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- he action of forging or producing a copy of a document, signature, banknote, or work of art.

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Police: Woman charged with forgery in connection to $89k theft

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A woman who worked for a Wind Gap company faces forgery charges in $89,000 theft, police say.

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- Entry into a building illegally with intent to commit a crime, especially theft.

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A dog was stabbed and killed during a burglary on Chicago's West Side Wednesday night, according to police.

The incident occurred at around 9:45 p.m. in the 2300 block of West Maypole Avenue in the city's West Town neighborhood, Chicago police said.

Officers responded to a burglary to find a male offender inside the residence, authorities said.

He had entered the building by breaking a second flood rear window, officials said. Once inside, he was confronted by a dog that he then fatally stabbed, according to police.

The man was taken into custody and charges were pending Thursday morning, authorities said. Further details, including the suspect's age and identity, were not immediately available.
News breaks at inconvenient times. Download one of the NBCChicago mobile apps and have the news come to you. Watch live streaming newscasts, receive critical push notifications on the go and stay in touch with your city around the clock.

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Dog Stabbed to Death During Burglary on Chicago's West Side

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A dog was stabbed and killed during a burglary on Chicago's West Side Wednesday night, according to police. The incident occurred at around 9:45 p.m. in the 2300 block of West Maypole Avenue in the city's West Town neighborhood, Chicago police said. Officers responded to a burglary to find a male offender inside the residence, authorities said.

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- The criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property

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JACKSON, MI - A fire that broke out in the back of Jackson's Target store was started by a 14-year-old boy, police said.

A juvenile petition for third-degree arson was filed Wednesday, Feb. 21, for the Henrietta Township boy accused of starting the fire that temporarily closed the store, Jackson Director of Police and Fire Services Elmer Hitt said.

The fire at Target, located in Jackson Crossing off N. West Avenue, started in the building's southwest corner sometime before 6:40 p.m., Feb. 18, and forced a store evacuation, police have said.

Police identified the teen alleged to have started it by using the store's video security footage, police said.

Investigators submitted their evidence to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office which authorized the juvenile petition for charges, Hitt said.

After being notified of the petition, the teen came to the police department with a parent to turn himself in, Hitt said.

The teen is currently lodged in the Jackson County Youth Center, 930 Fleming Ave. It is unclear why the teen started the fire, Hitt said.

After cleaning crews repaired the damage to the store and disposed of damaged items and food products, the store reopened by 11 a.m., Feb. 20.

Several departments responded to the call and found Target full of smoke. Fire officials said employees did a great job getting everyone outside the store. No one was hurt, and the fire damage was limited to an end or aisle cap, Jackson fire Deputy Chief David Wooden earlier said.

Witnesses said they saw flames in the garden or seasonal section of the store.

The flames affected only the shelving unit and contents and compromised the suspended ceiling above it. There was no structural damage Wooden said.

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Target fire started by 14-year-old boy now facing arson charge, police say

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JACKSON, MI - A fire that broke out in the back of Jackson's Target store was started by a 14-year-old boy, police said. A juvenile petition for third-degree arson was filed Wednesday, Feb. 21, for the Henrietta Township boy accused of starting the fire that temporarily closed the store, Jackson Director of Police and Fire Services Elmer Hitt said.

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- Theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer.

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A former 36th District Court officer was arraigned Tuesday on a charge that he allegedly embezzled more than $15,000 in judgment money, state Attorney General Bill Schuette announced.

William Blake, 47, of Redford appeared before Magistrate Millicent Sherman of 36 th District Court on four felony counts of embezzlement by a public official over $50. The court set a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.

Blake is a former court employee and later a former independent contractor when he allegedly pocketed judgment money paid to him in his capacity as a court officer from September 2013 and April 2014.

"Mr. Blake has taken personal advantage of the public position he was entrusted with," Schuette said in a statement. "He broke his oath of office and the law to pad his own pockets and now he must face the consequences."

As a court officer, Blake was assigned writs of executions and orders to seize property in order to collect funds for judgments. Instead of paying the money he collected to plaintiffs, he allegedly kept judgments totaling $14,700, according to Schuette's office.

