee of The Orchard. Brenda Vaughan's family gathered Thursday night in Madison County at the home of her mother, Vertia Vaughan. "We are still in a state of shock, trying to figure why did it happen," said Pinkie Johnson, Brenda Vaughan's aunt. Gloria Vaughan said her sister, who was taking medical coding classes at Virginia College in Jackson, came to live with her after her breakup with Walter Jones. Thad McLaurin, managing general partner of The Orchard, said Brenda Vaughan was an excellent employee, well respected and liked by co-workers and residents. "Some of the residents that knew her were upset and saddened by her death," he said. Grief counselors will be available to talk with residents and employees, he said.

Store Clerk Killed Despite Cooperating With Robbers 
Twenty-year-old cashier Eric Pearson was cooperating with two robbers Wednesday night, handing over the money, but they shot and killed him anyway. Pearson was shot around 7:30 pm at the Stop ‘n Go Superette near 18th and Johnson in northeast Minneapolis. “My understanding is he was pulling the money out of his drawer,” said Eric’s father Mark Pearson. “They said ‘you’re not doing it fast enough,’ and they shot him." Mark Pearson says his son was killed for $249, that's what was in the cash drawer. He wants people to call police with information if they have it. He hopes the suspects will be caught before they can strike again. "Maybe somebody else won’t have to go through this,” he said. “So maybe they should catch them, because they'll never understand the pain." Mark Pearson found out what happened during the robbery from another cashier. She was there, but wasn't hurt. Today customers offered their condolences to co-workers at the store. Eric worked nights full-time and took college classes. He was known for his sense of humor. Recently, he told friends that he wanted to join the military. "So young, you know,” said friend Donna Stevens. “He was a good kid." Police are tyring to determine if this case is connected to a recent crime spree of over a dozen robberies in the metro area. There are some similarities, but no one is making a connection yet.

DA: Man will be charged with killing fellow turkey plant worker 
The Associated Press 2/12/03 12:17 AM
NEW OXFORD, Pa. (AP) -- A man allegedly shot and killed a woman with whom he had had a relationship as the two arrived for work early Tuesday at a central Pennsylvania turkey-packing plant, authorities said. Witnesses said Leandro Ortiz-Lugo, of York, approached the victim during a shift change and shot her to death outside the Pilgrim's Pride plant near New Oxford just after 4 a.m., said Paul T. Dean, the Adams County district attorney. Ortiz-Lugo was arrested in York and will be charged with homicide, Dean said. Dean did not immediately know Ortiz-Lugo's age. Based on preliminary interviews, authorities believe that Ortiz-Lugo was having relationship difficulties with the victim. Authorities declined to identify her, pending the notification of family members. "What was indicated was that there was some kind of prior relationship and he was unhappy," Dean said. The woman was a 34-year-old York resident, Dean said. Ortiz-Lugo was being transferred to Adams County for a preliminary arraignment Tuesday afternoon. Police identified the weapon as a 9 mm pistol, based on the shell casings. Dean said witnesses at the scene, about 30 miles south of Harrisburg, reported that four shots were fired.

Man digs himself into trouble with snow shovel during remodeling job, cops say
By Naomi Havlen Aspen Times Staff Writer 
A Woody Creek man was arrested and charged with harassment after allegedly threatening a co-worker with a snow shovel Monday afternoon. Brad Kruzick, 50, was taken to the Pitkin County Jail after allegedly charging a painter with the shovel at a home being remodeled near Aspen, according to police. Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Bauer said Kruzick was told yesterday morning by the owner of the home that he was "no longer needed" at the job site. But Bauer said Kruzick was shoveling snow from the home's front walk on Maroon Drive when a real estate agent came to the house to install a lock box on the front door. Kruzick was angry about not being able to get inside the home, Bauer said. The house's painter had a key to the front door, and when the agent opened the door, Kruzick allegedly ran toward the home with the shovel to get to the painter. The agent ducked inside the front door, and the painter tried to close it, but Kruzick jammed the door open with the snow shovel, Bauer said. Once Kruzick was inside the home, the painter was able to detain him until sheriff's deputies arrived. Kruzick was taken to the Pitkin County Jail, where he was later released without a bond. He will appear in court on Feb. 25. In June 1999 Kruzick was convicted of a cruelty to animals charge, also a misdemeanor, when he kicked a small dog after a shouting match with a contractor at an Aspen home. In Pitkin County Court Kruzick admitted to kicking the dog but said it was an accident — that he left the house after the argument and was "kicking dirt clods" when he accidentally kicked the dog. Champs, a 13-year-old Yorkshire terrier, suffered partial paralysis to its hind legs and liver damage.

