Sunday, January 1, 1978

01011978 - Chief John Josten - Assault & Battery - Bloomingdale PD

Bloomingdale Police Chief, John Josten arrested for domestic violence assault against wife, an Allegan County Deputy [May 15, 2009].





1978: John Josten received a year probation for an assault and battery in Portage Michigan.

1993: John Josten hired by the Bloomindale PD and named as police chief later that year.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

2004: Chief John Josten was charged with assaulting a man in Barry County Yankee Springs. Josten was placed on prosecutorial probation and the  case was later dismissed.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2004/01/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

May 2009: Chief Josten was arrested for a domestic violence assault against his wife, an Allegan County Sheriff deputy.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

May 2009: Chief Josten pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault and battery charge, which will be dismissed within a year.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

May 2009: Chief Josten was supsended from the Bloomingdale PD.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

September 14, 2009: Council members who had supported the supension of Chief Josten, following his pleading guilty to domestic violence charges, had their car tires slashed on the same day.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

September 17, 2009: Chief Josten was fired from the Bloomingdale PD.
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html

June 2010: Chief Josten's domestic violence assault case would become nonpublic [under MCL 769.4a]
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/05/chief-john-josten-bloomingdale-pd.html










Bloomingdale to pay former chief $19K
In return, John Josten has to agree to resign
WOODTV 8 NEWS
Updated: Thursday, 17 Dec 2009, 4:11 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 17 Dec 2009, 3:43 PM EST
By Ken Kolker
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Bloomingdale-to-pay-former-chief-19K

BLOOMINGDALE, Mich. (WOOD) - The village of Bloomingdale has agreed to pay a $19,000 settlement to its former police chief, who was suspended after a conviction for assaulting his wife.

In exchange, former chief John Josten has agreed to sign a letter of resignation dated May 22, 2009, his last day on the job.

The village will pay $9,000 and its insurance company through the Michigan Municipal League will pay the remaining $10,000, village trustee Thomas Barczak said.

"It's what we offered him in the spring before all this blew up," Barczak told 24 Hour News 8 on Thursday.

The village council approved the settlement Tuesday. It calls for the chief to drop the lawsuit he filed against the village over his suspension.

Josten alleged the council suspended him without the 30-day notice required by his contract.

His attorney, Douglas Merrow, said Josten has agreed to the settlement.

Josten, who has a history of assaults, was suspended without pay after he assaulted his wife -- Allegan County Deputy Jodi Josten -- in April.

He allegedly threw a glass during an argument that hit his wife in the shoulder.

Josten pleaded guilty, was given up to one year probation and ordered to pay $415 in fines and other costs. But the case will be dismissed if he completes court-ordered therapy.

He received a year of probation for assault and battery in 1978 in Portage, and was charged in 2004 with assaulting a man. That case was dismissed after he was placed on prosecutorial probation.

Josten's suspension divided Bloomingdale, a village of 500 people in northern Van Buren County, leading to recall petitions that were approved against three council members. The recall election is set for Feb. 23.

A successful recall could lead to Josten's re-hiring, Merrow said.

"I understand he's got very strong backing in the community," the attorney said. "His performance there has just been stellar."











Bloomingdale, a one-cop town until now
Chief suspended; he claims retaliation
Updated: Thursday, 10 Sep 2009, 6:23 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 10 Sep 2009, 11:00 AM EDT
WOOD TV 8 NEWS
Ken Kolker
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Bloomingdale_a_one_cop_town_until_now

BLOOMINGDALE, Mich. (WOOD) - This is a tiny village with a police department normally half the size of TV's Mayberry. It was a one-cop town -- until now.

And, that has torn apart this village, leaving it without a police chief, and, without a police department.

"He can't patrol," said Village Council Member Thomas Barczak. "We're not paying him."

Chief John Josten blames the Village Council. "I do believe it's a retaliatory motive that they've had," for arrests he's made of village council members or their relatives, Josten told 24 Hour News 8.

Bloomingdale is in northern Van Buren County, southwest of Allegan. Home to slightly more than 500 people -- a farming community, an old railroad town without a railroad.

Josten, who has a history of assaults, is suspended without pay and expects to lose his job after he assaulted his wife -- Allegan County Deputy Jodi Josten -- in April.

He allegedly threw a glass during an argument that hit his wife in the shoulder. He pleaded guilty in June through a domestic diversion program, was placed on up to a year probation and was ordered to pay $415 in fines and costs.

But the case will be dismissed if he completes court-ordered therapy.

Allegan County Judge William Baillargeon amended his probation, allowing Josten to carry a gun for work.

Many in the village support him. Some have signed a petition to force the village to keep Josten, who has worked there nearly 18 years. His contract, obtained by 24 Hour News 8 through the Freedom of Information Act, shows he was paid $38,500 a year to work 40 hours a week.