In one case, Blake allegedly went to the East Lake Baptist Church in Detroit and with his court-issued badge and gun, identified himself as a court officer. He demanded payment of $5,000 on an outstanding judgment. The pastor paid $1,000, which Blake allegedly pocketed.

Blake is accused of not filing the required court documents about the collection.

"Anyone contemplating acts to defraud this court or the public through an association with the court should take notice that such conduct will be thoroughly investigated and pursued in accordance with the law," said Court Administrator Kelli Moore Owen.

Blake is set to return to court March 6 for a pre-exam conference.

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: CWilliams_DN

Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/2FAMOvZ

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Ex-36th District Court officer charged with embezzling

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A former 36th District Court officer was arraigned Tuesday on a charge that he allegedly embezzled more than $15,000 in judgment money, state Attorney General Bill Schuette announced. William Blake, 47, of Redford appeared before Magistrate Millicent Sherman of 36 th District Court on four felony counts of embezzlement by a public official over $50.

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- Theft of personal property.

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GUILDERLAND - Today the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, suspended Richard J. Sherwood from the office of justice of Guilderland Town Court. The court ordered that he be suspended immediately with pay.

On Friday, the same day Sherwood was arrested for felony larceny and fraud charges - charges he's denying - his judicial duties were reassigned and he was barred from the non-public areas of the town court.

That directive came from the state's chief administrative judge, Lawrence K. Marks; only the Court of Appeals has the constitutional authority to suspend a judge, according to the Court of Appeals spokesman, Gary Spencer.

On Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 27, the top court reached its decision, made by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, and judges Jenny Rivera, Eugene Fahey, Michael Garcia, Rowan Wilson, and Paul Feinman. Judge Leslie Stein took no part. Spencer said the court does not explain reasons for recusal.

The Court of Appeals sent a letter to Sherwood on Tuesday, signed by John P. Asiello, saying it was notified of a complaint with felony crimes, and had ordered Sherwood's suspension. The letter also says that the court, during its March session, will consider the continuation of his suspension. The court is not currently in session.

"You may, pro se or by counsel, write to the Court stating your position as to the continuation of the suspension and, if it is continued, whether the continuation of suspension should be with or without pay," the letter to Sherwood says.

The town suspended Sherwood's salary as of Feb. 23, the date of his arrest, Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber said on Monday. Sherwood made $51,170 in 2017 as one of three part-time Guilderland judges.

Sherwood was arrested on Friday, following an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's Office. He is charged with working with financial advisor Thomas Lagan to steal more than $4 million from family trusts that the two managed jointly. Sherwood and Lagan are each charged with these felonies: two counts of first-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud, and two counts of first-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

None of the four people whose assets were managed in the family trusts had any children, according to the complaint. Eventually, monies left over in the funds were to be distributed to six charities.

Jordan Carmon, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said that he could not comment on how the office was alerted to Sherwood's alleged activities, but he referred The Enterprise to an area of the office's website for the office's Charities Bureau. This bureau has jurisdiction to investigation complaints of various kinds, including those on "improper activities of executors, administrators, trustees, and personal representatives responsible for honoring gifts or bequests to a charity," the website says.

Carmon also said he could not name the six charities.

Sherwood was arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court on Friday, with his attorney, William J. Dreyer of Dreyer Boyajian in Albany. Sherwood's next appearance is not scheduled at this time, said Carmon.

Sherwood pleaded "not guilty" at his arraignment, said Sean Gallagher, senior court-office assistant at the Albany City Criminal Court.

The town board will meet in executive session on March 2 to discuss "issues separate from removal," said Barber. He declined twice to specify what those issues were.

"This is uncharted waters for us," he added. "I've asked the town attorney to research the issues."

He also said, "On Friday, the town board will discuss what is the best course of action going forward." And he added, "Any time we talk about a personnel action, it's got to be private."

Robert Freeman, head of the State Committee on Open Government, said that, while the board is permitted to discuss hiring or firing a particular person in closed session, any discussion about what course to take should be held in public, according to the State's Open Meetings Law.

