Page 20 - 7-28-15 Tuesday's Edition

Crime
School Board Decides Fate Of Teacher In Duct Tape Incident
A Hillsborough County School teacher may be termi- nated because of her form of punishment involving a kindergartner. She is accused of using duct-tape to cover the child’s eyes as a form of punishment last school term.
The Hillsborough County School Board will determine on Tuesday if Ms. Lindsay Blanc, 29, will be suspended without pay, which must be decided prior to termination. The Office of Professional Standards, the Tampa Police Department, and the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Of- fice conducted independent investigations pertaining to the complaint in April.
The Child Protective
Team investigative unit re- ported the strange punish- ment. The School District notified Ms. Blanc in June that she faces termination.
Ms. Blanc was a teacher at Potter Elementary School, in East Tampa, when the in- cident took place.
A police report stated that Ms. Blanc called for assis- tance on April 21st, for assis- tance who was allegedly acting out. When the princi- pal arrived in the classroom, she escorted the child to the office. She was later informed that a parent had filed a com- plaint about the use duct tape.
Ms. Blanc denied put- ting the tape on any of the
children. However, she did admit that she was holding it. Investigators interviewed the students and were told about being place in the Peace Chair when they acted out. The students said the punishment could range from having tape put over their eyes and mouth to being threatened with place in a van
that would take them away. One student said duct tape was placed over his eyes after he was put into the peace chair. The tape was used to prevent him from
watching a movie.
The Hillsborough County
State Attorney’s Office de- clined prosecution in the case.
National
Black Lives Matter Confab Attendees Pepper-Sprayed
Cleveland Transit policeman uses pepper-spray on Black Lives Matter attendees.
What started as a peaceful gathering at the first ever Black Lives Matter conference to dis- cuss police brutality against African Americans, ended with a 14-year-old being arrested and several conference atten- dees being pepper-sprayed by police.
The National Convening of the Movement for Black Lives began Friday at Cleveland State University and was set to end Sunday when Regional Transit Authority officers ap- proached the teen, later identi- fied by witnesses as Jonathan Walsh, for being publicly in- toxicated.
Walsh was standing at a bus stop reportedly holding an open container and appeared to be "intoxicated to the point where he was unable to care for himself," According to author- ities who issued a statement. Police claim that they escorted Walsh to a bus shelter to gather information before doing a medical evaluation and
releasing the teen to his par- ents.
However, witnesses say that the police account is far from the truth and that the teen was slammed to the ground and placed in handcuffs. When those attending the conference confronted the officers about the teen's treatment, they claim that they were met with pep- per-spray.
Several witnesses posted video and commentary to so- cial media regarding the inci- dent. One photo of the teen does appear to show him in handcuffs.
While the police statement didn't address the handling of the teen during his detainment, authorities did note that pep- per-spray was used to, report- edly, move a crowd back that was refusing to let a police car leave, according to the state- ment.
According to police, Walsh was treated on the scene and released to his mother later that evening.
Jury Seated In Third Murder Trial Of Dontae Morris
Last Friday, the third of four murder trials for a Tampa man began. A Tampa jury was seated to hear the case against Dontae Mor- ris.
Morris has already been convicted in both of the pre- vious murder trials. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 41-year-old Rodney Jones. Jones was shot outside of the Cotton Club in West Tampa on May 31, 2010.
He was sentenced to death for the murders of Tampa Police Officers David Curtis, and Jeffery Kocab, who were both 31, when they were shot and killed on June 29, 2010. The officers were attempting to arrest Morris on an out-of- county warrant when they were shot. The murders were captured on a police car dash cam.
Derek Anderson, 21, was the first person Morris, 29, is accused of killing after
DONTAE MORRIS ... Third Murder Trial underway
his release from prison on April 10,. 2010. Anderson died on May 18th, at an East Tampa apartment complex.
Ms. Ashley Price testi- fied that Morris and An- derson had gotten into an argument earlier that day. Morris reportedly accused Anderson of selling mari- juana in his area.
Ms. Price testified that Morris followed Anderson and shot him in the back while Anderson was talking
DEREK ANDERSON ...Killed May 18, 2010
on the phone.
According to prosecutors,
Morris allegedly discussed in detail with a friend, how he stalked Anderson before fatally shooting him. Ander- son was killed in front of his mother’s apartment.
Although the gun was never found, a ballistics ex- pert testified that the bullet that killed Anderson and those that killed the officers were all fired from the same gun.
Morris has also been charged with the murder of Harold Wright. Wright, 25, was shot and killed on June 8, 2010, in Palm River. No trial date has been set in that case.
Morris was the subject of the largest manhunt ever launched in Tampa, The re- ward for his capture after the murder of the two officers reached more than $100,000. He surrendered to police on July 10, 2010 and has been in jail since that time.
The trial is expected to end this week.
Newark Mayor Likened To Gorilla In Facebook Post Between Two Cops
NEWARK, NJ ---Newark, New Jersey police are investi- gating an alleged Facebook ex- change between a one-time city police officer and an ac- tive-duty city police lieutenant in which "Ras Baraka, the city's African-American mayor, is referred to as a go- rilla," the Star-Ledger reports.
According to the Star- Ledger, the reported incident, which was captured and sent to police officials, violates the department's social media pol- icy.
"What's particularly dis- turbing about this incident is that this police official has been on the job for many years and has some amount of influ- ence over the rank and file in the department," Police Direc- tor Eugene Venable who was sent a screen shot of the conversation told the newspa- per.
Both the active and retired officer's names have been withheld.
The exchange starts with the picture of a gorilla and the caption: "Lmfao....How's your mayor?"
The current police lieu- tenant reportedly replies, "Ex- actly!!!!"
MAYOR RAS BARAKA
"It's unfortunate that this happened and we will not tol- erate an atmosphere of bigotry and intolerance anywhere in this Administration," Baraka said in a statement, adding, "I still believe we have the best police force in the State of New Jersey."
Venable said that the strict social media policy was put in place to prevent matters like this from happening.
"Anything on social media which could possibly be mis- construed and reflect nega- tively on the department is in violation," Venable said.
The active duty lieutenant remains on active duty pend- ing the outcome of the investi- gation.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015