Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Top 5 Police Blunders Of The Week: Guatemala's Anti-Drug Czar Arrested For Drug Trafficking
Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 9:00 am
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While we usually reserve our very prestigious countdown for "real" cops, we figured that Orlando Jarmaillo had enough qualifying qualities to land him today's last spot.
That's right, Jarmaillo is not a cop. He simply pretended to be one. And now he's in big trouble.
Last year, Jarmaillo had his personal vehicle souped up to look like a police patrol car. That's when he hit the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico and began enforcing the law.
At least 27 people have come forward to report encounters with Jarmaillo while he was posing as an officer. In one case, he pulled a teenager over for speeding and held him captive while he questioned him.
Hearing rumors of a pseudo-cop on the streets, one "real" undercover detective decided to bait Jarmaillo by driving erratically in an unmarked car. It worked. Jarmaillo pulled the deputy over.
But it was Jarmaillo who ended up finding himself behind bars. This week, a grand jury indicted Jarmaillo on counts of assault, false imprisonment, as well as six counts of fraud and 10 counts of impersonating a police officer.
If convicted on all charges, Jarmaillo faces more than 30 years in prison.
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4. Donald Harder
While Donald Harder may have all the credentials of a real cop, he is even less of a real man than Jarmaillo.
The Saratoga, Florida police officer pleaded guilty last week to sexually abusing at least four different women while on the job.
In August, Harder was on duty when he demanded sexual favors from a woman. Afraid that he would hurt her, the woman complied before going to police. Shortly after she filed her complaint, three more women came forward with similar stories. All the incidents took place last summer.
29-year-old Harder was arrested. A father and husband, Harder's three year career with the Saratoga Police Department came to a quick and righteous end. Fearing he would have to register as a sex offender, he decided to cop a plea. He plead guilty to menacing, official misconduct, and sexual abuse. He won't have register, but he will have to spend six months behind bars, where he'll likely get a lesson in the true meaning of being sexually violated.
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| Marcus Huffman |
3. Providence Police Department
Things are not going well for the police force of Providence, Rhodes Island. In less then three days, the department made headlines, not for acts of bravery, but major breaches of the public's trust. And that's after we already reported that one veteran detective had beaten a man into a coma with a flashlight.
Earlier this month, three more officers were charged with participating in a cocaine dealing ring. Among them was a school resource officer, a former driver for the Mayor, and -- get this -- Joseph Colanduono, a narcotics officer who was also working with the DEA. All three officers have been suspended without pay.
But that's still not the worst of it. Just three days after news of the drug arrests was released, headlines reported that the trial for a Providence police officer accused of rape was also underway.
Officer Marcus Huffman is charged with raping a woman in an abandoned substation in 2007. Apparently, he had found the drunk 19-year-old being turned away from a club, when he offered to give her a ride home. But instead, he drove her to the substation -- which they are shown entering on surveillance cameras -- and raped her. After the attack, the woman called 911. It was Huffman who was dispatched to the scene in order to take her report.
What's even scarier is that Huffman's superiors knew of the officer's shady past. He'd been accused of having sex with a 10-year-old when he was a teenager and of extorting oral sex from a prostitute -- though all charges in both cases were eventually dropped.
As Huffman's trial begins, the victim has also filed a civil suit against the Providence Police Department.
Looks like Providence PD needs a bit of help with its HR. Is it really that hard to find a trustworthy cop in Rhode Island?
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2. Jeffrey Lehrmann
It wasn't just the federal government that let down the people of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina -- local law enforcement did a pretty good job of screwing things up, as well.
You may have heard of the Danzinger Bridge shootings before. That's where six innocent civilians were shot by police -- including a severely handicapped man who was killed -- just six days after Katrina hit. Among the victims was Susan Bartholomew. Her arm was blown off by police fire. He husband was shot in the head. And her 17-year-old sustained gun wounds to her knee and lower leg.
After the devastating incident, the New Orleans police feared a shit storm of bad PR. But rather than own up to the incident, rightly punish those involved, and offer justice to the families of those hurt, the department launched a full scale cover-up.
When officer Jeffrey Lehrmann got word that innocent people had been killed by his brothers in blue, he immediately went to work concocting a mythical tale in which he made up fake witnesses and claimed that those shot were armed and threatening police. He dismissed the killings as little more than "bad shots" and helped plant a weapon at the scene. He also coached the officers in practicing his work of fiction.
But last Thursday, Lehrmann finally owned up to grievous actions. He plead guilty in federal court to the cover-up as well as obstruction of justice. He now faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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| Baltazar Gomez |
1. Baltazar Gomez and Nelly Bonilla
Earlier this month, Guatemala's chief of police, Baltazar Gomez, as well as it's anti-drug czar, Nelly Bonilla, were arrested for breaking the very laws they were supposed to be enforcing.
Just last March, a group of apparent drug dealers raided police headquarters in an attempt to steal millions of dollars worth of cocaine. Five police officers were killed in the incident.
However, it's now come to light that the men behind the heist were not drug cartel bosses, but the men who were supposed to be bringing them down.
Gomez and Bonilla now face charges including abuse of authority, drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, and obstruction of justice.
What's even more depressing is that this is the second time in less than a year that the police chief has been caught in a web of corruption. In September, the former chief of police, Porfirio Perez, was busted when he was caught stealing $300,000 from smugglers. We was quickly removed from office and he is now awaiting trail in that case.
We're now wondering if Providence is hiring their officers from the same pool of scum as Guatemala.
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