ill drop some articles this round, and some Verbal Murder next round!
now for the articles! this time I've got a few whoppers to get up here:
- the latest in the Ron Van Fossen Saga!!!
- robberies, love triangles, and trailers... oh my!!!
- and... shit you thought you had a bad night.
The Latest In The [Alderman] Ron Van Fossen Saga!!!
Alderman Van Fossen Accused of Continued Harassment
By Tory Brecht | Wednesday, June 27, 2007From the Quad City Times [qctimes.net link]
Davenport 1st Ward Alderman Ron Van Fossen has on at least two occasions violated a directive ordering him to cease contact with the city employee he was accused of sexually harassing earlier this year, according to an administrative memorandum.
In the memo dated June 19 and sent to City Administrator Craig Malin, Mayor Ed Winborn and acting Corporate Counsel Tom Warner, assistant City Administrator Dee Bruemmer detailed two messages the alderman left on administrative assistant Cindy Webb’s office voice mail.
“In the first message, Alderman Van Fossen requested several customer service items and ended the conversation on a personal note stating they should have a beer when this all gets over,” Bruemmer wrote. “The second voice mail had one customer request and the statement that he had been drinking the night before and he should call her.”
Bruemmer is acting as Webb’s direct supervisor because Malin and Human Resources Director Jeff Dolan are named in her Iowa Civil Rights Commission complaint about the alleged harassment. In the complaint, she said the administration ignored her complaints.
In her memo, Bruemmer said she told Webb not to return Van Fossen’s calls and to screen her future calls.
“Because my job is to assure, through all reasonable action, that Ms. Webb has the opportunity to work in a hostile-free workplace, I am requesting that Mr. Van Fossen be made aware of the seriousness of his breach of the city’s understanding of no contact,” she wrote. “He should also be informed that a future breach will result in the city seeking a court order to ensure compliance.”
Warner concurred that seeking a court order would be the next step, should further harassment allegations occur.
That was not done in the first place, he said, because the city attempted to solve the problem “with a lesser measure. It’s the notion of a progressive approach.”
Warner pointed out that in the private sector, an employee accused of harassment would be warned, then terminated if he or she did not comply with the order. City staff, he pointed out, has no such power over elected officials.
Malin said that makes handling the Van Fossen situation challenging.
“It is readily apparent that staff does not have the full measure of authority, or any authority for that matter, to discipline council members,” Malin said. “Their behavior is beyond staff purview, generally. In this instance, we have on numerous occasions taken the appropriate, prompt remedial action within the bounds of staff authority.”
That includes moving Van Fossen’s mailbox out of the third-floor council office where Webb works to the first floor, handing over administrative duties from Webb to Redmond Jones, the city’s affirmative action officer, and the directive ordering Van Fossen to cease contact with Webb.
Webb’s attorney, Mike Meloy, wants the city to do more.
In a letter he sent to Warner on June 22, after learning of the memorandum, he demanded specific action to be taken against Van Fossen.
“I request the city immediately seek a court order to insure compliance on this issue requiring Mr. Van Fossen to stop his contact with Cindy Webb,” he wrote.
Van Fossen could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In March, the alderman sought treatment for alcoholism at an out-of-state facility. In April, he served seven days in the Scott County Jail after pleading guilty to domestic assault and for violating a no-contact order filed by his ex-wife.
Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.
Robberies, Love Triangles, and Trailers... OH MY!!!
By Corina Curry | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR [rrstar.com]ROCKFORD — A love triangle that was escalating into violence was the impetus behind a 24-year-old homeless man’s 24-hour robbery spree that hit two drug stores, two grocery stores and a bank last week, according to court documents.
The documents, including signed statements from Scott Njos and FBI agent Craig Smith, claim Njos was trying to amass $10,000 *so he could buy a trailer* where he and his girlfriend could escape a man whom she dated while Njos was in prison for a pair of armed robberies in 2004.
According to a petition filed in state court June 1, Njos’ 19-year-old girlfriend sought the court’s protection from a 26-year-old Rockton man for herself, Njos and two children, claiming the Rockton man “hit Scott with a van, brought drugs around my children, took the brake cap off my van twice and made his dog attack me.” A hearing was to be held on the petition Friday, but no one showed.
Njos, who was released from state prison in April, allegedly started his spree Wednesday night and didn’t stop until he was picked up by police Friday morning in South Beloit.
Njos is in federal custody facing a bank robbery charge that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney on Monday afternoon and will return Wednesday for a hearing to determine if he’ll remain in custody while the charges against him are pending.
Njos’ mother, who declined to speak to media, broke down in tears as her son was escorted into the courtroom Monday.
According to court records, Njos robbed four businesses and attempted to rob a fifth from 7:15 p.m. Wednesday to 3 p.m. Thursday: two Walgreens stores, an Aldi’s grocery store and a Fifth Third Bank branch. He started to rob a Logli’s grocery store, but didn’t go through with it, documents show.
And... Shit You Though YOU Had A Bad Night?
A teenager is accused of attacking a transsexual he had sex with.
BY KATHLEEN CHAPMAN |The Palm Beach Post [miamiherald.com link]
The two strangers met outside a bar on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach.
One was a 17-year-old high school student out with a friend. The other was an attractive 39-year-old from Ohio in capri pants and a silky spaghetti-strap top.
The teen says that the woman got into their car, and performed oral sex on him in the back seat while his friend drove. They ended up near a lifeguard tower on the island of Palm Beach after midnight. According to the 17-year-old, the woman was on top of him when he saw something he didn't expect under her bikini bottom.
Just as they were about to have sex, he says, he saw the woman was actually a pre-operative transsexual. She already had breast implants, but her other surgery is not scheduled until later this year.
She denies any sexual activity with the teen and has a different story.
TRANSSEXUAL BEATEN
But a witness saw what happened next: The teen shouted for help, dragged her through the sand, beat her head against the lifeguard stand and punched out her front teeth.
The teen goes on trial this week in juvenile court, facing a first-degree felony hate-crime charge that may be without precedent in Palm Beach County.
Assistant State Attorney Renelda Mack, chief of the civil rights unit, said she does not remember another hate-crime case here with a transsexual victim.
The teen, now 18 and attending summer school, has been under house arrest since the beating in the early morning of July 29, 2006. A juvenile judge will decide if he is guilty and what punishment, if any, he will face.
The teen's attorney, John Brewer, will argue self-defense. Brewer said the 39-year-old threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone what happened.
A mechanic from Lake Worth was on the beach that night with friends. He said in a deposition that he was sitting on top of the lifeguard tower when the teen, wearing only boxer shorts, came up and asked for help.
The kid, who looked no older than 18, ''was hysterical, freaking out, crying, upset,'' the witness said.
``He said he picked up a girl, he thought it was a girl -- it was a guy.''
The man had tried to rape him, the teen told the mechanic.
TOLD TO GO HOME
The witness said he suggested that the boy go home and not tell anyone. But about half an hour later, the kid returned, he said, dragging what looked to be a topless man down the beach by the hand. He screamed that he was going to kill him and slammed the person's head against the lifeguard stand, the witness said.
The witness jumped off the tower and headed for the boardwalk. The kid came back again, he said, saying he thought he had killed someone and was going to jail. Palm Beach police arrived then, the witness said.
They found the victim covered in blood.
The teen's father says he is appalled by what happened and can't believe that the state has not filed charges against the 39-year-old for sex with a minor. Florida law makes it a second-degree felony for a person 24 or older to engage in any sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old.
''I want to know how a 39-year-old man, disguised as a woman, was out there picking up a 17-year-old,'' the father said.
But the transsexual, now 40, gives a different version of events.
