Wounded deputies called family men, good officers
A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy severely wounded during a domestic violence call is a family man who loves adventure and gave up a comfortable career in manufacturing to enter law enforcement, friends and family say.
Kent Mundell Jr. was in critical condition Wednesday at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said. He and sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Hausner were wounded Monday night by a man who was killed in the shootout as the two officers were trying to remove him from his brother’s home near Eatonville. Police identified the gunman as David E. Crable, 35, who they say had a history of domestic violence.
Hausner, 43, recovering from his injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center south of Tacoma, is doing well but is worried about Mundell, said family member Larry Erb, who spent time with him on Tuesday.
“I saw Nick this morning; he’s in good spirits,” Erb told The Seattle Times. “He’s looking fine. He’s actually more worried about his partner than himself.”
Relatives and fellow officers gathered at Harborview, where Mundell, 44, is in the intensive-care unit with life-threatening injuries.
His stepbrother, Larry Stafford, told The Times he felt “emptiness, sick to my stomach” when he heard Mundell had been hurt.
Mundell, who lives near Puyallup, loves camping, boating and outdoor sports, Stafford said, and is a licensed pilot who owned a plane and has skydived.
“His motto was: ‘If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.’ That’s how he lived his life,” Stafford said.
Mundell married his high-school sweetheart, Lisa, more than 20 years ago, and dotes on her, his 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, his stepbrother said.
In the 1990s, Mundell worked for a window and door company, becoming a midlevel manager, family members said. But he quit that job to become a sheriff’s deputy.
“He wasn’t a guy who was going to sit at a desk,” Stafford said. “He was wired as a thrill-seeker.”
Mundell “always liked the things that maybe made other people afraid,” said his mother, Pat Stafford.
“He was always the kid who would take up the new sport and just excel at it, whether it was dirt-bike riding or skiing, kite boarding, jet skiing,” she said. “He was always just lunging ahead with a sense of adventure and daring.”
“He’s one of the best fathers I have ever seen in my life,” she added. “That has nothing to do with his being hurt today. I would have told you that a week ago or a month ago.”
Mundell’s stepmother, Dorene Mundell, of Belton, Texas, said she and her husband, Kent Sr., got a phone call at midnight Monday, telling them of the shooting. At first she couldn’t believe it.
“I said, ‘I think you have the wrong number.’”
Mundell loves his wife and children and is close to his extended family, she said.
“He seemed so happy for all of us to be welcomed into his side of the family,” Dorene Mundell said. “My daughters loved him. My only grandson calls him Uncle Kent, and I’m about to cry talking about it.”
Monday’s shootings occurred just over three weeks after four Lakewood police officers were shot to death in Pierce County. Suspect Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer two days later.
A month earlier, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed and his partner wounded as they sat in a patrol car Halloween night. Christopher Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Brenton’s death.
Many Lakewood police officers are friends with Mundell and Hausner. Lakewood Police Chief Brett Farrar, who worked in the sheriff’s department with Hausner for 15 years, said he is known for his patience and skill as a trainer for fellow officers.
“He is a good deputy. A smart, sharp guy and a good family man,” Farrar said.
Hausner lives in Eatonville with his wife, Melanie, and two children, ages 14 and 12.
“He’s a real family guy, a real salt-of-the-earth person who would help anybody,” said Erb, Melanie’s uncle. “He’s a throwback to the good old days when families were close-knit and tight.”
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Dallas police officer battling cancer, treatment, mounting bills
As if cancer-stricken Dallas police Sgt. Gregory Epley didn’t have enough to worry about with weeks of grueling radiation and chemotherapy in front of him, he now confronts another worry: the potential loss of his paycheck and thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Epley, 34, quickly blew through about two months of vacation and sick time while fighting a rare form of tongue cancer earlier this year. Now it’s back.
Because he’s the sole provider for his wife and three young children, Epley has been going to work when he can while undergoing treatments. Initially, he thought he might be able to work for much of it, but his earlier assessment has proved too optimistic.