Robbers steal $107,000 from check cashing at Swift and Co.
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GREELEY, Colo. (AP) - Police are searching for four suspects who stole a suitcase full of about $107,000 from a company that cashes checks for Swift and Co. meatpacking plant employees, many of whom are Mexican nationals without bank accounts. The Ideal Services employee had arrived on the plant's grounds Thursday evening and was about to go into the cafeteria to cash checks for workers when two men assaulted him. The employee, whose name was not released, said he tried to hang on to the suitcase and yell for help, but he was knocked unconscious. The robbers wrenched the 50-pound suitcase away from him and fled. The victim was not seriously injured. Greeley Police Department spokesman Sgt. John Gates said the suspects scaled a fence and fled in a dark-colored, four-door Volvo with a sunroof. It had no rear license plate and could have had temporary tags. The suspects were wearing black jackets, black-hooded sweat shirts and dark-colored pants. Gates said investigators don't think the suspects are Swift employes, but they haven't ruled that out. Ideal Services is a 40-year-old, family owned business based in Evans that offers vending services and cash-checking services at area companies. It does not take armed guards into Swift because the company depends on security at the plant, said Tyler Richardson, whose father owns Ideal Services Corp. Visitors and most employees have to go through security at the front gate before they enter the plant, said Jim Herlihy, vice president of communications at Swift. ''This had to have been premeditated,'' Richardson said. ''They had to have been there before and planned this.'' Herlihy said Swift is still investigating what happened and has not yet decided whether it will change any of its policies because of the robbery. Richardson said Ideal Services would like to continue cashing checks at Swift, but not without more security. ''We will have to have an armed guard in the future or we won't do it anymore,'' he said. 

Restaurant worker shot in robbery on Eastside
February 9, 2003 CITY/STATE
Indianapolis police are investigating the shooting of an employee during a robbery Saturday at an Eastside restaurant. Police say an armed man rushed inside The Sizzling Wok II, 2025 E. 10th St., about 9 p.m. and fired one shot. A 35-year-old man, identified only as a restaurant clerk pending family notification, sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen before the bandit ran from the establishment. Only two people, both employees, were inside the restaurant during the crime. The victim was rushed to Wishard Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition late Saturday. The suspect fled after reaching behind a counter and grabbing the cash register. Detective Barry Jeffries of the Indianapolis Police Department said the area has been plagued with a rash of robberies recently.

McDonald's employee attacked; Maintenance worker beaten in robbery attempt, police say
By DANIEL BARRICK Monitor staff
Penacook - An overnight maintenance worker at the McDonald's Restaurant in Penacook was severely beaten by two men in an attempted robbery early yesterday morning, the police said. Dana VanDemark, 48, of Hill, was in the middle of his shift when he stepped outside for a cigarette break around 3 a.m., said his stepdaughter, Emily Robinson. Two men jumped him, dragged him back into the store and beat him with a wooden club, she said. They then bound him with duct tape and ransacked the store for cash. One of VanDemark's co-workers arrived at 4:45 a.m. to find him unconscious on the floor of the restaurant. She called the Concord police, who closed the restaurant to collect evidence. VanDemark was taken to Concord Hospital, where he underwent surgery for face and head injuries. As of late last night, a hospital spokeswoman said VanDemark was still in surgery, and his condition was listed as serious. The police released few details about the two assailants. They described them as white teenagers, both with bandanas over their faces. The police would not say whether any money had been taken from the restaurant. VanDemark was alone in the restaurant at the time of the assault. He had worked the late shift for three years, cleaning the restaurant after closing, his stepdaughter said. She described him as a dedicated worker who had received numerous letters of recognition from his bosses. "He's a very, very loving individual, very simple," Robinson said. His hobbies include model trains and playing with his five stepgrandchildren. VanDemark's wife, Cynthia, and other family members spent much of yesterday at the hospital. "Everyone's pretty shaken up," Robinson said. "Everyone seems to be a little disoriented about this." The entrances to the McDonald's, on Fisherville Road, were strung with yellow police tape for most of the day as detectives searched the parking lot and building for evidence. Carol Douglass, who works at the restaurant's drive-through window, said she arrived at work shortly before 6 a.m. to find the area swarming with police officers. She described VanDemark as "always friendly." She said the late shift was not one eagerly sought by the restaurant's employees. "When you take that job, there's always that possibility of danger," she said.

Noisy Indon killed by co-workers
Joniston Bangkuai
Making too much noise in the wee hours proved fatal for a 27-year-old Indonesian worker when his workmates attacked him at the Polytechnic construction site near here. The worker, believed to be drunk, was noisy as he returned home at 2am today, disturbing his workmates who were asleep. "They attacked him with sharp and hard objects killing him on the spot," said district police chief Assistant Commissioner Hamdan Mohamad. No arrest had been made and police has yet to recover the murder weapons. The victim's body was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital here for a post-mortem. 

