On Q Professional Investigations

Salem OR Dec 27 2017 A man suspected of breaking into at least 18 local businesses, churches and non-profits was arrested Christmas Eve by Salem police.

Roberto Baney-Mateos, 26, was wanted by Salem police in connection with a series of burglaries, including a break-in at La Bonita Bakery on Portland Road, where thousands of dollars were stolen on Nov. 25.

On Dec. 1, investigators asked for the public’s help with locating Baney-Mateos, a transient with a warrant out for his arrest for violating his probation for a methamphetamine possession conviction.

Security guards spotted Baney-Mateos inside a business complex yard around 8:20 p.m. Sunday. Salem police spokesman Lt. Dave Okada said officers quickly responded and spotted Baney-Mateos in front of one business in the 3100 block of Kantz Court NE.

As officers closed in on him, Baney-Mateos fled into an adjoining business yard. A Salem police K-9 dog found him hiding in the back of a utility truck.
He was taken into custody without further incident.

Okada said as the investigation continued, officers determined Baney-Mateos also burglarized Garten Services three times and was possibly connected to several other break-ins. Baney-Mateos was eventually charged with 22 counts of burglary dating back to Nov. 20.

The break-in at La Bonita Bakery was just one of many break-ins to hit the Salem area in recent months.

According to restaurant owners and police, at least 10 restaurants reported burglaries in the Salem-Keizer area since August.

Romano’s Mexican Restaurant closed for business after a burglar stole thousands of dollars from the company safe.

Salem police spokesman Okada told the Statesman Journal he believed a small number of prolific offenders were behind the break-ins.

Bentley’s Coffee and a Keizer Dutch Bros. also experienced multiple burglaries. After Keizer police released a photo of the suspected burglar, John Herriges, 40, of Salem, was arrested and charged with breaking into the coffee shops.

Following his arrest, Baney-Mateos was taken to Marion County jail. He is scheduled to appear for arraignment on Tuesday.

Read More

Two people face attempted armed robbery and drug distribution charges after police said they followed a man from the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore to the Annapolis Police Department and attempted to hold him up at gunpoint with a BB gun.

Annapolis police said a man drove into the parking lot of the department on Taylor Avenue around 4:40 p.m. after he noticed he was being followed by another vehicle.

According to charging documents, the victim was at the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore on line waiting to cash out chips when he was approached by Breiya Evans, 23 of Owings Mills.

After he declined an invitation for a drink, charging documents state that he noticed Evans and another man continued to follow him to the elevator and out of the casino.

 The man then got two security guards to escort him out of the building, police wrote, but he soon found himself being followed in his car by Evans and the man.
Charging documents state the man pulled “several evasive maneuvers” to try to elude the two, but to no avail. He drove from the casino to Annapolis with them following closely behind the whole way, police said.

When he pulled into the police department’s parking lot, police said the other vehicle pulled up behind him and Evans pointed what looked like a handgun at him.

Fearing he was being robbed, he ran into the police department and attracted the attention of an officer, police said.

When confronted, police said the woman was wielding a BB gun designed to look like a real handgun. Police added when they searched her car they found “13 individual baggies of marijuana.”

Evans and the passenger, Patrick Palmer, 25, of Baltimore, were arrested and charged with armed robbery, felony assault and drug distribution charges along with eight other misdemeanor offenses.

View Source

The Slidell Police Department has arrested four women following a large fight inside of a Walmart.

Police say the fight happened around 1 p.m. Saturday at the Walmart located at 39142 Natchez Drive.

According to police, they received several calls about the large fight in the produce section. Callers also told police that some of the people were using pepper spray.

The fight involved more than 10 people and two of the people involved in the fight were taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.

Police later arrested four women in connection with the fight. Police have charged 19-year-old Alexis Neal of Slidell, 38-year-old Majara Walker of Slidell, 17-year-old Seanice Warren of St. Louis, MO and 22-year-old Morgan Walker of Slidell with disturbing the peace by fighting.

Investigators say the fight began due to a previous conflict between two different families. By chance, the two groups encountered each other in Walmart.

Videos of the fight quickly went viral Saturday afternoon following the incident.

Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal released a statement saying, “This type of behavior is disgusting and unacceptable. This does not portray the character of the majority of our citizens here in Slidell. These women should be ashamed of themselves for doing this in the middle of one of the busiest retail stores in our city. Let this be a clear message that this will not be tolerated.”

View Source

Norridge IL Dec 24 2017 A 47-year-old Chicago woman was charged Dec. 13 with felony retail theft at the Harlem Irving Plaza Victoria’s Secret store, according to police.

Bond was set at $75,000 for Shavelle Robison, of the 4900 block of Quincy Street. Robison also had outstanding warrants.

She is to appear in court Jan. 11.

A Norridge police officer responded at 9 p.m., Dec. 13 to the second-floor parking garage, where Robison was detained by security officers.

Victoria Secret sales employees told police they saw her select clothing from store shelves, stuffing three bags full of merchandise.

