Firefighter Fatality

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:

Name: Justin Townsend

Rank: Junior Firefighter

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Status: Volunteer

Years of Service: 1

Date of Incident: 09/27/2012

Time of Incident: 1712hrs

Date of Death: 09/27/2012

Fire Department: Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department

Address: 31818 Waples ST, Dagsboro, DE 19939

Fire Department Chief: Shane Furbush

Incident Description: Dagsboro Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched for an outside fire in a wooded area on East Clogg Drive just outside town limits. While en route to Station 73 in a personal vehicle, Junior Firefighter Townsend was fatally injured in a motor vehicle crash on Pepper Road, in the area of Jay Patch Road. No further details of the accident are available at this time. The Delaware State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit is currently conducting an investigation into the fatal incident.

Funeral Arrangements: Pending. Updates will be posted at http://www.dagsborovfd.com.

Tribute is being paid to Junior Firefighter Justin Townsend at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 60 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2012. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm

Bank Robbed Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Robbing Three Banks, Including Two Banks in Salisbury

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Robert Joseph McLaughlin, age 39, of Lewes, Delaware, today to nine years in prison, followed by three years of supervise release, for robbing two banks in Salisbury, Maryland, and a bank in Seaford, Delaware. Judge Blake also ordered McLaughlin to pay restitution of $7,448.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Salisbury Police Chief Barbara Duncan; Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis; Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew Maciarello; Chief Bernadette DiPino of the Ocean City Police Department; and Seaford, Delaware Police Chief Gary Morris.

According to his plea agreement, on December 9, 2009, McLaughlin entered the Citizens Bank located at 22870 Sussex Highway in Seaford, Delaware, and demanded that the tellers fill a plastic bag he brought with money. The tellers filled the bag with $1,673, as well as dye packs. McLaughlin took the bag of money, removed the dye packs, and left the bank.

On February 27, 2010, McLaughlin entered the Shore Bank located at 1503 S. Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury, patted his pockets, and mumbled that he forgot something. A short while later McLaughlin returned, having changed his clothes, now wearing glasses and a baseball hat, and showed the teller a note demanding money. The teller handed over $3,990 from her bank drawer, and McLaughlin took the money, wrapped it inside the note, and fled the bank.

On August 3, 2010, McLaughlin also used a note demanding money and robbed the Farmer’s Merchant Bank of Willards, located at 102 Milford Street in Salisbury, of $1,785.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Salisbury Police Department, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office, Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office, Ocean City Police Department, and Seaford Police Department for their work in the investigation and prosecution and thanked the Delaware State Police for their assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

CBP Officers Arrest Delaware Fugitive at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Man was attempting to flee the country to Mexico

Phoenix– U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to Phoenix Sky Harbor apprehended a Mexican man wanted in Delaware on assault charges yesterday.

During a routine records check CBP officers found that a passenger on a flight to Guadalajara was wanted in Delaware on charges of second degree assault with a deadly weapon, and appeared to be fleeing the country. Officers stopped 27-year-old Ivan Dominguez-Guerrero in the jetway, as he was boarding the flight, and immediately took him into custody.

“The use of a law enforcement databases and intelligence by CBP officers in international ports is extremely instrumental in the apprehension of wanted and sometimes very dangerous individuals seeking to leave or enter our country,” said Port Director Cleatus Hunt. “This latest arrest highlights the important mission our officers have of safeguarding our citizens against dangerous wanted fugitives.”

Dominguez was turned over to the custody of the Phoenix Police Department pending extradition for the warrant from Delaware State Police.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Former Delaware Resident Charged with International Parental Kidnapping

WILMINGTON, DE—Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment yesterday against Benjamin John Soliman Defensor, III, age 39, charging him with international parental kidnapping, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1204.

The indictment alleges that in May 2005, Defensor took his three children from Delaware to the Philippines, and has kept the children in the Philippines since that time. The Indictment charges that Defensor took the children to the Philippines with the intent of obstructing the parental custody rights of the children’s mother. Defensor’s removal of the children violated a Delaware Family Court order prohibiting him from taking the children out of Delaware. The oldest of the Defensor children, identified as C.D., is now over age 18.

Defensor is believed to reside in the Philippines. If brought back to the United States to face these charges, Defensor could receive up to three years in prison on each count.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge of the Baltimore Division, Leo Taddeo stated, “This Indictment and arrest warrant is an important step toward bringing Mr. Defensor to the U.S. to face charges. The FBI will continue to work with Interpol and its international partners to see that justice is done.”

United States Attorney Oberly stated, “The abduction of a child from the United States to a foreign country is a serious offense. Individuals who illegally remove children from the United States to thwart a parent’s legal custody rights are in violation of federal law. This District has and will continue to pursue parental kidnapping offenders.”

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Ilana Eisenstein.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.