The police chief of a northern Mississippi city where 1-year-old Black child Kohen Wiley was shot and killed by police responding to a shoplifting call was fired Tuesday amid a new controversy.
Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford submitted his resignation the same day, but the city's board of aldermen declined to acknowledge it and instead voted unanimously to fire the chief, according to the city clerk, who did not elaborate on their reasons.
The firing followed reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News last month that alleged Vanderford used racist slurs in private text conversations with a colleague. It also comes amid the aftermath of the child's shooting and other incidents.
The toddler Wiley was fatally shot and another woman was wounded June 14 after a Senatobia police officer fired into a vehicle while investigating a shoplifting call at a Walmart. The boy's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, denied that she or a friend accompanying her had stolen anything, and no charges have been filed against them.
The officer who shot Wiley and the woman driving the car the child was in has been placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting.

#shot #city #child #shoplifting

A New York democratic socialist lawmaker's reference to shoplifting being the result of a "biological need" is getting swift blowback.
New York state **** emblywoman Emily Gallagher suggested this week that aggressive prosecution of theft of items like soap and toothpaste was wrongheaded, saying the "true crime is that there is such incredible wealth disparity in this city that there are people who can be thrown in jail simply for having a biological need."
"This is exactly the wrong way to talk about crime and poverty. Poverty can help explain why someone commits an offense," former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told Fox News Digital. "It should matter when prosecutors decide how to handle a case. But poverty is not a permission slip to steal."
Aronberg, who now leads his own law firm, rejected the suggestion that prosecution necessarily means incarceration and pointed to alternatives available for first-time offenders.
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#aronberg #state #crime #assemblywoman

Ty Lawson shared his reaction on Thursday after reports about his alleged shoplifting arrest made the rounds on social media, and the former NBA guard didn't hold back in his rant.
In his social media posts, the former Denver Nuggets star claims he experienced racism during his encounter with the police officers in Castle Rock, Colorado, over the alleged incident.
"I'm not going to lie. Being black in America is tough… Being lied by a pasty face white woman wild… stay outta castle rock Colorado!!!!" Lawson wrote on X. "This is the wildest and more racist s–t I been thru."
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Lawson was taken into custody by the Castle Rock Police Department on July 16 after a liquor store worker accused the former Nuggets guard of stealing a $34 bottle of ***** o's vodka while drunk. He is facing one charge of theft of less than $300 and is due in court for a pretrial conference next month.

#castle #rock

A former Denver Nuggets player was arrested for allegedly stealing a bottle of vodka from a store in Castle Rock, according to an arrest affidavit acquired by FOX31. The incident occurred on July 16, around 8:03 p.m., when a shop owner called police about a man who had entered the store and stolen a bottle of ***** o’s vodka before leaving. According to the affidavit, the shop owner told police that she witnessed the man take a drink from the bottle outside of the store before walking to a nearby restaurant, Scileppi’s, where he took the bottle by the fire pit, then sat at the bar with the stolen bottle. The owner advised that the man was possibly drunk, as she said she witnessed him stumbling. When officers arrived, they arrested the man, later identified as Tywon Lawson. Lawson faces a charge of theft less than $300, shoplifting.
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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: According to the affidavit, the shop owner told police …

#store #police

Social media influencer with pages called "Celebrity Medical Esthetician" and "Trad Wife" becomes a hot topic after a video of her arrest for shoplifting at a Jersey Shore ShopRite is released.
Jeana M. DiCarlo, 35, of Middletown, was arrested after Middletown Police Officer James Courtney responded to the ShopRite located at 1500 Route 35 at 5:16 p.m. on Friday due to a report of a female stealing on the premises, according to the Middletown Police report and the body camera video released by Transparency Bodycam.
DiCarlo has more than 30,900 followers on her Instagram account jgloskincaree, where she describes herself as a "Celebrity Medical Esthetician," business owner, a "Mom of 5," and a "FireWife". Her posts contain information about her skincare routine, her five children (a baby boy that she claims to have conceived via in vitro fertilization after five girls), and her firefighter husband who works with the FDNY.
According to the criminal complaint, store employees said that DiCarlo tried to leave the store with stolen merchandise. The value of the items was estimated at $548.80. Based on evidence from store surveillance video and the store's decision to press charges against her, DiCarlo was arrested, handcuffed, and transported to Middletown Township Police headquarters. She was charged with third-degree shoplifting and released on her own recognizance until her court appearance.
During the investigation, it was found that DiCarlo had committed similar crimes on May 8, May 17, and May 31, with a total value of the items of $1,940.20. Thus, the total estimated value for all four incidents became $2,489.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by police who were responding to a shoplifting call this week has ignited simmering tensions between police and Black residents in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi.
The death of Kohen Wiley is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged community members in recent years. It has led to protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000, with some civil rights activists pointing to Kohen's death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value — in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.
"We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child," Bernice King, the daughter of civil right icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. "That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse."
There are still many unanswered questions about the shooting and what led up to it.
Senatobia police responded to the shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: "Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene."