Orange County probation officer charged with stealing money while executing search warrants


Rodriguez was assisting the team in serving a search warrant at a home on Edinger Avenue in Santa Ana and, prosecutors now say, stole $150 from a victim's wallet while checking for the person's identification. November 30, 2017 ANTA ANA — An Orange County probation officer faces charges because he is suspected of stealing cash while executing searc...

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Former Colorado Police Chief Pleads Guilty to Weapons Theft

A former Colorado police chief has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing weapons from his department and its evidence room and then selling them to pawn shops. December 1, 2017 LEADVILLE, Colo. (AP) — A former police chief in a small Colorado town has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing weapons from his department and its evidence room and then s...

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Audit finds over 3,000 Alaskan rape kits not tested

According to Alaska DPS, a statewide inventory of untested sexual assault kits – dating back to the year 2000 – was performed as a result of SB-55, which passed in 2017. November 28, 2017 A recently released document shows 3,484 sexual assault kits (SAK), taken as evidence by law enforcement agencies, were not submitted for serological testing at a...

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LA County Board Approves $15 Million Settlement in Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit

The settlement is the largest between the county and a single individual in at least the last decade November 21, 2017 The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $15 million payout today -- the largest single-plaintiff settlement in at least a decade -- for a man who was imprisoned for 27 years for a 1984 murder he said he didn't commit...

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Man, wrongly convicted of 1978 killings in Simi Valley, recommended for release from prison

New DNA evidence has cast doubt on the conviction of a man who has spent more than half his life in prison after being convicted in a 1978 Simi Valley double-homicide. November 20, 2017 New DNA evidence has cast doubt on the conviction of a man who has spent more than half his life in prison after being convicted in a 1978 Simi Valley double-h...

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Gypsy Hill killings: Arrest made in 1976 cold case murder of 19-year-old woman


Two years ago DNA evidence gathered decades earlier at two of the crime scenes resulted in two murder charges against Rodney Lynn Halbower, who had already been in prison for most of his adult life, most recently on an attempted murder charge in Oregon. Enter Article DATE HERE DALY CITY — For years, law enforcement officials believed the same ...

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Detectives solve 1979 murder of Salem teen

Persistence and DNA lead to the killer, who died in prison in 2002 November 6, 2017 SALEM — The persistence of a detective and the sister of a young woman who was stabbed and beaten has solved a murder in Oregon — 38 years after it happened. On March 9, 1979, Janie Landers disappeared outside the Fairview Training Center for the developmentally dis...

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Review shows evidence backlog at Casper Police Department

November 5, 2017 The Casper Police Department is accumulating evidence far more quickly than it is disposed of, which means a department that already has six evidence storage facilities will need to add storage space if things don't change. An external review of the police department conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management indicates th...

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PPB making progress in testing rape kit backlog; developing way to track kits electronically

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Summit of Cities Conference was held in Portland for the first time, in October. Enter Article DATE HERE PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - The Portland Police Bureau says it's making huge strides in testing the city's rape kit backlog. Growth the bureau discussed at a sexual assault conference in Portland. The Sexual Assa...

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Oregon State Police detective solves 1979 cold case murder of Salem teen (DNA)

In April 2016, the crime lab confirmed a blood stain on the shirt matched a man's DNA. Enter Article DATE HERE More than 38 years after Janie Landers was brutally stabbed and beaten to death, an Oregon State Police detective was finally able to return a pair of earrings to her family and deliver the news they'd long waited to hear: He knew who...

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Bakersfield Police Officer under investigation for embezzlement and use of controlled substance

A city owned gun that was "misappropriated" without the city's permission. November 1, 2017 BAKERSFIELD, CA - Bakersfield Police are investigating one of their own. Investigators confirm they served a search warrant on a fellow officer. The warrant, written by a Bakersfield Detective says they're investigating the possibility of a fellow city emplo...

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District Attorney expects to file more charges against Fremont County Sheriff's Office detective


What led to the charges against Dodd was the discovery of evidence in a storage unit that belonged to him. Enter Article DATE HERE Additional charges against a former Fremont County Sheriff's Office detective are expected to be filed within the next month by the District Attorney's Office. Robert Dodd, who now is retired from the FCSO, faces t...

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California law enforcement agencies will have to count and preserve all of their untested rape kits

The three measures are part of ongoing efforts in Sacramento to tackle rape kit backlogs at law enforcement agencies and to increase the number of victims who report sexual assault and seek treatment. October 12, 2017 California law enforcement agencies will have to preserve and count all of their untested rape kits and ensure they inform sexual as...

