12302010 - Firefighter William Waite - Blair Township FD

Fireman sentenced to three months in jail
Posted: 03.23.2011 at 4:02 PM
http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=596402

William Waite pled guilty in a domestic violence case.

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY -- The Grand Traverse County fireman who pled guilty in a domestic violence case was sentenced Wednesday. William Waite was sentenced to spend up to 93-days in jail with credit for time served.

According to the district court he will also spend two years on probation. The case stemmed from an argument with his girlfriend on New Year's Eve that turned violent.

The Assistant Chief of the Blair Township Fire Department says they are still reviewing the case and they have not made a decision on whether or not Waite will keep his job.











Firefighter faces criminal charges
Waite, 25, charged with domestic violence
Traverse City Record-Eagle
BY ALEX PIAZZA
January 6, 2011
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ENq0vlFFpdYJ:record-eagle.com/local/x1024522287/Firefighter-faces-criminal-charges/print+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

TRAVERSE CITY — A Grand Traverse County volunteer firefighter faces a criminal charge after police said he choked his girlfriend, then punched her in the face outside a downtown Traverse City hotel.

Grand Traverse County prosecutors charged William "Bud" Waite, 25, with a misdemeanor count of domestic violence, punishable by up to 93 days in jail and/or $500. Judge Thomas J. Phillips arraigned Waite on Wednesday in 86th District Court, and he remains free on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.

Waite, a volunteer with the Grand Traverse Rural Fire Department, and his girlfriend got into an argument over an ex-girlfriend on Dec. 31 outside the Park Place Hotel in downtown Traverse City. She left but returned to the parking lot to check on Waite.

The woman told Traverse City police the argument continued in his vehicle, so she pushed him and he responded by punching her in the face, police reports show. She told police she ran away and called authorities.

Waite also is accused of choking the woman, but he contends her version is far from the truth.

"I don't agree with it," Waite said. "I did not do that."

A preliminary breath test showed Waite's blood-alcohol level was 0.068 percent at the time of his arrest, below the state's legal limit for intoxication, court records show. An officer also said his girlfriend had been drinking, police reports show.

Chefalo, Waite's attorney, believes the woman's story is "a lot more dramatic" because of her alcohol use when she spoke with police.

"His version of this is much different than hers," Chefalo said. "I think there's a happy medium here between a brutal attack and his description, which is very far from that."

Rural fire Chief Bill Sedlacek found out about the charge Wednesday, and said he has yet to discipline Waite or sift through the police report.

"I won't take any action until such a time as he is found guilty or innocent," Sedlacek said.

Waite's pretrial conference is set for Jan. 12 in 86th District Court.











Firefighter charged with assault
Posted: 01.05.2011 at 4:30 PM
Up North Live
http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=563454

TRAVERSE CITY -- A Blair Township firefighter and EMT is accused of assaulting a woman.

Wednesday morning, William Waite was arraigned in 86th District Court on a domestic violence charge.

Police say he assaulted his girlfriend in downtown Traverse City on December 31.

The Blair Township Fire Chief says Waite is still employed with the fire department pending the outcome of the court proceedings.

A pretrial hearing is set for January 12.

12292010 - C.O. Joseph Naimo - Sentenced - Gratiot County

Gratiot courts
Published: Wednesday, December 29, 2010
http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2010/12/29/news/srv0000010437767.txt?viewmode=2

Joseph A. Naimo, 40, St. Louis, domestic violence, aggravated assault, 120 days in jail, fined $2,415 or serve 120 more days in jail, two years of probation












Bond set for corrections officer charged with slamming woman's head on pavement
Published: Friday, July 16, 2010
The Morning Sun
http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2010/07/16/news/doc4c40aaa115611897837487.txt

The 39-year-old St. Louis man charged with slamming his former girlfriend’s head on the pavement Wednesday was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Joseph Anthony Naimo was arraigned in Gratiot County District Court on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a maximum 10-year felony, and on a charge of aggravated assault, a misdemeanor, Gratiot County District Court Judge Stewart McDonald said.

Listed on a public database as a state corrections officer in Gratiot County, Naimo will have several restrictions placed on him if he makes bond. As of Friday afternoon he was still in jail, a Gratiot County sheriff’s deputy said.

If Naimo is released, he will be placed on an electronic tether that will monitor his location and alcohol or drug consumption, McDonald said. He will have to submit to random drug tests, he cannot visit a bar or consume alcohol, and he’s to have no contact with his alleged victim if he’s released from jail.

Police were called to Gratiot Medical Center in Alma following the early morning incident Wednesday.

According to investigators, Naimo’s former girlfriend, 35, was at his residence when the two got into a fight. She left, and a friend drove her to her home in St. Louis.

In the meantime, Naimo also got a friend to drive him to her home, and when she got out of the car, Naimo is alleged to have grabbed her by the hair and smashed her head three or four times on the pavement.

McDonald said he had seen photos of the injuries and described them as bloody.

The woman’s friend drove her to the hospital, where officials contacted the police. Her condition is unknown.

A preliminary exam has been scheduled for July 28.

Michigan Officer Involved Domestic Violence

12142010 - Deputy Richard Zych - Sentenced - Benzie County SD

Also See:

Deputy Richard Zych charged charged with two counts of sexual assault [Dec. 17, 2009]

http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2009/12/deputy-richard-zych-benzie-county-sd.html

Former Benzie Deputy Sentenced
Date: December 14, 2010
By Eric VanDussen
http://ipr.interlochen.org/ipr-news-features/episode/11358






A former Benzie County court officer has been sentenced to a year in jail.

Richard Zych pleaded guilty last month to one count of aggravated assault, under a plea deal. He was originally charged with three counts of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct.