Worker is 13th Queens Homicide; Number Of Homicides Growing Citywide; No Pattern Seen
By Sean Gardiner and Bryan Virasami Staff Writers February 3, 2003, 7:50 PM EST
A convenience store worker who died Sunday a day after getting shot during a hold up of his family’s business in Jamaica is the 13th homicide victim in Queens this year — more than doubling the amount in the borough through the first month and two days of last year. Mohammed Alamgir, 38, was shot after throwing a can of food at a gunman who, along with two cohorts, tried to stick up the Dhaka Market Grocery at 153-32 Hillside Ave. in Jamaica around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Alamgir died in Mary Immaculate Hospital around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, police said. According to police statistics, Alamgir’s killing is the 13th murder in Queens this year, compared to six through the first 33 days of last year. Overall homicides citywide are up nearly 18 percent to start this year — 46 compared to 39 through the same number of days in 2002 — though overall crime is down almost 8 percent, according to the statistics. The motives and methods in the 13 Queens homicides in 2003 thus far have varied. Only two hours after the ball fell at Times Square ringing in the New Year, Sidney Guerrero, 18, was run over by a Nissan Maxima whose driver had been fighting with Guerrero and his friends, police said. Two double homicides were domestic in nature. On Jan. 3 Sook Kim, 34, and her daughter, Clara, 7, were slain, allegedly by Kim’s former boyfriend who was upset she broke off their relationship. And last Tuesday, Rose Urchena, 28, and her 6-month-old daughter, Andrena, were killed by a man they lived with who police said became upset after Urchena rejected his advances. The man committed suicide, police said. Bryan Rivera, 15, died on Jan. 21 — six days after being hit with an aluminum baseball bat by another student outside IS 77 in Ridgewood. The fight was over a $20 debt. Including Alamgir’s case, seven of the 13 slayings this year remain unsolved. “While I am troubled by the apparent increase in homicides in Queens County, it would be premature in my view to reach a conclusion about a possible trend based on only four weeks of statistics,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Yesterday a handful of customers, friends and neighbors gathered in front of Dhaka Market, where a fresh flower wreath, candles and roses were laid. Uttam Singha, 30, a customer, said the victim was a good friend who was known for his kind heart. She said Alamgir often would personally deliver groceries to elderly customers and frequently extended credit to regulars. “If I tell him I don’t have money, he’ll say ‘oh give me later,’ ” said Singha, a graduate student at City College. Alamgir came to the United States in 1982 and opened the store in 1986, Singha said. The victim has an infant son in Bangladesh who was born after his last visit six months ago and whom he has never laid eyes on. He was married 18 months ago and was supporting his wife in Bangladesh. “He never saw his kid and the kid never saw his father,” Singha said. Saifullah Bhuiya, another customer, said Alamgir never expected a return on his benevolence. “He was a very helpful guy frankly; when he help you he don’t expect to get help from you back,” he said. Some Bangladeshi men said the killing reminded them of similar incidents in which Bangladeshi men were victims and they were concerned police may not give it the attention they feel it deserves. “We work hard making some money to support our family,” said Nasim Hussain, a cab driver in Jamaica. “We would like to see justice.” 

Gun-wielding robbers handcuff staff in raid
From The Wandsworth Guardian By Paul Askew
An off-licence manager and a shop worker were handcuffed and threatened with violence during an armed robbery in Battersea last week. Two men entered Oddbins in Battersea Bridge Road, at around 8.45pm, on Tuesday, January 21 and produced a semi-automatic handgun and a knife. After taking a set of keys from behind the counter and locking the front door they led the two male staff members into a rear office and asked them to open the safe. Both victims had their hands handcuffed behind their backs and were told to kneel down while both the robbers fled with cash, cigarettes and bottles of alcohol. Manager Jeremy Gladwin, who has been at the store for about 18 months, said he was more annoyed than frightened by the incident. He said: "Two guys came in just before we closed at about 8.45pm. I thought they looked a bit iffy. "Both went behind the counter one pulled out a knife and the other a pistol. "After we were handcuffed we had to kneel down but we could see them leave in the video monitor and we raised the alarm." He added a similar robbery also took place last year. "It happened 10 months ago," he said. "Again there were two of them and that time they both had guns. They got less goods this time though." Neither was seriously injured in the robbery and both men were back at work the next day. Police are looking for two black men, both around 5ft 8ins. One was aged around 37 and was wearing a light blue and grey puffa jacket. The other was younger, around 35 and wearing a black woolly hat and a blue puffa jacket. The thieves fled in a silver Vauxhall Cavalier. Call 020 8672 9922 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with any information. 

