Tag: Crime

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Orange County vet accused of murdering four homeless men has a homeless father

The New York Times reported:

The man charged on Tuesday with the stabbing deaths four homeless men in Orange County over the last month, Itzcoatl Ocampo, has a personal connection to the area’s group of homeless: his father lives among them.

But Ocampo also is a Iraq war vet suffering from combat trauma:

After a 2008 tour of duty in Iraq, Itzcoatl became traumatized and depressed, family members said, presenting another challenge to a family in crisis. “He changed — everyone comes back changed,” Mixcoatl said. “Not everyone is the same. My brother is different.”

Itzcoatl Ocampo’s uncle Raul Gonzalez said that at a Christmas party last month at the family’s house, Itzcoatl was listless, barely taking part in the celebration and speaking little.

“He was sleeping on the couch when friends and family start to eat,” Mr. Gonzalez said.

[…]
After he returned from Iraq, Mr. Ocampo remained with the Marines until he was honorably discharged in 2010. Severe depression did not seem to set in until after his discharge, which was followed by the death of Claudio Patino IV, a close childhood friend with whom Mr. Ocampo had enlisted in the Marines. Mr. Patino was killed in combat in Afghanistan in June 2010.

“He was trying to come back to civilian life, getting adjusted. But once his friend passed away, though, that traumatized him,” Mixcoatl Ocampo said. “He felt very depressed. He got severe headaches. He felt lonely.”

Itzcoatl Ocampo moved in with his uncle, mother, brother and sister at the small ranch house in Yorba Linda. He planned to return to school at nearby Santa Ana College, even filing the paperwork to get money from the G.I. Bill to help pay for it. But he never attended classes.

Instead, he would visit Mr. Patino’s grave several times a week. He also went to the Veterans Services Office in Santa Ana in search of medical help, though his brother did not know details of those visits. The office did not return phone calls Monday.

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Accidents, Rapes, Murders, Suicides, Guns and Explosives

Here is a sampling of recent news stories related to crimes and accidents involving military personnel.

The city Medical Examiner’s Office today identified the 27-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who died in a motorcycle accident Thursday as Aaron Bennett.

Bennett, from Parma Heights Ohio, died at the crash scene on Fort Weaver Road near the recently closed Hawaii Medical Center-West. Witnesses told police that he was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before losing control and crashing at about 5:30 a.m.

Bennett was an Army sergeant who joined the service in January 2007, and served as an infantrymen assigned to 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, according to the Army.

In June, he finished a year-long deployment to Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, where he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, an Army Commendation Medal and the Iraqi Campaign Medal with two campaign stars for his service.

[…]

The 2009 Yamaha motorcycle he was driving apparently sideswiped a 2001 Nissan sedan near the Farrington Highway junction, causing the motorcyclist to lose control, police said.

Bennett, a 25th Infantry Division soldier, was thrown from the vehicle and slid about 30 feet into a guardrail, severing his arm.

And KITV reported that “Man Commits Apparent Suicide In Police Custody: 27-year-old Schofield Resident Arrested For Drunk Driving Saturday Morning” (1/07/2012):

A 27-year-old Schofield man was found dead in a Wahiawa Police Substation holding cell from an apparent suicide Saturday morning.The man was arrested around 4:10 Saturday morning for drunk driving, reckless driving and speeding near Kamehameha Highway and Whitemore Avenue.He was then booked and processed at the Wahiawa Substation. His body was found alone and unconscious in the holding cell around 7 a.m. with his t-shirt next to him. It is believed that he hung himself with the shirt.

[…]
Police say the man is a husband of a Schofield based soldier.

In San Diego, four people were killed in an apparent murder-suicide involving two Navy pilots and the sister of one of the pilots. The AP reported “2 Navy Pilots Among Dead in Murder, Suicide” (1/03/2012):

Two Navy pilots and the sister of one of them were among four people killed in an apparent New Years Day murder-suicide on the wealthy island of Coronado off the coast of San Diego, officials say.

The two F/A-18 pilots were in training at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the base said. The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office initially posted on its website that the pilots were both 25-year-old males and that a third male among the dead was a 31-year-old resident of nearby Chula Vista.

