Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Everyone is leaving the Lake Wales Police Dept. Is it because of Jack Van Sickle?
Ouellette Resigns
By BILL RETTEW JR.
Staff Writer
Lake Wales Police Officer Sean Ouellette called it quits. The former city Officer of the Year started Oct. 16, 2006 and later resigned in March of 2009. Six months later he was back at the police department.Chief Herb Gillis said Tuesday that Ouelette’s contribution solving burglaries, especially widespread copper thefts, helped lead to his being awarded more than four dozen commendations in his personnel file.
The Officer of the Year commendation reads that Ouellette has a “strong work ethic, professionalism, great attitude and is someone who continuously strives to be the best.”
“Officer Ouellette’s resignation is in no way connected to any allegation of misconduct,” wrote Gillis in an email. “Sean resigned for personal reasons to pursue other interests.
“His separation was not a result of corrective or disciplinary action.”
Gillis also said, Tuesday, that drug dealers disliked the officer who was a member of the successful crime task force and he would consider rehiring Ouellette for a third stint on the force if the opportunity presented itself.
“The ones in Lake Wales intent on trafficking drugs were not very fond of him,” said Gillis.
The former professional baseball player was involved in the summer of 2009 incident at C Street which polarized the community, following a traffic stop where accusations swirled of excess use of police force. The accusations were later investigated and said to have been untrue.
Money is missing
City enlists assistance of FBI
By BILL RETTEW JR.
Staff Writer
City police called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation to lead the hunt for thieves who stole $635,000 from city bank accounts. Police recently reported that more than $170,000 was recovered from the Nov. 30 theft of city funds held in accounts at CenterState Bank.Thursday, Sgt. Mark Stroup said more of the missing funds were recovered, though he refused to specify the amount returned to city coffers.
Stroup is the lead local police officer on the investigation and meets weekly with fellow task force members, the Florida Department of Enforcement, the state attorney’s office and Lake Wales Det. Ivelisse Rodriguez.
The city served more than 100 subpoenas and those documents were returned from respondents and presented to the FBI.
Since the FBI is involved, any prosecution of suspects will now take place in federal rather than state courts, according to Police Chief Herb Gillis.
“I can simply comment that I have asked the FBI to assume the lead in this case as it is a multi-jurisdictional investigation,” said Gillis.
Lake Wales Police will likely continue investigating after meeting with FBI representatives.
“From there we’ll know what help they’ll need from us,” said Stroup.
Police Chief Herb Gillis of Lake Wales Quits without notice
Lake Wales Manager Forces Police Chief Herb Gillis to Quit
Judy Delmar demands Herb Gillis' resignation, says decision unrelated to strife with minority community..
Last Modified: Friday, February 11, 2011 at 11:11 p.m.
LAKE WALES | Police Chief Herbert Gillis was forced to resign abruptly Friday afternoon because the city manager did not like the way he was running the Police Department.
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"There have been issues, and there has been a lot of stress internally," City Manager Judy Delmar said. "He offered his resignation, and I accepted."
Neither Delmar nor Gillis would discuss the details of what led to his dismissal.
Gillis, 39, said he chose to resign.
"I'm disappointed to know that my job performance didn't live up to the expectations of the city manager," he said, "and for that reason, I tendered my resignation.
"I wish the best for the department and for the Lake Wales community," he said. "Now my focus will be moving forward to find a means to support my family."
Delmar said Gillis' termination was not related to his decision to fire Burney Hayes, a former sergeant with the department who had a history of policy violations.
It also was not related to the way Gillis has handled issues with the Lake Wales branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she said. The NAACP has supported Hayes, who is black, in his attempt to retain his job.
Those issues led the federal Department of Justice to intervene in December 2009 to forge an understanding between the city and the NAACP.
"This issue dealt strictly with internal problems with the department," she said.
Mayor Jack VanSickle said Friday afternoon he was aware of the chief's resignation but hadn't had a chance to talk with Delmar about the situation.
City Commissioner Michael Carter said he was not sure what had happened. "I have to say I didn't see that coming."
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Carol Pontious
I guess you know that the both of you are a bunch of losers, lairs and thefts. Both of you destroy the Bingo records and place money in your pocket and food in your ice box and in your big month. It is just a matter of time before you get the welcome sign. Have a good day.
BINGO PAUL PONTIOUS page 5 of 21 Bank Statement's that he did not want you to see. Now you know why.
On Dec 6, 2009 he took all his friends workers (not volunteers) to the Sizzling Grill at a cost of $899.56.
Dec 14, 2009 he bought $1808.30 of Bingo Shirts from the Lake Ashton Golf Club LTD Yes you saw the statement last month and now again this month he buys more T-shirts. He doesn't have enough or is he playing golf with this money. On the check he writes T-Shirts. And he has the nerve to shout at me and calls me an idiot while I was playing with my cats in the back yard next to the golf course. We all know who the idiot is. We would be a fool to let him get away with this awful crime. I can't wait to see justice done.
Dec 16, 2009 he took all his friends on the bus C & D Tours for Dinner at the Texas de Brazil at a cost of $3654.00
Dec 20, 2009 Again just a week later he took more of his friends out to dinner by Bus C & D Tours for a cost of $610.00
Dec 22, 2009 Again just a week later he took his friends to Taxas de Brazil at a cost of $261.22
In a period of two weeks he spend a total of $4525 just for dinners at these restaurants. This is money he stole from the Bingo Players and Charity. How can Bingo Paul Pontious live with himself. Here we have Joe Ferreira, Give Kids the world who wants people to sign up to help the kids but in return he stuff his fat mouth with stolen money from the Bingo money which should have gone to charity. How can these guys live with themselves.
You have the proof, judge for yourself, Bingo Paul Pontious and his right arm partner in crime Joe Ferreira and Frank Ota who help organize these trips always side by side even at the HOA meeting this week. When the time comes each one will accuse the other of the crime. Can't you see all of them pointing to each other.
GUNS
You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.
Half-awake, nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers.
At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way.
With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun.
You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it.
In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds something that looks like a crowbar.
When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire.
The blast knocks both thugs to the floor.
One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside..
As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble.
In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless.
Yours was never registered.
Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died.
They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm.
When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter.
"What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask.
"Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing.
"Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven."
The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper.
Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choirboys.
Their friends and relatives can't find an unkind word to say about them.
Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times.
But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die."
The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters.
As the days wear on, the story takes wings.
The national media picks it up, then the international media.
The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.
Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably win.
The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects.
After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time.
The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars.
A few months later, you go to trial.
The charges haven't been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted.
When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you.
Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man.
It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges.
The judge sentences you to life in prison.
This case really happened.
On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk , England , killed one burglar and wounded a second.
In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term.
How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire ?
It started with the Pistols Act of 1903.
This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license.
The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.
Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.
Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man
with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw.
When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.
The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)
Nine years later, at Dunblane , Scotland , Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.
For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms still owned by private citizens.
During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.
Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."
All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no
fear of the consequences... Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars..
When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities.
Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply.
Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.
How did the authorities know who had handguns?
The guns had been registered and licensed.
Kind of like cars. Sound familiar?
WAKE UP AMERICA ; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT
IN OUR CONSTITUTION. "..It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."
--Samuel Adams
If you think this is important, please forward to everyone you know.
You had better wake up, because your president is going to do this very same thing over here if he can get it done...
And there are stupid people in congress and on the street that will go right along with him.