Postman killed in 'ferocious' attack
23.38PM GMT, 4 Feb 2003
Murder squad detectives are hunting the killer of a postman attacked as he delivered mail in a residential street in north Wales. Royal Mail worker Paul Savage was found unconscious by his bicycle early in the market town of Mold. The 30-year-old, a married man with a four-year-old daughter, suffered severe head and facial injuries and died some hours later in Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Police are investigating the possibility that Mr Savage, who had only recently moved to the area, was the victim of a bungled robbery bid. They are anxious to trace "two young men" wearing hooded tops spotted standing by the postman's bicycle. They ran off towards the town centre when approached by a local resident. Police believe a weapon was used during the "ferocious and savage" attack which happened close to Bryn Gwalia primary school. A spokeswoman for North Wales police said Mr Savage was not carrying money and nothing obvious had been stolen from his mail bag.

Guard robbed of $70,000 at 'stickup magnet' store 
By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 1/31/2003 
Nighttime robberies happen so often at the Store 24 on Charlestown's Main Street - there have been eight in the past year - that locals call it a ''stickup magnet.'' But when a robber tackled an armed guard at the store's cash machine late yesterday morning and made off with $70,000, the clerk first thought he was kidding. ''He looked so clean-cut,'' said 63-year-old Helen Donnaruma, who has worked at the store for five years. ''A lot of kids come in and they tease us because we've had so many holdups, and we thought he was teasing.'' The robber jumped the guard as he was unlocking the cash machine about 11:30 a.m., and as the guard fell, he struggled to remove his revolver from his holster. The robber shoved the guard's head down and grabbed the weapon from his hand. He then pressed his own black weapon into the back of the guard's neck and twice pulled the trigger, Donnaruma said. ''I heard two clicks - I thought it was a Tazer,'' she said, referring to a brand of stun gun. But the guard told her later it ws not a Tazer. The robber raised the guard's weapon to his hip and told Donnaruma and the three other people in the store to stay put. ''He says, `None of youse move. If you do, you won't see your family or children tonight,' '' Donnaruma said. The robber bolted with the money - Donnaruma said she was told it was all $20 bills - but a grainy image of his unmasked face was caught on a surveillance video and police were trying to lift fingerprints from the store. Surrounded by reporters afterward, Donnaruma described the robber as a thin white man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and wearing blue-tinted sunglasses, a navy blue knit cap, a tan jacket, and blue jeans. But no gloves. The seven previous holdups at the Store 24, which sits at a busy intersection on Main Street not far from the Interstate 93 exit ramp, have occurred between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., Boston police said. But brazen daytime holdups have become increasingly common in the Boston area in the past few months. In January alone there were 47 bank robberies statewide, more than double the average number at any time in the last several years, said a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bankers Association. And while the Boston Police Department announced yesterday that serious crime is at a 31-year-low in the city, armed robberies and attempted armed robberies were up 38 percent in Charlestown over the first 11 months of last year. The guard, who was emotionally shaken but not injured, was riding in a Loomis, Fargo & Co. armored truck, which was parked at the edge of the parking lot. He radioed his partner inside the vehicle and the second guard contacted police. Officers arrived in three minutes, police said. About a half-hour later, police ran into the Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown on nearby Green Street with guns drawn and ordered about 20 construction workers remodeling the building to go out onto the street. They searched the building with a German shepherd but appeared to find nothing, witnesses said. After the police tape was pulled down later in the day, the Store 24 reopened, but Donnaruma had gone. She had said, however, that she'd be back at work today. ''It's payday,'' she said. 

Car wash robbed; victim injured
John Colvin / Police Reporter Posted on January 31, 2003
An unidentified man robbed Southern Pride Car Wash No. 2, 1401 U.S. 165, Monroe on Thursday. The manager, Marc Thomas, said a man opened the office door about 12:30 p.m. Thursday and asked a worker for change. When the worker pulled out the money, the suspect hit the attendant, Wayland Durr, in the front and back of his head and lunged for the cash. According to police reports, the suspect took off with an undisclosed amount of money and ran east across U.S. 165. A witness said the suspect was a black male about 26 or 27 years old and had a medium build. Durr was taken to St. Francis Medical Center for stitches, Thomas said. A second robbery occurred at the Exxon gas station in the same area early Thursday, although Monroe police investigators say the incidents appear to be unrelated. In that robbery, at 1501 U.S. 165, a man armed with a long gun entered the store about 2 a.m. Thursday and left with an undisclosed amount of money. No suspect description was released in that case. Police say the investigations continue in both cases.

Texas Inmate Fatally Slashed Corrections Supervisor With Knife 
Location: Amarillo Posted: January 29, 2003 4:54 PM EST
An inmate killed a guard Wednesday by slashing his throat with a knife that had apparently been taken from the prison shoe factory, authorities said. The inmate suspected in the attack was in custody and the state prison unit was locked down. "We have several eyewitnesses to the assault, and we plan to file murder charges as quickly as the evidence is documented," prison spokesman Larry Todd said. Stanley A. Wiley, 38, died about four hours after the attack. He had been a guard since 1994 and since 2000 had supervised the inmate-workers in the shoe factory. Investigators were trying to determine how the inmate had access to the weapon, which may have been used by other inmates to trim shoes, Todd said. "It's very common those inmates are assigned the cutting tools while they are working, but obviously they turn them back in at the end of the day's work," he said. The last fatal inmate attack on a prison guard in Texas was in 1999.