The AP also reported that “Jealousy Eyed for Possible Role in Murder-Suicide” (1/06/2012):

Authorities were looking at all aspects of what could have led up to the gunfire at a Coronado condominium, including whether there was a relationship or romantic feelings between the Navy pilot who committed suicide and the sister of the other pilot who died, sheriff’s Capt. Duncan Fraser said.

John Robert Reeves shot himself in the head, and the three other people with him, including the sister, were murdered. They included Navy pilot David Reis, Karen Reis and Matthew Saturley.

[…]

Retired Naval pilot Steve Diamond said the case is shocking because it involves such high achievers.

“The first thing that most people think of even within the Navy community is how could such an enormously tragic thing happen involving people … who are the cream of the crop, highly trained, highly educated, national assets basically,” he said.

It takes years of training to get one’s wings as a Navy pilot, and fighter-jet pilots are considered to be among the top in that group.

They undergo a battery of rigorous physical, psychological and background tests before finishing the highly competitive program. Their top-notch skills and mental toughness were featured in the movie “Top Gun” — parts of which were filmed at Miramar.

Despite the recent dismissal of Cioca v. Rumsfeld, a class action lawsuit to hold Secretaries of Defense Rumsfeld and Gates accountable for the epidemic of sex assault in the military, another Navy commander was convicted for raping two female sailors. The AP reported “Navy Cmdr Gets Prison in Rape of Female Sailors” (10/29/2011):
A Navy ship commander pleaded guilty Friday to sexual assault and rape of two female sailors, and a military judge ordered his dismissal and sentenced him to more than three years in prison.

Cmdr. Jay Wylie was given a 10-year term but will serve 42 months as part of a plea agreement, said Sheila Murray, Navy spokeswoman.

[…]

Twenty officers have been relieved of command by the Navy this year.

It seems that the epidemic of sexual violence begins in officer training school.  The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that “3 Air Force Academy Cadets Charged in Sex-Assault Cases” (1/06/2012):

Commanders on Thursday charged three Air Force Academy cadets with sexual assault in separate cases that occurred over the past 15 months.

Charging documents obtained by The Gazette show the three cases involve acts allegedly committed on the campus, including acts against fellow cadets.

Meanwhile, the military is losing control of its weapons and explosives.  The AP reported that “US Rep.: Soldier Had 5 Pounds of C4 in Carry-On” (1/06/2012):
A congressman says two 2.5-pound blocks of a powerful, military-grade explosive were found in a Soldier’s luggage at a West Texas airport. Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of Midland said Thursday that federal officials gave him details of the Saturday find in Trey Scott Atwater’s luggage at Midland International Airport.

And the Daily Press in Victorville, California reported in December “Military Weapons in Gangsters’ Hands” (12/05/2011):

Gangs are acquiring highpowered, military-grade weapons more frequently, according to the latest National Gang Intelligence Center Report. And FBI and law enforcement officials suggest gang members — both enlisted and those working at military bases as contract civilians — may be funneling the firearms to their street-level counterparts.

In late July, 27 AK-47s were stolen from a Fort Irwin warehouse, officials said.

Weapons getting loose could be really bad.  In San Diego, the AP reported “Police: Navy SEAL Accidentally Shoots Self in Head” (1/06/2012):

San Diego police say a Navy SEAL is on life support after accidentally shooting himself in the head.

Officer Frank Cali tells U-T San Diego that officers were called to a home in Pacific Beach early Thursday morning on a report that a man had been playing with a gun and accidentally shot himself.

Cali says the man was showing guns to a woman he’d met earlier at a bar and put a pistol he believed was unloaded to his head. Cali says he then pulled the trigger.

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U.S. soldier charged with rape, transferred to South Korean custody

Stars and Stripes reports that a U.S. Soldier charged with rape was transferred to South Korean custody:

South Korean police charged a U.S. soldier Tuesday with rape and larceny for allegedly attacking a 17-year-old South Korean girl in her residence on Sept. 17, following a night of drinking in Seoul.

Pvt. Kevin Robinson, 21, who is stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, was transferred to South Korean custody upon his arrest, according to a member of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

This case came to public attention during the trial of another U.S. soldier accused of raping a teenage girl:

Pvt. Kevin Lee Flippin was convicted and sentenced last month to 10 years in prison for brutally raping a 17-year-old South Korean girl.