The law allows for the board to meet in private for hiring or firing but does not require it. "What are they going to talk about that the world doesn't already know, or isn't really interested in learning?" asked Freeman.

"There's so much out there already, it doesn't make sense to go into executive session," Freeman said.

"If we do anything that we need to take public action on, we'll do it at our town board meeting on Tuesday," Barber said. The state law requires that any votes be held in public. The town board is scheduled to meet on March 6.

Town Attorney James Melita said on Monday that the charges came as a shock; he had known Sherwood for years and taken over his position as town attorney. "He's always seemed to be an upstanding guy," said Melita.

Melita said he started, Monday morning, to look into what actions, if any, the town can take to effectuate Sherwood's removal. He said that his research indicated that the town board doesn't have standing to initiate a removal procedure.

Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, said that, for now, all that can be done is to suspend Sherwood's judicial authority and bar him from non-public areas of the courthouse, which his office did, and suspend his pay, which the town did.

At the conclusion of the criminal proceeding, Chalfen said, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct would determine "what sanctions or punishment or removal that he would face."

Melita noted that the actions Sherwood is alleged to have taken "weren't done within his capacity as a town judge."

They were done as part of Sherwood's private practice, he said, adding, "There's nothing in my experience to make me think that there's any reason to believe he was doing anything illegal in the courts."

Melita specified that, in Guilderland Town Court, Sherwood would have heard criminal matters prosecuted by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, traffic cases, and town-code matters, which Melita said he prosecutes. He added, "And he did hear small-claims matters, in which there are money judgements granted, but they're very small.

"There's nothing in the town of Guilderland court that would, it's my understanding, involve any substantial sum of money that was reviewed by Dick Sherwood," Melita said.

On the likelihood of challenges to Sherwood's decisions as town judge, Chalfen said, "It depends if anyone raises concerns."

The town's two other judges, Denise Randall and John Bailey, both declined to comment.

"The ethical requirements that I have to adhere to demand that I make no comment all regarding any pending case. It is a blanket prohibition," said Randall.

Both judges said that they would continue to handle the cases in the town's court and would not comment further on how the increased caseload would affect them.

The third judge's post was added in 2013 because the number of cases handled by the Guilderland Town Court were deemed too many for the two part-time judges. Sherwood was elected to fill the post, besting two Republican opponents. He was previously the town's attorney for 14 years.

Barber said, "I've spoken extensively to Judge Bailey and he's confident that they can take care of the court for a while. People take vacations and whatnot, so they're always covering each other anyway."

But Barber also said of the period the two judges will carry the extra caseload, "I'm going to shorten the time as much as possible." He said that he wants to move to get to a more permanent solution.

"There are all sorts of possibilities," Barber said. "We might end up having an interim judge brought in." He said he had no particular candidates in mind.

Chalfen said cases like this happen "very rarely." The last one he can remember, he said, was in Erie County, when a supreme court judge was caught up in a bribery case.

Robert H. Tembeckjian, administrator with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, added another example, saying that a judge in Rockland County was charged last year with a felony related to filing false instruments and statements in connection with a real-estate matter.

"Those are among the relative few," Tembeckjian said, referring to the Erie and Rockland county cases. "Thankfully, it's very rare for a judge to be charged with a crime."
Editor's note: Gary Spencer is a one-third owner of The Altamont Enterprise and is married to the newspaper's editor. Updated on Feb. 27, 2018: Information was added from the spokesmen for the New York State Court of Appeals, for the New York State Attorney General's Office, for the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and also from a clerk at the Albany City Court.

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State's top court suspends Sherwood from town justice office

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GUILDERLAND - Richard Sherwood has been suspended from his duties as town judge, and his salary has been suspended as of Feb. 23, the date of his arrest for felony larceny and fraud charges, Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber said on Monday.

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- Action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.

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Two 15-year-old boys were arrested and additional suspects are being sought in the vandalism of four new houses awaiting residents in southeast Manteca. The damage to the homes totaled about $180,000, police said.

"From the looks of what we have, the intent was purely to destroy property," Manteca Police Department spokesman Sgt. Michael Aguilar said Tuesday. The youths ripped down chandeliers, threw things through windows, smashed every window in one of the houses, ripped off cabinet doors, burned carpeting and did other damage.