His wife, Anna Epley, said she doesn’t think he’ll be able to report for duty much longer because the treatments have left him extremely ill, tired and barely able to eat, and he may soon have to get a feeding tube.
“He’s realizing it’s pretty rough,” Anna Epley said Wednesday. “Yesterday he was like, ‘This is kicking my butt.’ He was too sick after treatment to work. He threw up all the way home.”
Dallas no longer has a “catastrophic leave bank,” where employees can donate unused leave hours. But the city allows employees to request up to 80 hours of advance sick leave.
Since he’s used his remaining paid time, Epley has requested the use of 40 hours of advance time. He’s trying to save the remaining 40 until closer to the end of his treatment.
“He does not want to ask for help,” said Sgt. Stormy Magiera, a friend and colleague. “He said he just puts the bills in a stack and ignores them because he would get too depressed to see what he owes.”
Epley, a native of Louisville, Ky., originally considered a career as a U.S. marshal or a Secret Service agent. But the waiting list for a marshal’s job was too long when he graduated from Eastern Kentucky University and “the application for Secret Service was so thick that I chunked it in the garbage can.”
The Dallas Police Department hired him in 2000. He made sergeant about a year ago.
“I just like the job,” said Epley, who works as an evening shift supervisor at the city’s Central patrol substation. “I like chasing bad guys.”
Along the way, he met Anna while working an off-duty police job at a Wells Fargo Bank branch. The couple has three children, the youngest of whom just turned 1.
For Epley, the symptoms began in May with what he and his doctors initially thought to be a routine canker sore on the left side of his tongue. But the painful sore wouldn’t go away. He could barely eat. He started losing weight. Then came inexplicable headaches and excruciating jaw pain.
He went from doctor to doctor trying to figure it out. One doctor blamed stress. In late August, a biopsy revealed cancer on the left side of his tongue, a stunning finding given that he doesn’t use tobacco products.
On Sept. 3, surgeons removed the left side of his tongue and used skin from his arm to reconstruct it. Doctors also removed lymph nodes from his left ear to his neck to check for cancer. He was off for about a month after the surgery.
“Everything came back clear,” Anna Epley said. “We thought it was over.”
About two months later, the right side of his tongue started hurting. He went to his surgeon, who told him he’d probably bitten it and not to worry.
“He said, ‘I don’t think it’s cancer. The odds of you having cancer are slim to none,’ ” Gregory Epley recalled.
A week or so later, he noticed a small lump on his tongue.
He underwent his second biopsy two days before Thanksgiving. It revealed a tumor on the right side.
The pain was so bad after that biopsy that he missed another week of work. Some days, he can’t make it through an entire shift, either because he gets severe migraines or he’s throwing up, his wife said.
Earlier this month, doctors removed his back molars and wisdom teeth, leaving his face swollen. He could barely talk.
He began radiation treatments on Dec. 15. He’ll undergo radiation five days a week and chemo once a week.
The prognosis is good because the cancer hasn’t spread beyond his tongue.
So far, the Epleys have shelled out more than $8,000 for medical bills. The bills just keep rolling in.
“I don’t want people to think my problems are any more important than other people’s problems,” Epley said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I don’t want anybody to think I’m complaining.”
Even after Epley completes the seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, he’s facing another six to eight weeks of recovery, during which he probably won’t be able to work much, his wife said.
Two of the Epleys’ children are too young to understand what’s going on. Their 4-year-old daughter realizes he has cancer, but she doesn’t really understand what that means.
Recently, her mother found her pretending that she had a tumor and that her brother was the doctor.
“She said she wants to make a card that says, ‘Daddy, please don’t get sick anymore.’ She wants it big enough to put in the front yard. That made me cry,” Anna Epley said.
By TANYA EISERER
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normal cops or Paranormal Cops?
A&E sets out on a ghost patrol with a team of Chicago-area police officers who spend their off-duty hours as paranormal investigators in the new original real-life series “Paranormal Cops.” The six-episode half-hour series kicks off with a special one-hour season premiere on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 10:30 PM ET/PT on A&E.