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As crime lab cases climb, Montana aims to make sex assault evidence kits more efficient

"With DNA technology moving in the direction it's moving, we're able to get DNA from things we couldn't in the past," October 10, 2017 The state crime lab is in the preliminary stages of reconfiguring the sexual-assault evidence kits used by doctors and nurses to collect samples from women who have been raped. Since 2011, the number of cases the la...

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The Latest: Some concertgoers’ belongings being returned

Deputy Clark County Fire Chief John Steinbeck announced Sunday that items are being returned to people at a Family Assistance Center in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. October 8, 2017 LAS VEGAS — The Latest on the mass shooting in Las Vegas (all times local): 10:15 a.m. Officials say they're beginning to return personal belonging...

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Washington state gets $3M to ease backlog of 6,000 untested rape kits

Washington state is getting $3 million in federal grant money to continue analyzing forensic evidence in previously untested rape kits. Some of the money will go to creating a cold-case team to investigate sexual assaults that may have occurred years, even decades, ago. Enter Article DATE HERE The state's ongoing efforts to analyze DNA from th...

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Even deadlier form of fentanyl reaches San Diego County

Carfentanil is 100 times stronger than the synthetic opioid fentanyl and is typically used to sedate massive animals like elephants October 6, 2017 Imagine a substance so potent that a few specks — the size of a few granules of table salt — can kill you. If you didn't think the stakes could get any deadlier in the emerging fentanyl crisis, it has. ...

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City Attorney Pushes to Have Backlog of Untested Rape Kits Cleared in San Diego

San Diego has approximately 2,500 rape kits that have yet to be analyzed Enter Article DATE HERE San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott appealed to Governor Jerry Brown to sign bills that will help bring justice to rape survivors through rape kits. In 2014 state auditors found collections of up to 40,000 untested rape kits in various California ...

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Decades after pregnant woman’s nude body found on California beach, sex offender arrested (37 years later)

New technology and an "innovative technique" for looking at DNA evidence linked Yniguez to the crime scene in 2013 October 1, 2017 LOS ANGELES – More than 37 years after the nude, lifeless body of a young pregnant newlywed was found along the coast of Palos Verdes Estates, investigators on Friday announced the arrest of a convicted rapist whose all...

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Battling the backlog: More than 1,100 potentially untested and unsolved sexual assault kits in KC

Some of those sexual assault kits date back nearly 40 years. October 1, 2107 BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - More than 1,000 potentially untested sexual assault kits are on an evidence room shelf here in Kern County. Some of those sexual assault kits date back nearly 40 years. 23ABC's I-Team investigated why there are so many that are poteniatlly untested an...

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Police announce arrest in Palm Desert 1993 cold case murder


Remains were identified more than two decades later through DNA September 27, 2017 PALM DESERT, Calif. - A Northern California man is awaiting trial on charges of murdering another man's romantic rival from Palm Desert, whose remains were identified more than two decades later through DNA, which was also used to link the accused killer-for-hire to ...

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Deputy accused of theft had not booked items into property room for months

Deputy is accused of stealing from people he arrested Deptember 25, 2017 BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Court records reveal new details in a case where a Kern County sheriff's deputy is accused of stealing from people he arrested. Deputy Edward Bermudez -- who is out on bail -- made his first court appearance at the beginning of September and pleaded not g...

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Inside CSPD's evidence locker - guns, furniture, baseball bats and cake


Already the unit is running out of room in its combined 16,000 square-foot facilities, forcing the Police Department to purchase Conex containers to hold the overflow. September 25 The most bizarre objects you can think of probably have been stored in the Colorado Springs Police Department's evidence facilities at one point or another. Some of the ...

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Former Novato policeman accused of evidence mishandling

The alleged crimes included various drug and alcohol violations, threats of violence and vehicle offenses. September 15, 2017 A former Novato police officer repeatedly lost or mishandled key evidence and statements, potentially jeopardizing a series of criminal cases he was involved in, prosecutors said. Christopher Gamboa resigned from the Novato ...

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Fentanyl fears force policy change, testing backlog within Arizona DPS

"CAUTION! EVIDENCE CONTAINS FENTANYL or its ANALOG" September 12, 2017 A half-used sheet of fluorescent-yellow stickers at a workstation in the state's crime lab is an indicator of more than just the phrase stamped in bold, black letters: "CAUTION! EVIDENCE CONTAINS FENTANYL or its ANALOG" It's proof of an ever-intensifying and dangerous national i...