District Judge John Foresman admonished Zych and handed down the maximum one-year sentence allowed under the plea agreement.

"You used your position as deputy sheriff to put her in a position which made her vulnerable. And that kind of conduct cannot be tolerated," Foresman told Zych in court Monday.

The prosecutor alleged that Zych used force and coercion while sexually assaulting a female victim on at least three occasions in 2009, manipulating his position over her.

Zych had worked in the Benzie County Sheriff's Department since 1997. The department terminated earlier this year.










Former deputy pleads guilty to aggravated assault
Posted: 11.29.2010 at 3:27 PM
Up North Live
http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=547396




A former Benzie County Corrections Deputy, accused of sexually assaulting a woman, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault Monday.


BEULAH -- A former Benzie County Corrections Deputy, accused of sexually assaulting a woman, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault Monday.

Rick Zych was accused of groping a woman three times after he pulled her over in a Sheriff's vehicle earlier this year.

As a part of the plea bargain Zych had to admit to at least one count of Criminal Sexual Conduct fourth degree.

Zych faces up to one year in jail when he is sentenced on December 20.

12132010 - Former Deputy John Yeska Jr - Sentenced - Saginaw County SD

Former Saginaw County deputy sentenced for sex crime in Bay County
Published: Monday, December 13, 2010, 3:31 PM
Updated: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 9:39 AM
By LaNia Coleman
The Bay City Times
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/12/former_saginaw_county_deputy_s.html

BAY CITY — A former Saginaw County Sheriff’s deputy is to spend time behind bars for a sex offense.

John T. Yeska Jr., who resigned as a deputy in 2003 after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Saginaw County, was sentenced today for a crime that occurred last year in Bay County.

Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt ordered the 40-year-old Saginaw Township man to serve 270 days in jail for gross indecency between a male and female, a five-year felony.

Yeska pleaded no contest in October. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing.

Schmidt also ordered Yeska to serve 90 days on electronic monitoring and five years on probation, prohibited him from using a computer for social networking purposes and ordered him to complete sex offender treatment.

The judge further deferred another 90 days in jail pending further order of the court and imposed $2,600 in fines and fees.

Yeska will not have to register as a sex offender because his victim was not a minor, prosecutors have said.

Yeska was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury, second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration after a Hampton Township woman reported that he had sexually assaulted her Aug. 19, 2009, at her home.

The pair had met on an Internet networking site and met for the first time that day, according to reports.

After having dinner at a Bay City restaurant, Yeska drove the woman to her home, followed her inside and forced her to have sex with him, the victim told investigators.

Yeska had claimed the sexual encounter was consensual.

In January 2003, after seven years of service, Yeska resigned from the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department amid allegations he fondled a woman in his patrol car, Bay City Times archives show.

Though deputies investigated the matter, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas denied a warrant request, citing insufficient evidence.











Former Saginaw County Sheriff's deputy facing sexual assault charges in Bay County accepts plea deal
Published: Tuesday, November 02, 2010, 10:00 AM
By Cole Waterman
The Bay City Times
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/11/former_saginaw_county_sheriffs_1.html

John T. Yeska Jr.

BAY CITY — A former Saginaw County Sheriff’s deputy charged with several felony sex crimes in Bay County has accepted a plea offer, rather than have his case decided by a jury.

Tuesday, John T. Yeska Jr., 40, of Saginaw Township, appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt and pleaded no contest to gross indecency between a male and a female. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss single counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury, second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing.

Though the charge Yeska pleaded to is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, prosecutors are recommending he be sentenced to statutory probation, said Bay County Assistant Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks.

Before accepting his plea, Schmidt advised Yeska the recommended sentence could still include one year in jail and five years probation.

Yeska will not be required to register with the Michigan Sex Offender Registry, as his victim was not a minor, Brooks.

The charges against Yeska stem from an incident that occurred Aug. 19, 2009, in Hampton Township. On that day, Yeska went on a date with a local woman he had met on the Internet, court records show.

The woman told Hampton Township Police officers that on the drive back to her home, Yeska allegedly forced her head into his lap. Yeska then followed her inside her home and sexually assaulted her, the woman told police.

Yeska had claimed the sexual encounter was mutually consensual, Bay City Times archives show.

In January 2003, after seven years of service, Yeska resigned from the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department amid allegations he fondled a woman in his patrol car, Times archives show.

The incident allegedly occurred in Pine Grove Park in Shiawassee County, where Yeska reportedly took the woman after a traffic stop in Oakley, Times archives show.

Though deputies investigated the matter, Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas denied a warrant request, citing insufficient evidence, Times archives show.

Schmidt is slated to sentence Yeska at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 13.

Trial or plea awaits former Saginaw County Sheriff's deputy charged with sexual assault in Bay County
Published: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 3:30 PM
By Cole Waterman
The Bay City Times
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/10/trial_or_plea_awaits_former_sa.html

BAY CITY — A former Saginaw County Sheriff’s deputy facing felony sexual assault charges in Bay County is scheduled to either enter into a plea deal or face jury trial Tuesday.

John T. Yeska Jr., 40, of Saginaw Township, is charged with single counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury, second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, court records show.

Tuesday, he is slated to appear before Bay County Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt. If he does not accept a plea offer at that time, his case is likely to proceed to trial, court records indicate.

The charges against Yeska stem from an incident that occurred Aug. 19, 2009, in Hampton Township. On that night, Yeska met face-to-face with a local woman he allegedly first met on the Internet, court records show.

The two apparently went on a date at a Bay City restaurant then went to her home and engaged in a sexual encounter. Yeska has claimed the incident was mutually consensual, court records show.

In January 2003, after seven years of service, Yeska resigned from the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department amid allegations he fondled a woman in his patrol car, Bay City Times archives show.