A string of crimes by U.S. troops in Korea is prompting calls for the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to be revised:

Two high-profile South Korean rape cases involving U.S. troops as well as a fire in Itaewon last week linked to a U.S. soldier have renewed complaints about the status of forces agreement outlining legal procedures and protections for the U.S. military community. The agreement has generated such anger and political outcry in South Korea that officials from both countries met Wednesday in Seoul to discuss it.

Critics call the SOFA agreement a shield for U.S. soldiers dodging swift justice. Others believe it’s a valuable tool to protect the rights of U.S. citizens in foreign countries.

South Korean politicians and critics are calling for the agreement to be revised so police can retain custody of U.S. military suspects before they are formally indicted by prosecutors — something prohibited by the current agreement in virtually all cases. South Korean police and the activists supporting them claim that the SOFA puts unnecessary roadblocks in the way of the police doing their jobs.

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Rape in the US military: America’s dirty little secret secret

The Guardian published an excellent article on the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military. Here are some astounding facts:

Rape within the US military has become so widespread that it is estimated that a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be attacked by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. So great is the issue that a group of veterans are suing the Pentagon to force reform. The lawsuit, which includes three men and 25 women (the suit initially involved 17 plaintiffs but grew to 28) who claim to have been subjected to sexual assaults while serving in the armed forces, blames former defence secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates for a culture of punishment against the women and men who report sex crimes and a failure to prosecute the offenders.

[…]

Last year 3,158 sexual crimes were reported within the US military. Of those cases, only 529 reached a court room, and only 104 convictions were made, according to a 2010 report from SAPRO (sexual assault prevention and response office, a division of the department of defence). But these figures are only a fraction of the reality. Sexual assaults are notoriously under-reported. The same report estimated that there were a further 19,000 unreported cases of sexual assault last year. The department of veterans affairs, meanwhile, released an independent study estimating that one in three women had experience of military sexual trauma while on active service. That is double the rate for civilians, which is one in six, according to the US department of justice.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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‘Rape’ remark by Japan Defense Ministry official may be final nail in the coffin of Futenma base relocation plan

The statement by Japanese Defense Ministry official  in Okinawa comparing the base relocation plan to ‘rape’, only the latest outrage over the proposed relocation of the Futenma military base to Henoko, is causing a political storm that, as the Asahi Shimbun opined, “could spell end to (the) Futenma plan”:

Discussing the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Satoshi Tanaka, director-general of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, said to the effect on Nov. 28, “Would you say, ‘I will rape you,’ before you rape someone?”

Tanaka used the rape analogy to explain the government’s reluctance to set the submission date of an assessment report on the environmental impact of the air station’s planned relocation to the Henoko district in Nago–a plan the people of Okinawa vehemently oppose.

[…]

In fact, it was the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by U.S. soldiers 16 years ago that triggered the move to relocate the Futenma base. But the girl was certainly not the last victim of sex crimes by U.S. service personnel. Anyone who has any understanding of the feelings of the people of Okinawa would never even dream of saying what Tanaka said.

The Japan Times published a similar editorial:

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should realize that trustful relations no longer exist between his administration and the Okinawan people, and that the Henoko plan has no chance of being implemented.

According to a Facebook posts by Satoko Taira:

Defense Minister is having a meeting with Governor Nakaima.  Nakaima will present Okinawa Prefecture Assembly’s resolution of protest over the remarks made by Tanaka, to Ichikawa, which was adopted unanimously yesterday.

Another post by Masami Mel Kawamura reports:

Defense Minister visits Okinawa to apology for ODB’s officers’s gaff to Okinawa Governor.

Okinawan people are holding a rally in front of Okinawa Prefecture Office.

Keiko Itokazu, councilor, is now giving a speech there.

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Okinawan defense chief compared military relocation to rape

The head of the Okinawan Defense Bureau compared the relocation of the Futenma military base to Henoko to an act of rape and may lose his job because of it.   It was probably a poor political choice of words given the politically charged atmosphere in Okinawa regarding U.S. military bases and the many crimes committed by U.S. troops there.   However, it is probably the most honest description of the attitude of the U.S. and Japan towards the bases in Okinawa.  Here’s an excerpt from the Asahi Shimbun:

The director-general of the Okinawa Defense Bureau may lose his job after he reportedly compared the delayed release of an environment assessment report on the planned relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps air base to warning someone about being raped.

“Would you say, ‘I will rape you,’ before you rape someone?” Satoshi Tanaka is reported to have said in an unofficial meeting with reporters on Nov. 28.

Tanaka allegedly made the comparison when asked why the government was waffling on the submission date of an assessment report on the environmental impact of the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.

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APEC’s first defining moments: 1 man dead, 8 arrested for peaceful protest

An alleged murder in Waikiki involving a federal agent and arrests of (De)Occupy Honolulu protesters have heralded the debut of APEC 2011.

Confusing details are emerging about the alleged killing of Kollin Elderts by off-duty APEC state department agent Christopher Deedy, an incident Ian Lind calls the “first defining moment of APEC”.

KHON reported that:

Witnesses say 27-year-old Christopher Deedy stayed with the victim, trying to stop his bleeding until EMS arrived.

“I walked out there was a guy covered in blood holding the guy’s chest just to keep him from bleeding to death,” Davus says.

Witnesses also say when police arrived, Deedy told them ” I was the one who shot him.”

But the Honolulu Star Advertiser report contradicts this account:

Deedy was identified and arrested a short distance away at 2234 Kuhio Ave. at 3 a.m.

[…]

A man wearing a collared shirt ran from the restaurant, heading in the Ewa direction, Evans said. Inside McDonald’s, Evans said, a man was holding on to the victim, trying to keep him from collapsing.

KHON also reported:

Witnesses say the 23 year-old man was shot once in the chest.

But Hawaii News Now reported several shots were fired.

“I heard bam and it woke me up. And I kind of stirred and wondered where that came from. And then I heard bam, bam, bam shortly after that,” Reinking told Hawaii News Now.

This was also corroborated by the Honolulu Star Advertiser:

Chuck Crowell, who is renting a unit at the Royal Kuhio vacation condominium across from the McDonald’s, said he was lying down in his room when he heard, “Pow! Pow! Then a pause. Then pow again.”

Hawaii News Now reports that

According to [Eldertsʻ] family, [Christopher Deedy] followed Elderts to the restaurant.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that Deedy “has been charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.”

What makes this tragic killing so creepy is that the government will not confirm that Deedy, a State Department security agent, is in Honolulu for APEC.   What are they hiding?

Meanwhile the nascent (De)Occupy Honolulu movement has launched its protests into the international news with the arrest of eight people Saturday night.  The protesters cited the first amendment and a Hawaiian law declared by Kamehameha I “Kanawai Mamala Hoe” (The Law of the Splintered Paddle” as their “permit” to be in the park after 10 pm in solidarity with the homelesss who have been swept from parks, overpasses and other safe havens to “clean up” Honolulu for the APEC invasion.  As the protesters said “Our rights do not end at 10 pm!”   Here’s a clip of their statement a moment before they were arrested:

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Pearl Harbor-Hickam man held in alleged sex assault at Ala Moana

Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that a 24-year old man, “who lives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, was arrested pending charges of first-degree sexual assault, unauthorized entry into a vehicle, fourth-degree theft and criminal property damage.”  The victim alleges that “the man entered her vehicle without her permission and sexually assauilted her about 3 a.m. The man also stole money from her and damaged her vehicle, police said.”  The incident occurred at Ala Moana Center.

Meanwhile, the paper also reports “Federal agent from mainland arrested for killing man in Waikiki”:

A U.S. State Department law enforcement agent from the mainland was arrested for fatally shooting a man in his 20s early this morning on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki, sources said.

Honolulu police identified the alleged shooter as Christopher W. Deedy, 27, and sources who asked to remain anonymous confirmed that he is a federal agent who was off-duty at the time of the shooting. The victim was identified by family and friends as Kaneohe resident Kollin K. Elderts, 23, a Kalaheo High School graduate.

