Northwest Indiana Discussion

Chief's Email - PORTAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Friday, June 19, 2009 10:03 AM

From:
"Mark Becker" <MBecker@portage-in.com>
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To: Silas Sconiers

Good Morning!

There are several breaking new matters taking place to report. We need your help with a kidnapping, a bank robbery and the shooting death of a gas station attendant. We end on a positive note with a great clip of our Arrive Alive teen defensive program that we launched last Saturday.

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Kidnapping

FBI ALERT: 2-Year-Old Jada Justice Abducted from Gary, Indiana
Thursday, 18 June 2009 16:51 Press Release Police Report

Indianapolis, IN –(ENEWSPF)– Michael S. Welch, Special Agent in Charge of the Indianapolis Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Reginald Harris, Chief of the Gary, Indiana Police Department jointly request the public’s assistance in locating JADA JUSTICE.

At approximately 9:40 p.m., June 16, 2009, JADA JUSTICE was taken from a parked vehicle at the Glen Park Gas Station, 1401 East Ridge Road, Gary, Indiana. JUSTICE was in the care of a relative at the time of her disappearance. The Gary Police Department immediately responded to the scene and conducted an extensive search of the surrounding area without success.

JADA JUSTICE is described as a black female who will be 3 years old this August, 2’2” tall, 35 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, and light brown complexion. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing an orange skirt, a white tank top with orange and green stripes, white sandals and purple underwear. Photographs of JADA JUSTICE are available.

Anyone with information concerning her current whereabouts is requested to contact the FBI Indianapolis Office at 317/639-3301.
Jada Justice
Jada Justice

Source: INDIANAPOLIS.FBI.GOV

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BANK ROBBERY



The Fifth Third Bank at 1718 165th was robbed at approximately 9:48AM this morning. Two African American male subjects entered the bank, one jumped over the counter and they displayed handguns. They took an undetermined amount of USC and left in a getaway car. The dye pack exploded and two of the subjects then left their vehicle (white van) at 165th and Indy. At gunpoint, they forced an elderly female in a black Impala to drive them to a location in Gary, IN. One male was wearing a red shirt the other a dark one. They are described as young males, both short. The getaway vehicle (white van) fled with only the driver in it. The female that was carjacked was released unharmed. Her car doors were not locked at the time of the attack. If you have any information, please contact Detective Sergeant Rich Tumidalsky at (219) 852-2906.

Lesson Learned- The information above is from the Hammond Police Department. You will note that the subjects forced a female to drive them from the scene once the dye pack exploded. A dye pack is a package that contains a red dye and usually some type of tear gas. This is a good time to take a moment and think what you would do if placed in a situation where an armed man orders you to drive him from an area. The latest data clearly shows that over 90% of those abducted by a stranger will be seriously harmed to include being murdered. The most public time you will have with someone who hopes to abduct you is at the time of the initial approach. From that time on his goal is to isolate you from the public. I repeatedly tell my two daughters, if he is going to hurt you then let him do it when you are in public, yell, fight, run, but do not go with him. Thank God this woman was not serioulsy injured.



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ROBBERY - MURDER

On Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 5:15 pm, 4 subjects entered a gas station at 1500 Grant Street, Gary, Indiana and nor no apparent reason, shot and killed the store clerk. We are attempting to obtain a video from the Gary Police that will open on your computer, to date we still have yet to accomplish that. In the interim, several news agencies have the video on their websites and I invite you to take a look and see if any of these people look familiar. All 4 subjects are describes as black males ranging in ages from 17 to 25. One subject is described as 5' 8 tall, 150 pounds wearing a black shirt and black pants with white shoes. The second is 5' 9 tall ,145 pounds wearing a red shirt, black shorts and black and red shoes with red shoelaces. A third subject was described as 5' 7 tall, 140 pounds wearing all black and the fourth subject is 5' 6 tall, 130 pounds, wearing a red shirt, black shorts and black shoes.

They departed the area in a older model Toyota or Hyundai, described as red or maroon in color. The car has a dent on the hood near the passenger door and a broken driver's side tail light. If you think you may have information on this matter, do not hesitate to call or email me. You may also contact Detective James Bond, Gary Police Department at 881-4751.

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ARRIVE ALIVE

Our teen defensive driving program kicked off this past Saturday at the Portage High School. A total of 11 students began the day with some classroom instruction, that while informative, they clearly were anxious to get through and on to the driving courses. Many thanks to members of the Portage Police Department who serve as instructors and to Mr. Peter DeWitt from State Farm who spent part of his Saturday morning speaking about the bad things that happen to young drivers when they do not pay attention to what they are doing. Following the class room it was off to the parking lot where students were put through a variety of courses that police officers are also tested on at the academy. We were about 2 hours into the program when I asked one of the students what he thought. This same student had earlier admitted that he did not want to be with us but had been ordered to do so.His response was a huge grin followed by words like "awesome, cool, great". The students filled out evaluations following the presentation and all rated the program as "excellent". They all very much liked the t-shirt they earned as well.

Please consider enrolling your young driver in one of our future presentations. Scheduled dates are June 27, July 18, August 8 and 22, September 12 and 26, October 10 and 24. There is an $85 cost for the program which lasts approximately 5 hours.

Contact Mrs. Nadine Johnson for more information at (219) 764-5713. Also, check out the driving that we posted on You Tube ---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzvvLlSr1g8

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That is all I have for today, be careful and please contact law enforcement if you even think you might know anything about these terrible crimes that I have reported.

Be safe-

Mark J. Becker

Chief of Police

Portage Police Department