Robbers at OTB facility put four workers in cooler 
The Associated Press 1/27/03 3:17 PM
CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (AP) -- Four people working at an off-track betting parlor were held in a walk-in cooler while three men robbed the safe, police said. Police in Moon Township, Allegheny County, on Monday were still looking for the men who robbed the Meadows OTB early Saturday morning. None of the employees who were held in the cooler suffered any serious injuries. The robbers broke into the building about 4:30 a.m. Saturday and bound the hands and feet of three janitors who were working there, police said. Then, they put the three workers in a walk-in cooler, police said. The robbers waited until a manager arrived about 8 a.m. and forced her to unlock the building's safe, police said. The woman was then put in the cooler, too, and the robbers fled, authorities said. The workers were released about 8:45 a.m., when another worker found them. Police said the men were wearing ski masks and dark clothing. They said one man may have had a shotgun and another a small handgun. Moon Township police were not sure how much money was taken. 

Omaha Worker Is Critically Hurt; Man Has Stab Wounds To His Chest 
January 27, 2003 
OMAHA, Neb. -- An employee of an Omaha meat packing facility was hurt Monday in an industrial accident. Police said the accident happened around 7 a.m. at Northern States Beef. A man in his 20s was transported to Creighton Medical Clinic with stab wounds to his chest. Monday afternoon he was listed in critical condition. So far there are no more details about how the stab wounds happened. Look for updates on this story on KETV NewsWatch 7.

Workers bound with tape as massage parlor is robbed
By vincent todaro Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — Police are searching for three suspects who robbed a massage parlor on Route 18 last week. The Ace Center, located at 200 Route 18, was robbed Jan. 15 when three suspects entered the parlor around 7 p.m., tied up two employees and made off with an undetermined amount of cash. East Brunswick Police Lt. Geraldine Garrett said the incident began when a black male — about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 230 pounds, and dressed all in black — walked in and requested a massage. As the woman let him into the office, he pushed her against the wall and demanded money. While the woman retrieved the money, the man began speaking on a radio communicator, after which time a second black male and a black female entered the business. The three of them used duct tape to tie up the woman, as well as a massage therapist, and proceeded to ransack the office. The black female suspect is described as heavy-set and wearing a black ski mask, orange sweater and jeans. She carried a handgun, Garrett said. The second black male was also dressed in black and wore a black ski mask, she said. After tying up the two victims, the three fled, though it is unknown whether they left in a vehicle, she said. The victims — neither of whom suffered injuries — were able to untie themselves shortly thereafter and call the massage parlor’s owner, who called police at 7:48 p.m., Garrett said. The suspects removed the parlor’s security monitor as well as the videotape that recorded the robbery, she said. Police have no suspects. "There’s nothing to lead us to believe this was an inside job," Garrett said. "We don’t know why they picked this massage parlor." She said police have not yet determined how much money was stolen. Police detectives Kevin Zebro and Edward Conlon are investigating. 