Van Buren County on Wednesday approved a petition to recall the village president, Thomas Rock, and village council members Tony Rankins and William Rawlings. However, the county denied wording on a petition to recall two other members: Thomas Barczak and Shirley Noble.

Village residents pay 10 mills in property taxes for their own police protection. Right now, they're getting nothing for their money. State police and the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department is responding to complaints, village officials said.

Some question why Josten kept the job as long as he did -- with a 1978 assault conviction in Portage, and an assault arrest in Barry County five years ago. Details in the 1978 case were not available, though State Police records show he was placed on probation for a year and ordered to pay fines.

In the 2004 case in Barry County's Yankee Springs, court records show, he allegedly assaulted a man, threatened witnesses and "acted inappropriately" during the investigation. He was placed on "prosecutorial probation" and the case later was dismissed. Records don't indicate why.

He could lose his job by Friday.

Josten claims he's being targeted by a vindictive Village Council after he arrested two council members and the grandson of another in recent years.

"I arrested Tom Rock for assault and battery and disorderly conduct on a senior citizen," he said.

Van Buren County court records show Josten arrested Village President Thomas Rock for assaulting a man and for disorderly conduct in August 2008 -- months before Josten's most recent arrest.

The president's assault case was dismissed, but he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay fines.

"I've worked for other small towns -- I've worked for Bangor; I've worked for Paw Paw, which is a larger town -- but you usually don't have council members that are getting in trouble with the law," Josten said.

Rock refused to comment about Josten's retaliation allegations, saying that the chief was "suspended and terminated for cause." He says the village has treated the chief fairly.

There are no records available in what Josten claims was the arrest of a second village council member, or the arrest of a council member's grandson. He also claims the grandson has been "following me" and calling his grandmother -- the council member -- "telling her each move I make. I've seen her husband following me all around town, watching everything I do."

Josten said he wants the job back, but not under the current council. "I love this community," he said. "I've been here a long time. I live here. My kids go to school here. But this particular group of council members -- there's been such a breakdown with the relationship between police and them. I don't believe I could effect good law enforcement here."

Monday, June 6, 1977

06061977 - C.O. Richard Pierce - Plead Guilty To Second-Degree Murder - Later Became Correction Officer - Arrested For DV In 2009




On June 6, 1977, Richard Pierce pled guilty to second-degree murder. Upon his release from prison, Pierce became a Michigan Correction's Officer and worked at the Ionia maximum security prison. Correction Officer Pierce was arrested on December 15, 2009 for domestic violence and bringing contraband into a prison.




ALSO SEE:
CORRECTION OFFICER RICHARD PIERCE, IONIA
Arrest for domestic violence [December 15, 2009]






Wednesday, June 1, 1977

06011977 - Officer Paul Harrington - Sentenced - Murder Of Wife Becky And Daughters Pamela and Cassandra - Detroit PD











Fathers Who Kill
Mentally Ill or Malingering?

TruTV
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/psychology/fathers_who_kill/8.html


Paul Harrington

A program on Court TV's The System featured the case of a man who killed his entire family twice. War hero, Vietnam veteran, and Detroit cop, Paul Harrington shot and killed his wife and two daughters, 6 and 9, in 1975. Under questioning, he admitted that he'd been haunted by a raid in Vietnam, where he'd killed a mother and her four children. The incident had disturbed him for years. His sister said that after he came home from that war, he was never the same. Working as a cop had kept the memory fresh. He had trouble keeping himself balanced and stable, so he turned to alcohol.


He'd been to a psychiatrist to discuss his fear that he might one day harm his family or himself. (Some psychiatrists might say this was a way to stage a premeditated murder, but others cite it as proof of seeking help.) The psychiatrist Harrington saw urged him to stay with his family over the holidays, but that turned out to have been a bad idea. He seemed to just snap and within moments, his entire family was dead.

Harrington was medicated and put on a watch in a psychiatric institution for 17 months before he went to trial. All the experts agreed that he had been insane at the time of the crime. He was committed to the state psychiatric hospital. He stayed there for less than two months and was then released --assessed as not being a danger to himself or others. That was the law. Thus, a year and a half after killing three people, Harrington was a free man. No one monitored him. He sued the psychiatrist for not hospitalizing him when he needed it, and reached a settlement. Thus, he not only killed his family but also appeared to profit from it.

Harrington got married again in 1982 and had two sons. By the 1990s, he had a substance abuse problem, submitted again to psychiatric care for anxiety and depression, and in 1999 repeated his atrocity. He'd had hallucinations, he said, of being told to go kill people. In debt, with no car, no job and no money to buy his psychiatric drugs, he swung into a dangerous state and killed his wife and one of his sons.