“Paranormal Cops” follows a group of larger-than-life cops who walk one beat during the day as real-life Chicago-area police officers and another at night when they apply their forensic and investigative expertise to paranormal casework. Responding to the pleas of people who are victimized by distressing and inexplicable activities in their homes and workplaces, these cops bring their no-nonsense approach to hunting ghosts and real-life police skills to separate the fact from fiction and often happen upon results much scarier than the paranormal.
In “Casa Madrid,” the one-hour series premiere, the team responds to a store manager who is so distraught over events taking place in the basement of his store that he is ready to quit. An investigation turns up paranormal activity and uncovers that the store was once a notorious hangout and gambling hall frequented by figures from the underworld and host to countless crimes, even murder.
The “Paranormal Cops” team consists of investigators Ron Fabiani, Tom Froelich, Austin Weinstock and Pete Schlelich, medium Moriah Rhame, and investigative assistants Brian Jones and Scot Ziarko.
“Paranormal Cops” is produced by North South Productions for A&E. Charlie Debevoise and Mark Hickman serve as executive producers and Mark Marinaccio as co-executive producer for NorthSouth Productions. A&E Executive Producers are Robert Sharenow and Elaine Frontain Bryant.
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Cook County sheriff to hire more officers
The Cook County Sheriff’s Department says it is set to make hundreds of hires in coming months.
Sheriff Thomas Dart said Wednesday that his department is prepared to hire more than 500 correctional officers next year. The first class of recruits is to come in January. Dart’s office says the jobs pay about $45,000 a year and include health, dental and vision insurance and pension.
The sheriff’s office says the jobs are available because of a federal mandate that more officers be added at the Cook County Jail.
Sheriff Dart says the department has noticed “not only the increase in quantity but also the increase in quality of applicants.”
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Wis. sheriff offers books, toys to jail visitors
The Dane County Sheriff’s Department is trying to make Christmas a little happier for children visiting loved ones in jail.
The agency’s Books and Bears program begins on Christmas Eve. Every child that comes to visit a parent or a loved one in jail over the holidays will get a new book and a new stuffed animal.
The program uses gifts donated by local businesses and individuals. It’s designed to give children a positive experience with law enforcement.
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Polk County Sheriff’s Office all a Twitter
Authorities in Des Moines are officially tweeting.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has started a Twitter account. The social networking page is filled with public safety reminders, like tips for staying safe during the holidays and in bad weather.
For instance, this week authorities are cautioning the public to allow extra travel time in icy winter conditions.
To find the page, log onto twitter.com and search for “polksheriffiowa.” The Twitter page is also accessible from a link on the from the department’s Web page.
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“I Was Just Doing My Job”
A humble metro policeman refuses to be called a hero after saving a troubled young man from taking his life on the N2 on Wednesday.
Constable Deon Walters, of the metro police dog unit, has not been trained in hostage negotiation, but spent an hour and a half trying to dissuade the 21-year-old man from jumping from a Spaghetti Junction bridge over the N2.
“I was on my way to the dog kennels to sign up for work, and was taking the off-ramp when I saw a man on the highest point of the bridge. His car was on the side of the road, so I thought it had broken down.
“I stopped to help, but when I approached him he shouted at me to go away and threw his keys at me. I saw he was standing on the other side of the rails and realised he was going to kill himself.”
Walters called the police control room for a professional negotiator to be sent to the scene and metro police officials, Netcare911 paramedics and police search-and-rescue unit officers arrived at the scene soon after.
Walters decided to talk to the man, persuading him not to jump: “I asked him all sorts of questions while we waited for the negotiator to arrive. He told me that his father had died a few months ago.
“He was crying and refused to let anyone near him but me. He asked me to call his mum, which I did.
“All he wanted to do was ask her to take his car after he jumped. When she came, he told her to leave too, so we moved her out of sight.”
Officers closed the off-ramp and the extreme right lane of the N2 northbound carriageway below the bridge while Walters kept the man talking.