Guard killed in mall robbery, 5 gunmen storm posh Gables shop
By CAROLYN SALAZAR
As many as five men wearing black ski masks and carrying guns barged into a Mayors jewelry store in one of South Florida's ritziest malls Monday morning and opened fire -- killing a 56-year-old security agent guarding the store. The shooting, three weeks after another smash-and-grab at the same store, stunned shoppers and merchants at the Village of Merrick Park, a luxury mall that recently opened in Coral Gables near U.S. 1. According to police, the men entered the store at about 11:15 a.m. with guns in their hands. As store employees and customers watched in horror, they shot security guard Luis Brito, 56, in the stomach as he attempted to grab his weapon. Then the men shot at a glass display case and snatched an undisclosed amount of designer jewelry and Rolex watches before running out to a waiting getaway car, said Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan DelCastillo. ''It was wild,'' said Richard Rodriguez, a store manager of Mephisto shoe store who ran to the front of his store after hearing the gunshots.  Outside the store, Rodriguez saw a shrieking woman running out of the Mayors, nearly dragging her crying son behind her. Another female shopper walking in front of the store dove to the ground. A group of people ran to help Brito, who was slumped on a chair in the front of the store. He was later pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital. In the earlier smash-and-grab at the same store, located on the first floor at the main entrance to the mall, $15,000 worth of jewelry was grabbed by nearly a dozen teenagers covering their faces with T-shirts. The assailants are still at large, but police do not believe they are linked because of the age difference and nature of the crime, said Gables police spokesman Martin Barros. Police shut down the mall for half an hour, then reopened a portion of it to shoppers. The garage and stores near Mayors remained closed for the rest of the evening. Across the street at Coral Gables High School, administrators held a lock-down for nearly two hours while police searched for the suspects. Philip Michael Thomas Jr., 16, a junior at the school and son of the Miami Vice actor, said students were ushered back to their classrooms during the lunch break and forbidden from roaming the halls. ''We heard helicopters, then suddenly the bell rang and everyone was ordered to go back to our classrooms,'' he said. A silver BMW that police believe was the robbers' getaway car was found several hours later in nearby Coconut Grove. The car was reported stolen last month in Broward County, DelCastillo said. The mall -- home to Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Gucci -- has its own security force, which is unarmed. But Mayors hired a private firm called Cognisa Inc. for extra protection. Brito, who arrived from Cuba seven years ago, had been working for Cognisa for about five years, according to a co-worker who answered the phone at Brito's home late Monday. He said Brito's wife of 30 years and 15-year-old daughter were too distraught to talk. ''He was a serious man who worked hard and ate little,'' said Roberta Fernandez, who worked with Brito. The mall remained relatively empty throughout the evening, with few shoppers. Some curious onlookers stood behind the security tape and watched as homicide detectives scoured the scene. ''People are scared,'' said one store employee who refused to give her name. ``People are coming to look at what happened, but no one is shopping.'' Despite the two incidents at Mayors, Coral Gables police say there have been few incidents of crime at the mall, 358 San Lorenzo Ave., since it opened in late September. Funeral services for Brito were pending. Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report

Greenpeace activists arrested at Dow Chemical office
Wednesday, January 08, 2003 By Toby Sterling, The Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Police arrested 21 Greenpeace activists Tuesday after they delivered seven sealed barrels of soil containing toxic waste to a Dutch office of Dow Chemical Co. The activists had collected the soil near a factory in Bhopal, India, that leaked toxic gas in 1984 and killed thousands of people in one of the worst industrial accidents in history. The detainees were charged for disobeying police orders to vacate the building and later released, police spokesman Jan van Mourick said. The barrels of waste, labeled "Bhophal poison, return to Dow," were held as evidence. U.S.-based Dow Chemical purchased Union Carbide — owner of the factory at the time of the accident — in 2001. Union Carbide paid the Indian government $470 million to settle health-related claims in 1989, but the company faces ongoing legal action over environmental cleanup of the area. Dow maintains that neither it nor its subsidiary Union Carbide can be held responsible for additional health claims from the accident or the sit cleanup. Police in the Dutch town of Terneuzen, 90 miles (140 kilometers) south of Amsterdam, said the activists were held after illegally entering the Dow building and hanging a banner that read: "Dow, clean up Bhopal now!" Dow spokesman Chris Huntley said the action by Greenpeace was "regrettable." "We don't have a responsibility or legal obligation for Bhopal. It's not something we're prepared to concede," he said. In the Dec. 3, 1984, accident, toxic methyl isocyanate gas — an ingredient in pesticides — leaked from the plant in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, killing thousands immediately and contaminating water and soil within a one-mile (1.5-kilometer) radius. Union Carbide said a disgruntled worker sabotaged the plant. Over the years, the death toll has risen to 14,410 as those sickened by the gas died. Survivors complain of ailments including breathlessness, constant tiredness, stomach pain, cardiac problems and tuberculosis. Some 600,000 people have filed compensation claims with the Indian government, which was a minority owner. In December, thousands of protesters marched to the site to demand compensation, and the extradition to India of Warren Anderson, a U.S. citizen who was chairman of Union Carbide at the time of the accident. Activist Rashida Bi, who traveled from India to take part in the protest and was among those arrested Tuesday, said she would "carry on confronting Dow with this corporate crime until it cleans up its toxic fallout in Bhopal and stops poisoning us." Dow concedes the area surrounding the factory is contaminated and should be cleaned, but says the Indian government is responsible.

Worker robbed of £1,500 after knife threat
A terrified teenage member of staff was robbed of £1,500 in social club takings when an armed man burst into an office and held a knife to his throat. The 18-year-old was on his first day working at a Shrewsbury social club when he was attacked. He handed over around £1,500 to the robber, who struck at the Meole Brace Bowling Club between 11.15pm and 11.30pm yesterday. The bowling club employee, who has not been named, was cashing up the week's takings in the office when a man came in behind him, held a knife to his throat and demanded money. Club steward Mel Griffiths said the teenager was very shaken but praised the way he handled the robbery. He said: "There normally would have been someone else with him but they had gone home sick. He did the right thing by handing it over, I would have done the same. "The takings stolen were from the last week and came to about £3,000." A spokesman for Shrewsbury police said the man was not injured, but was left badly shaken by the incident. The spokesman said: "The bowling club, which is also a social club, had been busy during the night and it is quite possible someone saw something which will help with our investigation." The robber is described as a young man, around 6ft tall, and was wearing a Burberry-type hat, a bulky padded jacket, dark trousers and black, woollen gloves. Police are appealing for anyone who was in the club at the time or saw anything suspicious as they were leaving to contact Detective Sergeant Steve Martin on (01743) 232888.