Wanda and Brian Harrington

Again, he went on trial. Since he had borrowed his neighbor's gun the night before—which he used—the prosecution said it was clearly premeditated. Several psychiatrists testified once again that he had been insane—it was a flashback to the first incident. But Dr. Charles Clark for the prosecution tested Harrington and said he was malingering a mental illness. Clark did not accept the idea that Harrington was suffering from Vietnam flashbacks. Apparently, his opinion carried the most weight.


This time Harrington was found guilty and received a life sentence.

Even so, the families of the victims claim that the mental health system had failed them all. Had he been given the help he needed the first time, they believe, the string of tragedies could have been avoided.

Harrington's mental problems were well-documented, but sometimes a clever psychopath can convince a lot of people that he's mentally ill. Both men in the following two cases told countless lies, trying to make their crimes appear to be the result of forces beyond their control.


       





Monday, December 15, 1975

12151975 - Officer Paul Harrington - Murdered daughter Cassandra - Detroit PD



           









Slayings called act of kindness
Ex-cop talks about killing family
October 19, 1999
BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Paul Harrington had recently lost his job, was behind in rent and was starting to feel the financial pressure of supporting a wife and two children with no income.

So Harrington, a former Detroit policeman, thought it better to kill his wife and 3-year-old son than to see them homeless.

That, Detroit homicide detectives say, is what Harrington told them in a confession.

He told them he borrowed a gun from a friend Thursday, the night before the shooting, and killed Wanda Harrington and 3-year-old Brian early Friday morning. Afterward, he called 911.

When uniformed officers arrived at the home on West Grand Boulevard, Harrington, 53, told them he had killed his family.

"He said he couldn't support them so he had to kill them," said Sgt. Felix Kirk of the Detroit Police Department homicide unit. "He was under pressure trying to take care of his family. He said he didn't want to see them in the street."

Detectives said Harrington told them his last job was at a steel company in Livonia. Harrington was arraigned Saturday in 36th District Court on two counts of first-degree murder. He is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail.

In 1975, Harrington faced three murder charges -- for the deaths of his wife and their two children in December. Harrington shot Becky, 28, and their daughters, Pamela, 9, and Cassandra, 4. He was fired from the police force after being charged with the triple homicide. In 1977, Recorder's Court Judge Susan Borman found Harrington not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him committed for psychiatric treatment. Borman could not be reached for comment Monday.

Two months after his treatment began, Harrington was released from the program.

Harrington, a Vietnam veteran with a history of psychological problems, told homicide detectives this week he was under the care of a therapist and had been without some medication for about a week.

A Wayne County assistant prosecutor says last week's slayings were cold-blooded, calling for first-degree-murder charges. "Based on the information that was provided to me by the police department, I felt that was an appropriate charge," said Ralph Elizondo.

12151975 - Officer Paul Harrington - Murdered daughter Pamela - Detroit PD








12012000 - Officer Paul Harrington - Murder of Second Wife And Son - Sentenced - Detroit PD      







Slayings called act of kindness
Ex-cop talks about killing family
October 19, 1999
BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Paul Harrington had recently lost his job, was behind in rent and was starting to feel the financial pressure of supporting a wife and two children with no income.

So Harrington, a former Detroit policeman, thought it better to kill his wife and 3-year-old son than to see them homeless.

That, Detroit homicide detectives say, is what Harrington told them in a confession.

He told them he borrowed a gun from a friend Thursday, the night before the shooting, and killed Wanda Harrington and 3-year-old Brian early Friday morning. Afterward, he called 911.

When uniformed officers arrived at the home on West Grand Boulevard, Harrington, 53, told them he had killed his family.

"He said he couldn't support them so he had to kill them," said Sgt. Felix Kirk of the Detroit Police Department homicide unit. "He was under pressure trying to take care of his family. He said he didn't want to see them in the street."

Detectives said Harrington told them his last job was at a steel company in Livonia. Harrington was arraigned Saturday in 36th District Court on two counts of first-degree murder. He is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail.

In 1975, Harrington faced three murder charges -- for the deaths of his wife and their two children in December. Harrington shot Becky, 28, and their daughters, Pamela, 9, and Cassandra, 4. He was fired from the police force after being charged with the triple homicide. In 1977, Recorder's Court Judge Susan Borman found Harrington not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him committed for psychiatric treatment. Borman could not be reached for comment Monday.

Two months after his treatment began, Harrington was released from the program.

Harrington, a Vietnam veteran with a history of psychological problems, told homicide detectives this week he was under the care of a therapist and had been without some medication for about a week.

A Wayne County assistant prosecutor says last week's slayings were cold-blooded, calling for first-degree-murder charges. "Based on the information that was provided to me by the police department, I felt that was an appropriate charge," said Ralph Elizondo.