Off-Duty Deputy Enters Water Saves Man

I read in the Sun Sentinel that an off-duty Deputy saved a man from a car sinking in a canal in Turtle Run, Coral Springs on December 3, 2008. Great job Deputy C. K. of Oakland Park. It's really sad that this stuff goes on with no congratulations and deputies are only fixed on negative stupid articles and videos of some one's private home life. We do great things out there guys. Stand up and be proud!

CORAL SPRINGS - A driver who died on Wednesday after his car plunged into a lake has been identified as Paul W. Jacobson, 64, of Keene, N.H., said police Sgt. Joe McHugh.

Robert A. Wantiss, 61, also of Keene, was a passenger in the car, but he escaped serious injury, McHugh said.

The men were in a 2000 Saab when the vehicle careened into a lake near Sample Road just east of Turtle Road Boulevard, police said.

An off-duty Broward sheriff's deputy and a Coral Springs firefighter witnessed the crash and jumped in the water to help the men.

Wantiss told police that Jacobson clutched his chest and slumped over the steering wheel moments before the car plunged into the canal, McHugh said.

The accident is under investigation.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flb6bdig12042sbdec04,0,7897824.story

Hope that BSO does something for Heroic acts by Deputies.

[Chupi]

I agree. The news only seems to care about negative things that happen within the law enforcement field.

Great job Deputy!

Cops in florida are in it for themselves and don't care about their co-workers. Thats why this site is crap. Deputies face it, your administration will never acknowledge good work if it bit them in the ass.

blub, blub, blub, bubbles...............

The Deputy is getting an AWARD by the Coral Springs Mayor on 01/06/09 at 1830 hours Coral Springs City Hall. Good Job C. Kapish.

How come no one from BSO was at the city hall awards meeting tonight. I guess Coral Springs had to take of deputy business huh? Sad.

You are wrong. I like BSO.

You are wrong. I like BSO.

disgusting how "Kristen M. Weot, Howard Kotin, John G. Szabo" who made the same attempt to save the already dead man don't get the same reconition.
Some BSO-zos are OK but this clown stole items from my house. I saw him do it and then he lied about it. He should be FIRED from the force. It is disgusting that a cop gets away with this yet he still can arrest someone for breaking the law.

Ilove this guy! kudos! :devil:

Total picture! kudos! :devil:

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is conducting an internal investigation to determine what, if any, involvement two of its deputies may have had in removing dozens of Barack Obama campaign signs from their neighbors’ yards.

The signs were stolen in an upscale neighborhood near Coral Springs.

Neighbors have reported to BSO and Coral Springs police that deputies Christopher Kapish and Lance Morgan, who are assigned to patrol Oakland Park and Lauderdale Lakes, respectively, worked together to steal the signs. The BSO thieves, left signs in favor of Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid standing.

“We are doing an internal investigation,” said Jim Leljedal, director of media relations for BSO. “Our Internal Affairs people decided the prudent thing to do is to investigate after you [South Florida Times] brought this to our attention.’’

The inquiry began after a home security system recorded a man on Friday, Oct. 24, around 10 p.m., taking signs from yards in the Turtle Run Community Development District (TRCDD).

SPECIAL TAXING DISTRICT

The TRCDD is a special taxing district that contracts with a private firm and the city of Coral Springs to handle municipal services. Most of the services in the taxing district are contracted out to the city, which provides police protection. A neighborhood that elects to participate in a special taxing district like this one is considered one step away from becoming its own city.

Of coarse neither Kapish nor Morgan returned calls seeking comment, and did not respond to messages left with staff at the offices of Government Management Service, South Florida, Inc., the firm that manages the TRCDD’s day-to-day operations.

At the same time the home security system recorded the sign thefts, a marked BSO squad car with Lauderdale Lakes decals on its sides could be seen driving by several times with an image of Kapish. The squad car’s headlights were turned off during one of the passes.

Several residents contacted BSO and Coral Springs police to report the thefts. The Coral Springs Police Department, not BSO, provides police protection under contract with the taxing district in that area.

The South Florida Times contacted BSO after obtaining a copy of the video. Several residents told Coral Springs police and BSO that they believe the person in the video is definitely Kapish, their neighbor.

“Everyone knows who [Morgan] that car belongs to and that it’s the same deputy [Kapish] who lives across the street from me, in the video taking our signs,” said Karen Robinson, a Turtle Run resident who worked on the Obama campaign and filed reports with the police.

BSO INQUIRY

The Internal Affairs probe centers on whether the person seen in the video is in fact Kapish. He lives in the area and serves as an elected official on the Turtle Run Community Development District’s board.

There are also questions about the BSO squad car and why it was there at that hour. Then, there is the question of why the person driving the BSO squad car did not intervene to question the person taking the signs.

Some residents contend that the squad car is assigned to Morgan; who is also an elected official on the Turtle Run Community Development District’s board. He lives in the neighborhood, also.

A new video is clear, but affected residents say they want it enhanced in an effort to determine exactly who is steeling their property.