Man kills three before killing himself in Richmond, Virginia
1/4/2003 By: Associated Press 
(RICHMOND, Virginia) -- A deadly shooting spree in Richmond, Virginia. Police say a man killed his girlfriend and two convenience store workers before shooting himself to death. Police say the gunman entered a home and shot his 17-year-old girlfriend before running several blocks to a convenience store and killing the two workers. They say the shooter then took a van from a group of men outside the store and drove to a relative's house where he shot and killed himself. There's no motive yet for the shootings.

Robber's threat to torch workers
By Kara Lawrence 06jan03
THIS is the image of a man who is believed to have terrorised up to four service station attendants in three days. Dousing them with kerosine and holding up a piece of paper and a lighter, the thief threatens to set them alight if they do not hand over the takings. This picture was captured by closed circuit surveillance camera during the man's first reported robbery at the Shell service station at Alison Rd Randwick at 2.10am on Friday. Just before 5pm the same day, Lewisham's Volume Plus Service station was robbed in a similar fashion. Early yesterday, attendants at two more service stations – a 7-Eleven at Stanmore and a Gas-and-Go at Arncliffe – were also doused with kerosine and robbed. The latest two robberies, one which was bungled, occurred within a one-hour period. Police are now forming a strike force to investigate the robberies, which marked a new and disturbing trend. Acting Inner Metropolitan region commander, Superintendent Bob May, said police believed the Randwick and Arncliffe robberies were committed by the same person and they were looking at the others being possibly linked. He said the robberies not only threatened service station staff, with a customer also splashed during one of the robberies, but also ran the risk of causing massive destruction. "If, in fact, the person became ignited . . . the whole lot would blow up a whole lot of innocent of people would get injured," he said. Police were urging the public to come forward with any information before the incidents escalated. "He's produced a bit of paper with a lighter, and he hasn't lit anything at this stage, but he has threatened to do that," he said. On at least one occasion, the bandit has pretended to be a shopper, gathering items including kerosine from the shelves then using them as a weapon at the counter. At 12.13am yesterday, a man walked into the Stanmore Rd, Stanmore, service station, collected several items from the shelves and placed them at the service counter. "The attendant has told police that moments later, the man has thrown what he believed to be a flammable liquid over him. "He threatened to set fire to the attendant's clothing if he did not hand over the contents of the till," said police. The attendant took refuge in a storeroom as the man tried unsuccessfully to force open the cash register. The attendant described this bandit as being 22 to 25 years old, of thin build, 160-170cm tall, with short dark hair and wearing green knee-length shorts with no shirt. The robbery of the Princes Hwy, Arncliffe station occurred at 12.55am yesterday. The attendant told police that the man put some items on the counter then threw what he thought was a flammable liquid over him. The man threatened to set fire to the attendant's clothes if he did not hand over the contents of the till. Police said this bandit was described as a caucasian man aged in his late 20s, slim build and about 180cm tall, wearing t-shirt and jeans. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Tire Store Worker Killed In Robbery
Police were searching for a masked gunman who came into a 24-hour tire shop owned by a church ministry and fatally shot an employee during a robbery early Thursday. The masked man entered the DLC Tire Co. before 5 a.m. and demanded cash from two employees, a police spokeswoman said. The employees cooperated, but the gunman shot Willie Bryant, 47 and fled. Bryant was a father of seven and was active in Deeper Life Ministries, which operates the shop.

Suicidal worker accidentally kills colleague in blaze
OHARU, Aichi -- A construction worker who set his dormitory alight in an apparent suicide attempt, but ended up killing another worker after the blaze spread has been arrested, police said. The worker, Toshihiko Oyada, 33, was arrested for setting fire to the dormitory of his construction-work employment agency in Oharu on Wednesday. He has apparently admitted to lighting the fire, saying he no longer wanted to live. "I found it difficult to get by and I was sick of my life," police quoted Oyada as saying. The fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon, destroyed three prefabricated structures and another two-story building containing the employment agency's canteen. Police found the body of another worker, who had been living in the room next to Oyada's, in the remains of the blaze. They are trying to confirm his identity. Oyada was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after being discovered in his dormitory. When police asked him about the fire, he reportedly admitted having lit it. Investigators are continuing to question Oyada over his exact motives for lighting the fatal blaze. (Mainichi Shimbun, Jan. 3, 2003)

