Ill.
officer charged after disturbance, standoff
CHANNAHON, Ill. (AP) — A northern Illinois police officer is
being accused of walking into a pizzeria with his gun tucked into his waistband
and shouting at employees while off duty.
Police in Channahon say 43-year-old John Wolfinbarger of the
Oswego police force then got involved in a standoff with officers who responded
to calls from panicked customers on Wednesday.
They say officers caught up with him in his pickup truck and
pulled him over. Wolfinbarger allegedly locked himself inside. Police say they
had to hold the man at gunpoint for 20 minutes before he surrendered. He did
not identify himself to police as a fellow officer.
Wolfinbarger has been charged with drunken driving,
disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
He has been placed on leave.
Wolfinbarger could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Wife Of
Federal Officer Charged With Modesto Murder Breaks Silence
MODESTO (CBS13) – A Modesto wife and mother speaks for the
first time about the arrest of her husband — a federal officer — for allegedly
killing one of his best friends.
Heather Moreno says her husband would never intentionally
hurt the friend he’s accused of murdering.
“My kids ask me when he’s gonna come back and I don’t know,”
said Heather.
She may be speaking out for the first time since her husband
Robert’s arrest, but she has dedicated the last few months to sharing his story
online.
“He’s never been in trouble,” Heather said. “He’s never been
arrested in his life.”
The website www.HelpRobertMoreno.org is a look into the
couple’s last 11 years, showing a seemingly young and happy couple with two
sons.
Heather writes on the website about the fight for his
freedom after the U.S. Department of Defense officer landed in jail.
It was last summer when Robert and his friend came to the
now-former O’Malley’s bar in Modesto. Robert was off-duty but armed when the
pair found themselves in a fight with two other men.
Robert is accused of shooting fellow Officer Daryl
Chargualaf twice during a fight with the two men. He told investigators that he
shot his friend accidentally while firing off a warning shot.
Chargualaf’s death would lead to Robert’s arrest and the
charge of murder in the killing of his long-time friend.
“All I could say is, you know, my husband loved Daryl and he
would never hurt Daryl,” said Heather.
She says life has been very difficult since her husband’s
arrest.
“I’m living a nightmare. It really is; it’s like a nightmare
and I feel like I’m living someone else’s life,” Heather said.
Heather strongly believes that one day she and her husband
will walk out of jail together and Robert, who once served his country and
never got into trouble with the law, will one day be free.
“I do have sad days because I miss him. I miss all of us
being together,” Heather said.
Court documents reveal Robert suffered post traumatic stress
disorder after his deployment. It’s something Heather didn’t want to talk
about. Only time will tell if those details will be revealed in court this
summer during his preliminary hearing.
Robert also faces an attempted murder charge for shooting another
man in the fight. His bail is set at $2.9 million.
Video
shows Pittsburgh cop yelling at bystanders before allegedly tazing man outside
bar
A Pittsburgh police detective with a history of accusations
on his record was filmed during another apparent outburst on Sunday, yelling at
bystanders and allegedly tazing a man who was trying to leave a local bar.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted video early Monday
morning of Detective Frank Rende yelling, “Mind your own freakin’ business” at
bystanders before taking out his taser and waving Mark Keyser Jr. away from the
bar on Saturday.
Rende, who was working an off-duty security detail at the
bar, said in a criminal complaint that a manager asked him to remove Keyser
from the bar. When Keyser refused repeated warnings to leave, Rende said, he
threatened to use his taser against him, to which Keyser allegedly replied, “Go
ahead.”
The newspaper reported that Rende has been accused of
conduct unbecoming an officer more than a dozen times during his career,
including an accusation in 1999 of engaging in sexual activity with a woman
after responding to her call for police assistance during his shift.
The witness who shot the video, Sam Urick, told the
newspaper he began filming the encounter out of concern over Keyser being
outnumbered by police. He said that when one officer asked him, “Is that gonna
be evidence?,” it confirmed his instincts.
“I thought if he is nervous about taping, maybe I should
keep taping,” Urick said.”
In the video, Rende can be seen pointing at one person and saying,
“Now you want to apologize? Then shut your mouth when the police are doing
something” before walking toward Keyser. Rende is seen pointing the taser at
Keyser as he was leaving the scene, at which point he falls to the ground.
The officer said in an affadavit he held the taser to
Keyser’s neck but did not release the charge. He also said he was willing to
have the device tested to prove it had not been used.
Elizabeth Pittinger, director of the city’s Citizen Police
Review Board, told the newspaper that after seeing Urick’s video, she thought
Keyser was obeying the order to disperse when Rende made his way toward him.
“I don’t know why the officer pursued him,” Pittinger said.
“That’s totally inappropriate.”
“Am I under arrest?” Keyser asked as more officers
approached.
“I’ve had about enough of you and your (expletive) act,”
Rende tells Keyser. “Shut the (expletive) up. You can’t act a human being, huh?
You’re a clown.”
“I tried to leave,” Keyser says. “You pushed me over.”
Rende then appears to notice Urick, telling him, “Take a
walk, dude, you’re not going in either. Get out of here. Get out of here.”
Watch video of Rende’s encounter with Keyser, posted by the
Post-Gazette on Monday, below.
