ReportWire

Tag: office employee

  • ICE ‘wrongfully detained’ L.A. County D.A.’s office employee, Hochman says

    A Los Angeles County district attorney’s office employee was “wrongfully detained” by federal immigration agents on Friday, according to an internal e-mail obtained by The Times.

    L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman called the incident “unacceptable” in an office-wide memo sent out on Friday evening.

    “A member of our Office was wrongfully detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I can thankfully report that, shortly after, our employee was released and is safe,” Hochman wrote. “This incident is unacceptable. Our employee is a dedicated public servant who serves the people of Los Angeles County with professionalism and integrity. This troubling situation caused great distress to our colleague, our co-worker’s family, and our entire Office family.”

    The reason for the person’s detention was not immediately clear. A spokesman for Hochman declined to comment further and referred questions to ICE. Representatives for ICE did not respond to inquiries from The Times. .

    Two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the incident, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to talk candidly, said the employee was not a prosecutor. The employee was also not engaged in protest activity, the officials said.

    In the e-mail, Hochman said he personally reached out to federal authorities on Friday to make them aware of the situation and “urge them to be more respectful of the rights of those who reside in our community and ensure this wrongful conduct does not occur again.”

    In the months since ICE and Border Patrol agents began carrying out President Trump’s sweeping immigration raids in U.S. cities, civil liberties groups have repeatedly sued the Department of Justice alleging agents are making stops based on race rather than reasonable suspicion.

    After ICE and Border Patrol agents spent months raiding car washes and Home Depot parking lots around L.A. County, a federal judge in October found sufficient evidence that agents were violating the 4th Amendment by relying on the race, language and vocation of targeted individuals to form “reasonable suspicion” for arrest.

    The American Civil Liberties Union recently lodged a lawsuit against federal authorities on similar grounds over their behavior during chaotic and tense raids in Minneapolis. The Trump administration has maintained it is conducting tightly targeted operations and only going after the “worst of the worst,” but data show many of those arrested in Los Angeles during the raids had no criminal record.

    James Queally

    Source link

  • Sheriff’s office employee facing charges for unauthorized access of database

    A Lake County Sheriff’s Office employee is facing charges for accessing law enforcement databases to look into people unrelated to her work.According to a report from the sheriff’s office, 30-year-old Hannah Colon worked for the sheriff’s office in dispatch and as a clerk in the criminal investigations division.”On October first, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office received allegations that Ms. Hannah Colon was accessing various law enforcement databases that are restricted,” Deputy Stephanie Early with the sheriff’s office said.After the sheriff’s office started looking into Colon’s use of law enforcement databases, a probable cause affidavit says they questioned Colon about running two different names through the Driver and Vehicle Information Databases on three different dates. The names belonged to her husband and her husband’s ex-wife, the report says.The affidavit says in April 2023, she looked at the ex-wife’s record on things like vehicles, addresses, transaction details and driver history.According to the affidavit, she told deputies it was to access the woman’s address to apply for an order of protection against her, which she did in June 2023.The deputy pointed out she could have gotten the information from her husband.The sheriff’s office says the use is concerning.”We are only supposed to use our databases for authorized use only,” Deputy Early said. “So the fact that there are employees, that this could happen, is very concerning for us, and we make sure that this does not happen again.”Something Colon isn’t facing charges for, but the probable cause affidavit says “compounded” investigators’ suspicions, was observations from coworkers. The document says Colon had recently asked a homicide detective questions about an upcoming homicide trial while wearing new glasses that have the capability to record. It says that coworkers knew Colon was Facebook friends with the defendant in that trial, Darion McGee, who the report says is a suspect in two Lake County homicides.One appears to be the killing of Mustafa Connelly. Connelly was found shot and set on fire in a vacant lot in the Leesburg area in December 2021. McGee pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in May 2023. According to court records, that trial was set to start Tuesday.The sheriff’s office couldn’t say if they believed Colon shared any information with anyone involved in the case. When asked if Colon’s questions regarding the trial were being investigated any further, Early said, “The investigation is still ongoing. She is on unpaid leave at the moment.”Colon was released on bond. WESH 2 attempted to contact Colon but did not hear back Tuesday night.

    LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —

    A Lake County Sheriff’s Office employee is facing charges for accessing law enforcement databases to look into people unrelated to her work.

    According to a report from the sheriff’s office, 30-year-old Hannah Colon worked for the sheriff’s office in dispatch and as a clerk in the criminal investigations division.

    “On October first, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office received allegations that Ms. Hannah Colon was accessing various law enforcement databases that are restricted,” Deputy Stephanie Early with the sheriff’s office said.

    After the sheriff’s office started looking into Colon’s use of law enforcement databases, a probable cause affidavit says they questioned Colon about running two different names through the Driver and Vehicle Information Databases on three different dates. The names belonged to her husband and her husband’s ex-wife, the report says.

    The affidavit says in April 2023, she looked at the ex-wife’s record on things like vehicles, addresses, transaction details and driver history.

    According to the affidavit, she told deputies it was to access the woman’s address to apply for an order of protection against her, which she did in June 2023.

    The deputy pointed out she could have gotten the information from her husband.

    The sheriff’s office says the use is concerning.

    “We are only supposed to use our databases for authorized use only,” Deputy Early said. “So the fact that there are employees, that this could happen, is very concerning for us, and we make sure that this does not happen again.”

    Something Colon isn’t facing charges for, but the probable cause affidavit says “compounded” investigators’ suspicions, was observations from coworkers. The document says Colon had recently asked a homicide detective questions about an upcoming homicide trial while wearing new glasses that have the capability to record. It says that coworkers knew Colon was Facebook friends with the defendant in that trial, Darion McGee, who the report says is a suspect in two Lake County homicides.

    One appears to be the killing of Mustafa Connelly. Connelly was found shot and set on fire in a vacant lot in the Leesburg area in December 2021. McGee pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in May 2023. According to court records, that trial was set to start Tuesday.

    The sheriff’s office couldn’t say if they believed Colon shared any information with anyone involved in the case. When asked if Colon’s questions regarding the trial were being investigated any further, Early said, “The investigation is still ongoing. She is on unpaid leave at the moment.”

    Colon was released on bond. WESH 2 attempted to contact Colon but did not hear back Tuesday night.

    Source link