After one employee approached her , she exited the store, they said. The employees told police they flagged down a mall security officer near the entrance of the store. The security officer attempted to approach Robison, who continued walking up an escalator to the second floor, police said.

The security officer continued to follow her to the second floor, where she walked outside, holding her three bags, to a vehicle, police said.

The security guard followed her to the vehicle, where Robison walked to the passenger side of the car, dropped the three bags on the ground, and continued walking away, police said.
Other mall officers arrived on the scene to assist. Robison was detained after getting on another escalator.

One of the police officers followed store employees back to Victoria’s Secret with the recovered merchandise. The merchandise, when laid out and counted, amounted to 67 pieces of clothing, police said.

The total value came to $1,063.25, police said.

Robison was arrested and taken to the Norridge Police Station.

While at the station, she underwent a fingerprint check, which revealed she has active warrants for criminal damage to property and retail theft, out of the village of Rosemont, police said.

View Source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it will bar drone flights over seven major U.S. nuclear sites, including Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The move is the latest in a series of growing restrictions on unmanned aerial vehicles over U.S. sites that have national security implications.

The new restrictions begin Dec. 29 and include the Hanford Site in Washington State, Idaho National Laboratory, Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, Pantex Site in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Site and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

The FAA said it is considering additional requests from other federal security agencies to bar drones.

Earlier this year, the FAA banned drone flights over 133 U.S. military facilities. The Pentagon said in August that U.S. military bases could shoot down drones that endanger aviation safety or pose other threats.

The FAA also banned drone flights over 10 U.S. landmarks in September, including the Statue of Liberty in New York and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, at the request of national security and law enforcement agencies.

It separately barred drone flights over the USS Constitution in Boston, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The list also includes Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, Hoover Dam in Nevada and Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state.

Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board said a September collision between a small civilian drone and a U.S. Army helicopter was caused by the drone operator’s failure to see the helicopter because he was intentionally flying the drone out of visual range.

The incident between a U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and a DJI Phantom 4 drone near Staten Island, New York occurred as concerns mount over the rising number of unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace.

Read More

Police on Friday arrested a 28-year-old man after an apartment security guard caught him stealing three boxes of shoes from his girlfriend, according to court records.

The alleged shoe thief, Brandon De La Rosa of San Antonio, now faces charges of theft, drunk driving and burglary of a habitation. He remains in the Bexar County Jail on a $55,000 bond.

According to his affidavit, De La Rosa was known to the staff members of his girlfriend’s apartment complex because he had been causing problems in the past.

On Dec. 13, a guard saw him drive through the front gate of the complex. Concerned, the guard notified their supervisor and went to check on the victim. He saw De La Rosa’s car on the way and photographed his license plate number. He then went up to the victim’s apartment. Her door was locked and everything appeared to be okay, authorities said.

Upon leaving the victim’s apartment, however, De La Rosa confronted him, asked a few questions and then walked off. “Moments later,” the guard saw De La Rosa walking to his car with three shoe boxes in his hands, according to the arrest affidavit.

The guard went back up to the victim’s apartment and found the door had been kicked in. Police responded to the apartment, and the guard gave responding officers De La Rosa’s license plate number, which came back as belonging to a stolen vehicle, officials said.

Officers with the San Antonio Police Department Vehicle Crime’s Unit went to De La Rosa’s listed address, saw him leave his apartment and then pulled him over and arrested him.

The guard later identified De La Rosa in a line up. It’s unclear if he will face charges in connection to the stolen vehicle as well as the alleged burglary and theft.

The alleged shoe thief, Brandon De La Rosa of San Antonio, now faces charges of theft, drunken driving and burglary of a habitation. He remains in the Bexar County Jail on a $55,000 bond.

View Source

The San Francisco SPCA, a non-profit whose mission is “to save and protect animals … and enhance the human-animal bond,” is reportedly doing just the opposite with its latest robot security guard.

It is terrifying homeless people that hang out near the SPCA building in the Mission section of the city, which was part of its objective, but it is freaking out residents as well.

According to San Francisco Business Times, the robot ─ dubbed K9 ─ was put into place to try and deal with the number of needles, car break-ins and other crimes that have reportedly come from a nearby encampment of homeless people.

“We weren’t able to use the sidewalks at all when there’s needles and tents and bikes, so from a walking standpoint I find the robot much easier to navigate than an encampment,” Jennifer Scarlett, the SPCA’s president, said in an interview with the San Francisco Business Times. 

After the SPCA implemented the robot, Scarlett said homeless encampments disappeared and fewer cars were broken into. She added that it was not clear whether the robot was the cause of the decrease in crime, but that there was a correlation.

Upon seeing the robot, some of the people in the encampment expressed their annoyance, putting barbecue sauce on its sensors, knocking it over and putting a tarp on it, Scarlett said. 

The people in the homeless encampment were not the only ones who were freaked out by the robot.

San Francisco resident Fran Taylor, who lives near the SPCA location, said the robot approached her and her dog while she was out for a walk. The dog began barking and attempted to go near it, while she yelled at it to stop. The robot eventually stopped 10 feet away from her.