Construction worker allegedly stabs boss 
Yomiuri Shimbun 
Police arrested a 57-year-old construction worker Monday on suspicion of stabbing his 32-year-old employer after an argument over his work attitude, police said. The police said Takashi Shiraishi of Fukuoka stabbed Hirotsugu Hirano in the stomach with a knife at about 9:20 p.m. Sunday. Hirano was taken to a nearby hospital, but was not seriously injured, they said. The police said Hirano, a company president from Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture, visited Shiraishi's apartment at a company-rented condominium Sunday night, where the two came to blows over Shiraishi's work attitude. Shiraishi told police he stabbed Hirano because he was ordered to vacate his apartment. The police said Hirano repeatedly had demanded that Shiraishi move out of the apartment because of his lax work attitude.

Gunman ties up workers in downtown robbery 
JOHN DODGE THE OLYMPIAN 
Olympia police are searching for a lone gunman who robbed Bayview Thriftway early Tuesday morning shortly after the store closed. The man emerged from the store's meat locker just after midnight, displayed a handgun and rounded up the four employees in the store, police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said. Three were immediately tied up, and the fourth was forced to open the store safe before being tied up as well. The robber took an undisclosed amount of cash and checks. Store co-owner Kevin Stormans declined to say how much money was taken. Before fleeing the store, the suspect spread ammonia on the floor, telling the store clerks it would thwart a police dog trying to pick up his scent. "He had a thought-out plan," Bjornstad said, noting that the ammonia trick isn't foolproof. "The store employees said he was calm and didn't raise his voice." No employees were injured. They were able to untie themselves within minutes after the robber left. Police were called to the store at 516 Fourth Ave. W. at 12:49 a.m. The male robber was described as white, approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall with a thin build. He was wearing dark clothing and a mask. The mask was found by police about a block east of the store, Bjornstad said. The store robbery is not related to a rash of armed robberies on Olympia's west side Dec. 14 and Dec. 16, the police commander said. One suspect in those incidents is in custody; a second remains at large.

Snow Plow Driver Shot at by wrong way driver
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) _ A snowplow driver for the state Department of Transportation was shot at by a wrong-way motorist on Interstate 99, state police said. Police said the shooting occurred about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday at an I-99 emergency vehicle turnaround in Logan Township. The PennDOT driver, who was not identified, got out of his truck and tried to stop a car traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of I-99. The car passed the snowplow, braked, backed up and then made a U-turn before the motorist extended a revolver out his window and fired at the PennDOT worker, police said. The plow driver was not injured, police said. The shooting is being investigated as an attempted homicide. 

Moose Lake Conoco store fined $10,000 for violations; Store has made changes since Poirier kidnapping
KBJR TV 6 NEWS UPDATE The Pine Journal Thursday, December 26th, 2002 10:03:46 AM
MOOSE LAKE - A Moose Lake convenience store must pay a $10,000 fine for workplace safety violations, relating to the abduction of Katie Poirier. The $10,000 fine is from the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The fine is large, but is a substantial reduction from the original fine that was issued to CAP-Trico, the company that owns the Moose Lake Conoco station. Poirier was working at the station when she was abducted on the job in May 1999. Donald Blom was later found guilty of kidnapping and killing Poirier. He later burned her body in a fire pit on his rural Carlton County property. The gas station was initially fined $50,000, but that fine has been under appeal since Sept. 2000. Now, Minnesota OSHA has agreed to reduce the amount, because of safety improvements that the store's owners agreed to make. Some of the safety change include: o Having two or more employees working after 11 p.m., o Installing a barrier between workers and customers, o Putting in better quality security ameras, o Adding remote panic alarms, o Creating better lighting inside the store and in the parking area. As another part of the arrangement, CAP-Trico agreed to publicize the employee safety lessons it learned from the experience. That includes writing an article for an upcoming Minnesota OSHA newsletter, called "Safety Lines." The publication is distributed to many employers and trade associations throughout the state. The article will also be published in a newsletter for the Minnesota Petroleum Marketers Association. 

Clerk gets beatdown over cookies
Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A woman charged with a shopping-mall assault did it all for the cookie, police said. The unidentified Belleville woman allegedly attacked a cookie-stand clerk at the Briarwood Mall last week after she was told the particular treat she wanted was unavailable. "She became enraged that they didn't have the cookie she wanted to consume," said Ann Arbor police Sgt. Andrew Zazula, adding that he didn't know what kind of cookie she demanded. After she "exchanged words" with the clerk, the 25-year-old woman hit her in the face with a two-pound box of tissue wrappers, breaking the worker's glasses, Zazula said. Police said the woman then went around the counter and punched the clerk, causing no major injuries. The woman spent Thursday night in jail, where Zazula said there probably were some leftover Christmas cookies. "I'm sure they'll give some to her," he said. "Hopefully it's the kind she wanted."