- A Fort Rucker, Ala., sergeant charged with possessing photos of himself molesting 8- and 9-year-old girls will face a court martial before year’s end and then civilian court. The soldier, 30, arrested in a drug bust, may face life in prison. With the pornography, investigators found a pair of night vision goggles worth $6K that disappeared from a helo crash. [via The Southeast Sun]
- A 21-year-old soldier charged in the drunken driving death of a 19-year-old woman in Nevada was on leave to attend the funeral of his brother. The brother, a Marine lance corporal, had been killed in a car accident while he was on leave. [via Lahontan Valley News and Fresno Bee]
- A West Salem, Wis., man has been charged in federal court with impersonating a soldier during a local Oktoberfest parade. The 26-year-old wore a U.S. Army uniform with a rank insignia of major, a Combat Infantryman Badge and a Parachutist Badge. [via WKBT-TV]
- A 101st Airborne soldier haunted by PTSD said he went AWOL because the Army wouldn’t treat him, but he turned himself in at Fort Campbell, Ky., on Veteran’s Day. He said he wants to reduce the stigma of PTSD. His actions and the timing are supported by Iraq Veterans Against the War. [via Tennessean]
- A San Antonio, Tex., police officer was in surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center after a man opened fire with an assault rifle on a SWAT team approaching his front door to serve a warrant for narcotics. Four officers were shot and wounded, two seriously. [via Associated Press/Washington Post]
- It’s been a year since a former Green Beret cop shot a 52-year-old bipolar former soldier in Fairfax County, Va. A federal civil rights investigation remains unresolved, but the case has sparked interest in a civilian complaint review board. Police believed the man, who stole some plants, hit a policeman with his SUV and was reaching for a weapon. [via Washington Post]
UPDATED:
- A St. Louis family claiming a cover-up in the 2005 shooting death of their 19-year-old daughter in Iraq is the focus of a new documentary. The independent film, ‘The Silent Truth,’ highlights the family’s claim that the soldier was raped and murdered, and not a suicide as the Army has concluded. [via KTVI-TV]
- The July death in Iraq of a decorated Army medic from the Fredericksburg, Va., area was murder, her parents say they have been told by military investigators. Investigators first told the parents that the 82nd Airborne soldier, 19, accidentally stabbed herself, then that she had been accidentally stabbed by another soldier, and finally, that she had been murdered and that two soldiers were involved. [via Free-Lance Star]
- A senior UK army officer described by high court judges as an unreliable witness, and allegedly accused of asking his staff to lie on oath, has retained a top post within the military police, the Ministry of Defence confirmed. The officer was a key witness in a much-criticized investigation into claims British soldiers mutilated and murdered civilians in Iraq. [via The Guardian of London]
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A Note About the Blotter: I want to make a crime blotter a regular or semi-regular feature of the blog, but I’ve got to help put out a newspaper too, so let’s just see how this goes. Also, if you see something we missed, send me a link and I’ll do my best to get it into the blotter.