[…]

[A State Department spokeswoman] would not confirm whether he was here for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference which begins Tuesday.

But Deedy’s LinkedIn web page identifies him as a special agent working for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the State Department and from the Washington D.C. area.

According to the State Department’s website the bureau is responsible for providing a safe and secure environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. President Barack Obama and 20 other world leaders are expected to attend the APEC Leaders’ Meeting next weekend.

Is this the kind of flotsam that will wash up on our shores with APEC?

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US GI in SKorea gets 10 years in prison for rape

The AP reports that a “US GI in SKorea gets 10 years in prison for rape”:

A South Korean court sentenced a U.S. soldier to 10 years in prison Tuesday for raping a teenage girl — the second harshest punishment handed down to a convicted American soldier here in nearly 20 years.

Uijeongbu District Court convicted 21-year-old Pfc. Kevin Flippin of sexually assaulting the 16-year-old girl numerous times after breaking into her small boarding room near Seoul in September, court spokesman Lee Sang-yup said.

Flippin committed many “sadistic and sexually perverted acts” while threatening the girl with a pair of scissors, a knife and a lighter, Lee said. The soldier robbed the girl of 5,000 won ($4.50) as well, he said.

The court verdict said the girl felt “terrified and sexually humiliated,” according to Lee.

The case, along with a separate rape allegation by a teenage girl against another U.S. soldier, prompted top U.S. military and government officials to offer public apologies.

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Korea: U.S. soldier accused of raping teen released without arrest

The Hankyoreh newspaper reports:

A female student in her teens was allegedly sexually assaulted by a drunk U.S. soldier in the middle of the night at her residence in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province. The same town was the site of a physical assault and attempted sexual assault on an old couple in February, also by a U.S. soldier.

The incident is expected to have a major impact, as it was reported that although the soldier responsible for the latest assault made a complete confession to police, he returned to the base without being placed under arrest due to the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

Blaming the inequality of the SOFA’s terms for the inability to arrest a U.S. soldier who committed a serious crime, civic organizations and political parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP), urged the swift establishment of measures to prevent additional crimes by U.S. forces, including a full amendment of the SOFA and enactment of legislation to prohibit nighttime travel by U.S. forces.

The Dongducheon Police Station reported Thursday that “K,” a 21-year-old private with the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, was questioned on charges of entering a Dongducheon gositel apartment while intoxicated at around 4 a.m. on Sept. 24 and threatening and repeatedly sexually assaulting 18-year-old “G,” who had been watching television at the time. Following the questioning, the private was handed over to U.S. military police, the police station reported.

The case reveals the legal inequality of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and South Korea, a common situation for many foreign base agreements with the U.S.:

Unable even to request an arrest warrant for K because of the SOFA, police forwarded the case to prosecutors Wednesday. According to the police manual for SOFA cases, they are empowered only to incarcerate and investigate soldiers who are caught in the act perpetrating heinous crimes such as rape, without transferring the suspect to U.S. military authorities.

Dongducheon Police State investigation chief Hwang Ui-min explained the reason for K’s release without arrest, saying, said, “For U.S. forces crimes, the SOFA permits us to have detentions and investigations in cases where [the suspect] is caught in the act or before he has returned to base, but once he has returned to base we have to submit a separate transfer request to the U.S. military.”

U.S. military and state department officials immediately issued statements to express regret and cooperation.   This is an indication of how volatile this issue could become in Korea:

The U.S. State Department expressed its profound regrets Wednesday (local time) and said it would cooperate with the South Korean government for a thorough investigation. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell called South Korean Ambassador to the United States Han Duck-soo on Thursday to express their dismay over the incident, telling Han that the U.S. government would cooperate closely with the South Korean government to ensure a thorough investigation of the incident, the South Korean Embassy in Washington reported.

It is unusual for senior U.S. State Department authorities to express their regrets so quickly, less than one day after the United States Forces Korea (USFK) sexual assault case came to light. Observers attributed this to the U.S. having learned the lesson that incidents involving the U.S. and USFK in particular, such as the 2002 death of two female middle school students from being crushed by a U.S. armored vehicle, could lead to an uncontrollable situation of spreading anti-American sentiment.

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