The crimes occurred over the past week, police said in a Facebook post Monday. The houses are in the 1300 block of Mirrassou Drive and the nearby 2500 block of Julianna Way. Three of them were finished and ready for move-in by their owners within two weeks, police said.

After the latest incident, one of the 15-year-olds was apprehended within the neighborhood by officers who were responding to the vandalism call, Aguilar said. The other youth was caught based on information provided by a witness.

A number of homes already are occupied in the Solera neighborhood built by Atherton Homes, police said, including at least one across the street from one of the houses that was vandalized.

Plans in the neighborhood range from roughly 1,900 to 4,000 square feet. Starting prices for the various plans run from $415,990 to $548,990.

Officers are following up on leads to identify all suspects involved. Anyone with information on the cases is urged to call the Manteca Police Department at 209-456-8101.

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$180,000 in vandalism damage to new homes awaiting residents

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Two 15-year-old boys were arrested and additional suspects are being sought in the vandalism of four new houses awaiting residents in southeast Manteca. The damage to the homes totaled about $180,000, police said. "From the looks of what we have, the intent was purely to destroy property," Manteca Police Department spokesman Sgt.

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- The action of robbing a person or place.

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Three men have been charged with robbing a woman at gunpoint as she sat in a car on Wacker Drive in the Loop on Tuesday afternoon, according to Chicago police.

The woman was in the first block of West Wacker Drive when robbers opened the passenger door, showed a handgun and took her cellphone and necklace just before 2:20 p.m., police said.

Officers found the three men, all 20, a short distance away and took them into custody, police said.

Antonio Dorsey, of the 6300 block of South Rockwell Street in Marquette Park, and Demarcus Moore, of the 7600 block of South Emerald Avenue in Gresham, were both on parole in separate cases and were charged with violating their parole. They were charged with felony armed robbery with a firearm and unlawful vehicular invasion in Tuesday's robbery.

Terry Brewer, of the 6600 block of South Damen Avenue in West Englewood, who was on probation, was charged with felony theft.

Dorsey and Brewer both have pleaded guilty in recent years to theft-related charges in crimes that took place in the Loop.

Dorsey pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in May 2017 and was sentenced to two years in prison, but was given credit for 65 days spent in jail and paroled Feb. 2 of this year, according to court and prison records. In the 2017 crime, Dorsey tried to rob someone on the sidewalk in the 100 block of West Madison Street about 9:40 p.m. Feb. 22, 2017, according to records.

Brewer was on probation in a case in which he pleaded guilty in September 2016 to aggravated vehicular invasion - a type of attempted car theft in which someone else is already in the vehicle - and sentenced to two years of probation and credited with 355 days spent in jail. Brewer has been arrested at least once since then, and charges of probation violation were leveled against him. But most recently, he was released on a signature bond Jan. 5, according to court records.

Brewer originally was arrested in the 200 block of North Wabash Avenue about 6:40 p.m. July 6, 2016. He was charged in a theft that happened a little before 7 p.m. June 19, 2016, in the 100 block of East Lower Wacker Drive, according to police records.

Moore pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a rifle in March 2017 and also was sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison, but he was given credit for 129 days spent in jail and released on parole Oct. 6, according to records. Moore had been arrested with a rifle in a car in the alley on the block where he lives about 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2017, according to records.

In bond hearings Wednesday, Dorsey, Moore and Brewer all were ordered held without bail, according to court records.
The Chicago Tribune's Liam Ford contributed.

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3 men charged with robbing woman at gunpoint in the Loop

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Three men have been charged with robbing a woman at gunpoint as she sat in a car on Wacker Drive in the Loop on Tuesday afternoon, according to Chicago police. The woman was in the first block of West Wacker Drive when robbers opened the passenger door, showed a handgun and took her cellphone and necklace just before 2:20 p.m., police said.

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- The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

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Two City Hall officials accused of pressuring organizers of the 2014 Boston Calling music festival to hire union workers must face trial, a judge ruled Wednesday, despite a recent court ruling that has made it harder to prosecute extortion cases involving organized labor.