Taylor wound up writing a letter to the SPCA, expressing her displeasure after her run-in with the robot. The SPCA responded saying it had security concerns and that the robot was part of its solution.

Last week, the city of San Francisco ordered the SPCA to keep its robot off the sidewalks or it would face a $1,000-a-day penalty for operating it in the public right-of-way without a permit.

Read More

Virginia Credit Union is offering another layer of security for its mobile banking users.

EyeVerify is a biometric authentication based on a person’s eye print. The feature uses a phone camera and eye print to confirm the user’s identity when opening the credit union’s mobile banking app.

EyeVerify is an option for members who do not want to manually enter a password or for those do not have a phone that accepts fingerprint identification. Unlike other biometric technologies, it doesn’t depend on a particular model of smartphone.

 
“Since not all phones are enabled for fingerprint authentication but most offer a camera, we wanted to provide an additional layer of security for their mobile banking information,” said Frank Macrina, senior vice president of products and channels for Virginia Credit Union.

The optional technology can provide users with a fast and secure way to use the mobile banking app, Macrina said. Also, if a phone is lost, EyeVerify locks down access to the member’s accounts.

It can be used as well for people who have joint accounts, with eye prints recorded for both users and verified upon opening the app.

The eye biometric offers a stronger option than a thumbprint, Macrina said. However, it is a new technology, and the thumbprint is still the most popular method of biometric security.

The credit union began offering the technology in the spring ahead of many of its banking competitors.

Read More

SCOTT COUNTY, Ky.- Four Georgetown College students face charges after they allegedly participated in a shoplifting ring that tried to steal more than $500 in merchandise from a store.

Police reports show officers responded to a call about 4:50 p.m. Monday from Kohl’s when a security officer allegedly saw four women choose merchandise and take the items into the same fitting room. The security officer said the women removed inventory-control tags from the items, and hid the items in a backpack that one of the women carried. Store employees found the tags in the fitting room but no clothing left there, the reports said.

The security guard stopped the women in the parking lot, searched the backpack and found several unpurchased items, the report said. The guard escorted the women back into the store.

The total value of the stolen items was $577, one report said.

Mariah Mackenzie Bolasina, Ariana J. Garner, London R. Polk and Shelby Briannon Webster, all 19 and all of Georgetown, were charged with theft by unlawful taking-shoplifting more than $500 but less than $10,000 and engaging in organized crime.

Georgetown College Associate Vice President for College Relations Jim Allison confirmed the four are students.

Officials say the women had been previously identified as suspects in shoplifting that occurred Nov. 30, but no charge had been filed regarding those allegations.

All four were lodged without bond in the detention center.

View Source

DALLAS -Alfredo Hinojosa ran an “empire” of nightclubs across North Texas, according to a federal indictment, raking in more than $100 million from 2014 to 2016.

At the same time, Hinojosa allowed dealers to sell cocaine in his clubs’ bathrooms to keep business booming and then helped launder money for a Mexican band’s tour bus.

Hinojosa, 57, pleaded guilty this week to charges of conspiracy to manage a drug premises and conspiracy to structure transactions to evade reporting requirements, according to court documents.

The case was initially filed in October 2016, and a new indictment was filed against Hinojosa and 10 other defendants on Tuesday.

Hinojosa has not yet been sentenced. As part of the plea deal, he agreed to forfeit $200,000, a Ferrari F355, a Land Rover Range Rover, a Hummer H2, a Mercedes-Benz and a Gillig Motorhome, the court documents said.

His attorney, Frank Perez, declined to comment on the case Wednesday.

The case also involved two former Dallas police officers, Eddie Villarreal, 48, and Craig Woods, 60, who worked security at Hinojosa’s clubs. Villarreal and Woods pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI this week for lying about their involvement with Hinojosa.

Their attorneys could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

It was unclear Wednesday night which of the remaining defendants have been taken into custody.

‘Man, they got to do business’

Hinojosa owned more than 40 nightclubs across the state, including the Far West, Medusa and OK Corral clubs in Dallas and the OK Corral club in south Fort Worth, on the north side of La Gran Plaza. The clubs were still open this week, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

At each location, Hinojosa allowed a crew of “certain selected” dealers to sell cocaine in $20 baggies in the restrooms. In a recording obtained by authorities, Hinojosa said, “we can’t really clean it [up] because then we lose business,” the indictment said.

“Man, they got to do business,” Hinojosa said in the recording. “I told them we don’t care . . . we just don’t want for everybody to see him . . . They want it [cocaine] right there. They don’t want to go looking downtown.”

The indictment named the dealers, who face drug charges in the case: Eloy Alvarado Montantes, 36, of Grand Prairie; Jose Omar Santoyo Salas, 32, of Arlington; Erick Johan Lopez Cuellar, 30, of Fort Worth; Raul Nunez, 25, of Grand Prairie; and Cesar Mendez, 27, of Dallas.

Read More