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Woman charged with stealing drugs from Okaloosa County Sheriffs

"This situation came to light through routine procedures, spot checks, and internal controls, August 29, 2917 OKALOOSA CO. (WTVY) — The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office today charged an OCSO civilian employee with grand theft of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. 40-year old Deidra Rezzarday, a P...

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'We found who killed your sister.' 48 years later, a cold case is solved (DNA)

The mystery of her murder lingered for nearly half a century, outlasting several detectives and potential suspects. August 27, 2017 It should have been an ordinary errand: a trip to a Mid-Wilshire drug store to buy a hair dryer. Wendy Jo Halison drove her prized green Thunderbird down Fairfax Avenue on that Sunday afternoon in 1968, stopping at the...

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Law enforcement can now scan your DNA in 90 minutes, but should they?

A small machine that can unravel DNA code in less than two hours. August 25, 2017 PLEASANTON — At the IntegenX Inc. headquarters on Stoneridge Drive, employees are hard at work developing upgrades to their product: a small machine that can unravel DNA code in less than two hours. The company is a leader in the market for what is known as rapid DNA ...

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New DNA evidence links Warren Forrest to 2 killings 40 years ago

Blood found on a weapon used by Forrest was recently determined to be Martha Morrison, a 17-year-old Portland girl whose body was found in rural Clark County more than 40 years ago. August 24, 2017 Clark County detectives say that new DNA evidence helps link suspected serial killer Warren Forrest to two more victims, a huge discovery in helping to ...

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Former state crime lab employee gets suspended sentence for stealing drug evidence

"His initials, his name, is on almost every piece of evidence that came into our laboratory," she said Enter Article DATE HERE An evidence technician at the Montana State Crime Lab who stole opioids that were being stored as evidence in criminal cases, forcing prosecutors to drop charges against 69 defendants across the state, was given a susp...

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Investigators: BLM agent took evidence, handed valuable stones out 'like candy'

The employee told investigators he had "bad feeling" about taking them from the evidence room, but followed instructions because Love was a law enforcement officer and "scary." August 24, 2017 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Bureau of Land Management agent who has been scrutinized for past behavior took valuable stones held as evidence and handed them out ...

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At least there’s space for evidence

The additional work brings the overall evidence building project up to $1,555,000 Enter Article DATE HERE Manteca Police may have cramped headquarters but at least there should be adequate room for evidence storage.The City Council this week approved spending $120,000 that will buy shelving for the new 2,200-square-foot evidence building as we...

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Backlog Of Untested Rape Kits On The Agenda When Lawmakers Return To State Capitol

Enter Headline here August 17, 2017 California lawmakers will debate how to address a backlog of untested rape kits, when they return to work at the state Capitol on Aug. 21. Estimates suggest thousands of rape kits remain untested across California, containing DNA evidence from survivors of sexual assault. But the state does not require law enforc...

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17 News Investigation: $50,000 of cocaine unaccounted for in KCSO property room

A 17 News investigation revealed $50,000 of cocaine is missing from the Kern County Sheriff's Department property room. Enter Article DATE HERE BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A 17 News investigation revealed $50,000 of cocaine is missing from the Kern County Sheriff's Department property room. Sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt says 1.9 pounds of cocaine i...

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Hurricane officer charged with felony in evidence handling case

Allegations the evidence officer delivered department evidence items, which are classified as public property, to a company owned by a family member so she could sell them on eBay. August 17, 2017 A Hurricane Police evidence control officer is facing a felony charge of misusing public money following allegations he allowed some evidence in the depa...

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Backlog Of Untested Rape Kits On The Agenda When Lawmakers Return To State Capitol

Estimates suggest thousands of rape kits remain untested across California, containing DNA evidence from survivors of sexual assault. But the state does not require law enforcement agencies to track why or how many. April 17, 2017 California lawmakers will debate how to address a backlog of untested rape kits, when they return to work at the state ...

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Police: Man left DNA in toilet during burglary

Andrew David Jensen, 42, "did his business and didn't flush it," Detective Tim Lohman of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office told the Associated Pres August 8, 2017 When you gotta go, you gotta go. A California man accused of burglary left DNA evidence in the toilet of the home he robbed last October, Associated Press reported Tuesday. Andrew ...

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Former sheriff's deputies sentenced to probation for conspiring to sell drugs they stole

Two former Kern County sheriff's deputies, Logan August and Derrick Penney, who conspired with another law enforcement officer to sell drugs they stole from evidence lockers, were sentenced August 7, 2017 FRESNO — Two former Kern County sheriff's deputies, Logan August and Derrick Penney, who conspired with another law enforcement officer to sell d...