“He would have landed five or six storeys below if he had jumped. He was crying and then he said ‘enough’ and told me to go.
“I could see he was timing the cars going past; he wanted to jump in front of the cars.
“But I couldn’t go. If I had, no one else would be able stop him in time. I continued to speak to him but I slowly walked closer. He climbed on top of the railings and that’s when I grabbed him.”
Other officers leapt to his assistance and the man was subdued and taken to King Edward VIII Hospital, where he was sedated.
Walters said that although he had stopped the man from committing suicide, he had been told that he had done the “wrong” thing.
“The negotiator said that a policeman should not have spoken to him because he will not trust the police if he tries to do this again. But I was just trying to save him.”
“The average policeman does not receive training in negotiation, it is a specialised field.
“I have never handled such a situation before either.”
The modest Walters added: “I don’t want to be painted as a hero.
“I am just a policeman and we do far more dangerous things all the time.”
By Jauhara Khan
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‘Policeman’s policeman’ retiring from Tampa force after 29 years
The murder suspect agreed to turn himself in, but not to the two detectives searching for him. He would only turn himself in to the investigator he knew, the investigator whose reputation within the community he trusted.
He wanted George McNamara.
McNamara, who spent most of his 29-year career with Tampa police in working-class, largely minority East Tampa, worked some of the city’s most notorious crimes.
He leaves the force Wednesday, though he will remain on the books until Jan. 26. He is having open heart surgery next month.
Current and former colleagues describe McNamara as a brilliant, compassionate workhorse with an outstanding memory.
“He’s probably the most committed to victims of any supervisor that I’ve ever worked with in my entire career,” former investigator Julie Massucci said. “He is a policeman’s policeman.”
For the past six years, McNamara commanded the department’s criminal investigations division, overseeing everything from drug investigations to homicides.
McNamara has handled some of the city’s biggest cases.
He worked the 1985 beating death of 16-year-old Billy Rosebud, whose body was recovered in a North Tampa sinkhole. Two people were convicted in the slaying, and charges were dropped against a third defendant who testified for the prosecution.
He worked the 1990 slaying of Brett Woehlk, whose body, stabbed seven times, was discovered in a field on Sligh Avenue. Murder charges were dropped against the man McNamara believed to be the killer, but that man was later sentenced in Ohio on other charges.
McNamara also worked the 1995 slaying of Tina Marie Cribbs, leading to the conviction of cross-country killer Glen Rogers.
In 1998, two detectives who worked for him, Ricky Childers and Randy Bell, were fatally shot in the line of duty. He delivered Bell’s eulogy.
“Their deaths shocked the entire department,” he said. “I still visit them regularly, and I always will. I loved those guys like brothers.”
McNamara’s career allowed him a chance to provide closure to victims. It let him create a squad and a program to protect the community. And it even led him to the woman who became his wife.
“I consider myself the most blessed and fortunate man that I know of,” he said. “God has been very kind to me.”
Once he recovers from surgery, he said, he plans to continue working in some fashion, whether it involves teaching or being a security director.
About 100 officers attended his farewell party last week, thanking him for his service. At the event, Chief Jane Castor said it would be difficult to explain just how much of an impact McNamara has had on the community.
For more than two years, McNamara was the first person to lead the citywide firehouse cop program. It was a step toward community oriented policing, with officers attending neighborhood meetings and crime watch meetings and moving throughout the area talking with residents of all ages.
He helped create the department’s cold case squad in February 2006. With technological advancements such as DNA testing, creating such a squad made sense, he said. The squad already has made more than 10 arrests.
McNamara, 50, also created the created the department’s Sexual Predator Identification and Notification Program, known as SPIN.
Following the 1998 slaying of 7-year-old Amanda Brown, McNamara helped put in place a police program that tracks sex offenders and predators. Through SPIN, the department began placing automated telephone calls to alert residents within a 11/2-mile radius whenever a sexual predator moved into a neighborhood. Occasionally, the police use the system for sexual offenders. Police also began making house calls to sexual offenders at least once a year, with sexual predators visited four times a year.