US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin denied the latest defense motion to dismiss the extortion charges against Kenneth Brissette, the city's head of tourism, and Timothy Sullivan, head of governmental affairs, who have been on paid leave since they were indicted in 2016. Their trial is scheduled to begin next month.

In his ruling, Sorokin disagreed with defense attorneys that the recent decision should lead him to dismiss the prosecution's case, a highly unusual step so close to trial.

"Under these circumstances, the court may not engage in a broad assessment of the legal sufficiency of the government's evidence," Sorokin wrote.

Sorokin also ruled that prosecutors can introduce evidence they say shows Brissette knew he was acting illegally in August 2014 when he threatened to withhold city permits from Crashline Productions, the festival organizers, if they did not hire union workers. The company eventually hired Local 11 members.

Two months earlier, Brissette had a similar conversation with "Top Chef" producers, who were under pressure to hire union members as they filmed around Boston, according to testimony in last year's trial of four Teamsters. The men were acquitted in August of trying to extort producers of the reality cooking show.

Prosecutors have said that Joseph Rull, then the city's chief of operations, told Brissette in June 2014 that it was illegal to threaten to withhold permits.

Still, many observers believe the case will be an uphill climb for federal prosecutors, who have had to recast their arguments in light of a federal appeals court ruling that made it more difficult to prove extortion in cases where unions lobbied for work.

Last September, the court overturned the 2014 racketeering conviction of Teamsters John Perry and Joseph Burhoe, holding that union officials cannot be convicted of extortion under the Hobbs Act if they were seeking to land real jobs, rather than simply extract money from an employer.

That ruling, known as the Burhoe decision, has complicated matters for prosecutors, who initially said Brissette and Sullivan were acting as agents of the union.

"We would all agree if a union or some city official who was sympathetic to unions said 'You have to give this person $50,000 in a briefcase,' that would be an extortion matter," said Michael Anderson, a labor lawyer based in Boston. "But Burhoe says that it's not a briefcase full of cash if you are doing actual work."

Prosecutors now contend that Brissette and Sullivan committed extortion because they violated federal laws when they leaned on Boston Calling to give work to the union.

"There were no state laws or regulation or contract that allowed these defendants to insist the victims use union labor," Assistant US Attorney Laura Kaplan said in a January hearing before Sorokin.

Although Brissette and Sullivan didn't receive any money from Boston Calling, they still broke the law because their demands led to the union receiving work, prosecutors said. That was meant to please their boss, Mayor Martin Walsh, prosecutors said.

'I will encourage the prosecutors in my office to do ambitious cases.'

"There will be evidence . . . that the union was thrilled that they had gotten this contract and [the union] should continue to work hard for the Walsh administration because they get things done," Kaplan said.

Lawyers for Brissette and Sullivan countered that prosecutors had misread federal laws, and that the evidence would show that neither defendant received any financial benefit when Boston Calling eventually hired the union.

But Sorokin ruled that the Burhoe decision did not address "conduct outside the scope of 'protected union activity' . . . or whether defendants who are not union members or agents may pursue legitimate labor objectives."

Specialists said the case is likely to hinge on whether the jury believes prosecutors were right to intervene in the rough-and-tumble world of city politics, or if the matter should have been in the civil courts.

"The Burhoe decision . . . creates a challenge to a federal prosecutor to show that this is not the overcriminalization of city politics," said Martin G. Weinberg, a defense attorney.

In a recent interview, Andrew Lelling, the new US attorney for Boston, said he does not believe the case against Brissette and Sullivan is an overreach by prosecutors.

"I will encourage the prosecutors in my office to do ambitious cases," he said. "I don't think it's in the public interest to have a prosecutor's office that is too risk-averse."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @globemcramer.

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Extortion case will go on, despite recent rulings some say undercut the case - The Boston Globe

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Two City Hall officials accused of pressuring organizers of the 2014 Boston Calling music festival to hire union workers must face trial, a judge ruled Wednesday, despite a recent court ruling that has made it harder to prosecute extortion cases involving organized labor. US District Judge Leo T.