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Salt Lake City Police arrest suspect in 1991 murder cold case -DNA

Viengkeo K. Sundara, 49, faces a first-degree felony charge of murder for the stabbing death of Youthalouth Oudanonh during a dance at 120 W 1300 S in Salt Lake City back in 1991. July 10 , 2017 SALT LAKE CITY – Police have arrested a man in a Salt Lake City murder case that has been cold for 26 years. Viengkeo K. Sundara, 49, faces a first-degree ...

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Kern County deputy could have stolen upwards of $4,000, sheriff says

Two weeks ago, the Sheriff's Office used an undercover officer from an agency outside Kern County to report a purse found with $1,000 cash inside, Youngblood said. The officer handed the purse over to Bermudez, who didn't even ask the officer his name or other standard questions. Enter Article DATE HERE A Kern County sheriff's deputy is believ...

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Former OSP tech arrested again, police say stole thousands from evidence lockers

OSP detectives discovered Mark Matlick stole $2,577.00 in Lake County and committed additional crimes to conceal the thefts. July 14, 2017 In June, OSP detectives arrested Matlick after discovering the Klamath Falls Area Command employee stole more than $10,000 from the Klamath Falls OSP evidence locker. LAKE COUNTY, Ore. — A former Oregon State Po...

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San Diego police, council clash over rape kit testing

Council members want police to test nearly 2,000 kits — used to gather and preserve evidence in rape cases — sitting in the Police Department evidence room that date back as far as the 1990s. Enter Article DATE HERE San Diego police say confusion about rape kits has left them with $500,000 set aside to do tests that are highly unlikely to help...

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OSP changes monetary protocol in lieu of employee involved theft

The policy now requires our evidence technicians to deposit currency into a designated depository account rather than storing the currency in the evidence locker. Enter Article DATE HERE Klamath County, Ore. — A former Oregon State Police technician was arrested Friday and is facing a charge of aggravated theft. 57-year old Mark Matlick is acc...

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Former Oregon State Police evidence room worker arrested

A former evidence technician with the Oregon State Police accused of stealing more than $10,000 from a Klamath Falls evidence locker June 24, 2017 KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — A former evidence technician with the Oregon State Police accused of stealing more than $10,000 from a Klamath Falls evidence locker is facing a charge of aggravated theft. Pol...

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Ex-sheriff’s employee gets jail, probation for evidence theft

Sheriff's officials have said an investigation revealed the items taken were not items of evidence in any open criminal cases. June 20, 2017 Oroville >> A former Butte County Sheriff's Office evidence technician was ordered Tuesday to serve nearly a year in jail for stealing guns, drugs and money from the department's evidence facility. Butte...

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Rape kit testing lags, so lawmakers want California taxpayers to donate

At least 175,000 have been documented by advocates, while the federal Department of Justice put its estimate at 400,000 several years ago June 21, 2017 Hundreds of thousands of rape kits are sitting untested at crime labs and law enforcements agencies across the country. That figure – at least 175,000 have been documented by advocates, while the fe...

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Feds seize nearly 100 pounds of fentanyl, deadly synthetic opiate, in unprecedented drug bust

44.14 kilograms — represents the largest fentanyl seizure sent to a DEA lab nationwide," the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday June 20 , 2017 Federal authorities said Monday that a narcotics probe has resulted in the seizure of nearly 100 pounds of fentanyl, or enough of the drug to kill more than a million people. Drug Enforcement Administration ...

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Fitzgerald: The grand jury’s half-right report

The software vendor who computerizes inventory in the sheriff's evidence room alleged a year ago that 10,000 pieces of evidence are missing. June 16, 2017 The software vendor who computerizes inventory in the sheriff's evidence room alleged a year ago that 10,000 pieces of evidence are missing. A serious charge. The Goddess of Justice wears that bl...

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Portland Police Left 3,000 Rape Kits Gathering Dust In Storage Room

Portland police also admitted they neglected thousands of rape kits that could have solved around 500 sex crimes over the past 10 years. June 16, 2017 The police identified the alleged assailant as a registered sex offender. However, they never got around to making an arrest or even submitting the evidence. In yet another example of unacceptable la...

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Female jail inmates admit stealing prescription drugs from sheriff’s office drop box

She admitted and wrote a voluntary statement of obtaining prescription medication from the front counter of the sheriff's office pill drop box June 14, 2017 CARSON CITY, Nev. — According to Carson Now, Three Carson City jail inmates face multiple felony drug charges after allegedly stealing prescription medication from a drop-off box inside the fro...

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