“George is one of those rare individuals,” Det. Jose Feliciano said. “He is an extremely good leader who leads by example.”
McNamara’s wife, Gerry, is a Tampa police lieutenant. They met about 25 years ago when she was a recruit and he was her field training officer. They have three children, one of whom wants to become a police officer.
“Probably one of the proudest moments of my life will be pinning my badge on him,” McNamara said.
By Josh Poltilove
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Retired policeman triumphs during PokerStars.net challenge
In America, a retired New York City policeman has won one million dollars after taking part in the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge on television and beating top professional player Daniel Negreanu head-to-head.
Fifty-three-year-old Mike Kosowski revealed that he took up poker out of boredom after retiring in 2004 and used a combination of good cards and the ability to read people to win the top prize.
“It’s unbelievable,’ Kosowski told the New York Post newspaper.
‘We’re still on an emotional high every day. Every day I wonder ‘Am I living a dream’.’
The retired detective was one of the first officers on the scene following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center eight years ago and was helping to evacuate survivors when the South Tower collapsed. He stated that he was thrown ten feet into the air and suffered burns to his neck and back.
The Staten Island man revealed that his wife, Francis, had encouraged him to pursue poker as a way to occupy his time and was happy for him to enter a 16,000-person online tournament on PokerStars.net in which he finished in fourth spot. That placing entitled Kosowski to submit a video to the programme’s producers explaining why he would make a good television contestant. He eventually asked to be an alternate and was flown with his wife to Los Angeles where the show was taped over the weekend of the couple’s anniversary.
“Playing against a pro is difficult because you know he knows the game inside and out,” said Kosowski.
“You can’t take as many risks as you would against some guy in Atlantic City.”
In the end, Kosowski was fortunate enough to get to play and won two consecutive four-person qualifier games in order to meet Negreanu heads-up. He revealed that he had researched his opponent by reading his book and watching Negreanu on television and had even figured out the Canadian’s ‘tell’.
“The only read I picked up on him was…you knew he didn’t have the best hand because he puts his hand behind the back of his head,” said Kosowski.
Poker fans in the US can watch Kosowski’s final hands on Sunday afternoon from five o’clock in the afternoon on Fox with the winner revealing that he will use his new-found wealth to pay off his mortgage while donating some money to charity.
“I just got lucky, you know, and I just played my game,” said Kosowski.
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15 Minneapolis cops get a fast callback to jobs
Fifteen Minneapolis police officers laid off last week received an early Christmas gift Tuesday.
They will be back on the job Jan. 1, thanks to the approval of a federal job stimulus grant. Thirteen officers are covered under the grant, while an additional two will be funded through the city’s Regulatory Services Department to work on problem properties and animal control.
“Winning this grant shows that even in challenging budget times and despite ongoing budget crises at the state, we are doing everything in Minneapolis we can to put cops on the street and keep them there,” said Mayor R.T. Rybak. “We’re grateful to the Obama administration and their economic recovery plan for lending a hand.”
Nearly half of the rehired officers had graduated from the Police Academy last week, but another 10 from the same class who were laid off will remain unemployed.
Police Chief Tim Dolan said the department had been awaiting the grant decision and “I am pleased that we can alleviate the stress of this difficult time for the families of these officers.”
“The department will continue to look for other funding with the goal of rehiring the other officers as well. Our collective thoughts go out to the employees in all city departments who have lost their jobs during this difficult time,” he said.
Violent crime in Minneapolis has decreased significantly this year. Police federation officials were immediately critical of the layoffs, saying the city had spent an estimated $5 million to train the new recruit class. They aired a radio ad chastising Rybak over the cuts. Community leaders were also upset by the loss of officers from a diverse recruiting class.
City Council Member Don Samuels, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said: “For a city whose primary function is public safety, this is the best Christmas gift we could receive. This grant allows us to keep our commitment to the citizens of Minneapolis by retaining police officers.”
By David Chanen
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