The issue first came to light in the last weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 Election Day, when Obama yard signs in the upper-middle class community were swiped, leaving only McCain-Palin signs standing in the area.

After watching the video, other residents who spoke on the condition of anonymity and requested that their names not be published acknowledged that they, too, have filed police reports.

Leljedal confirmed that BSO has a copy of the video, but declined comment due to the ongoing investigation.

“Please be advised that a preliminary inquiry has been initiated relative to information you provided to this office,” wrote Lt. Gregory S. Gordon, Operations Supervisor for the Broward Sheriff’s Office Division of Internal Affairs in a Nov. 7 letter mailed to one resident after that person, who did not wish to be identified, lodged complaints with the agency about the possible involvement of the deputies.

RESIDENTS WANT ANSWERS

The Obama campaign charged $8 each for the signs as a means of raising donations and recouping costs. Victims of the thefts say they believe they were taken in an effort to impact the outcome of the presidential election.

Robinson said she spent weeks distributing an undetermined number of signs to residents throughout the community, and she expects the issue to be addressed.

“People were calling me about it, and I told them my signs were taken too,” she said. “I had to keep going back to the campaign office to buy more signs.”

“After I was sent the video, I called the police and reported them stolen. I told them I know who that BSO [squad] car belongs to, and where the guy lives who is seen stealing the signs,” Robinson recalled.

Official records from the Coral Springs Police Department show Robinson did report her signs stolen on Nov. 3, the day before the election. According to those documents, she alleged to police and a dispatcher that it was a “BSO deputy” who “went through the entire community and took all the Obama signs.”

NO CRIME REPORTED?

Even though the acts are caught on video, and several people reported the thefts, police officials say none of the residents wanted to pursue the case criminally, as the victims, so they can’t move forward with a criminal investigation. Police instead have handed the matter over to BSO to conduct an internal investigation, which usually seeks to determine if an officer may have violated any rules, policies, or department procedures, and not necessarily whether an officer committed any crimes.

“We need a complainant, and it was my impression that the gentleman whose signs were stolen did not want to proceed as the victim of a crime, so we forwarded what we had to the sheriff’s office,” explained Sgt. Bob Behan, spokesperson for Coral Springs police.

Nonetheless, Robinson and at least one other person who filed police reports dispute this notion, and are now demanding a formal criminal investigation by Coral Springs police, in addition to BSO’s Internal Affairs probe.

“This is a cover up and I have contacted the mayor. I called the police and reported a crime. They were given the video with the man stealing the signs,” said an outraged Robinson. “I gave them statements and told them where the deputies live, so what else am I supposed to do?”

Other residents whose signs were taken say they became concerned after watching the video and thought police were investigating as well.

“I’m not surprised. But it was a futile act to take the signs anyway, because Obama has been elected,” explained Curtis Powlette, whose security system recorded the culprit taking the signs. “It was upsetting to see him come in my yard and take what we paid for.”

VIDEO DISTRIBUTED

Powlette provided a copy of the video to local Obama campaign officials and distributed them among his neighbors. One such person was Darwin Phillips, who lives across the street from Powlette. The video shows the person taking signs from his yard as well, on that Oct. 24 night.

“We purchased a number of signs from the campaign in Miami, I think for around $5 to $8 a piece, and gave them out to neighbors,” Phillips said. “We had some stolen before and two on that night, which the video shows. I figured it was just kids pulling a prank, but when I saw the video, I was irritated because it’s bad to see people who are paid to serve, doing things like this.”

Phillips put the video on a website, www.vimeo.com/2155009 (http://www.vimeo.com/2155009), and said he too is considering contacting BSO and filing a police report.

“I was thinking about calling their supervisors or something, but now I know I’ll do it,” he said. “It’s not like it’s a big deal, but it shouldn’t be swept under the rug, either.”

Sounds like someone with an axe to grind and who dosen't know his facts. You are making an arse out of yourself.

Sounds like someone with an axe to grind and who dosen't know his facts. You are making an arse out of yourself.

Just up holding the law. I am not a BSO but work for CCPD and property was stolen from my yard by Morgan and Kapish. I know the facts, obviously you don't.

Sorry no axe to grind, just want to up hold the law. And I am a she'la not a "him". I have a badge and want to uphold all laws not selective like some bad colleagues which sound like you.

[quote="Pinhead"]Sorry no axe to grind, just want to up hold the law. And I am a she'la not a "him". I have a badge and want to uphold all laws not selective like some bad colleagues which sound like you.[/quote


Another faceless loser that can not carry the spit bucket for a Deputy that is a hero.

guestless, thanks for calling this woman officer a faceless loser? Go back to basic training and learn the law. One good deed of a group of people trying to save a heart attack victom does not justify items being stolen from my yard by these two officers by my own eye site. We are supposed to stop people from stealing not have a brother officer steal.Incredible.....

guestless, thanks for calling this woman officer a faceless loser? Go back to basic training and learn the law. One good deed of a group of people trying to save a heart attack victom does not justify items being stolen from my yard by these two officers by my own eye site. We are supposed to stop people from stealing not have a brother officer steal.Incredible.....


You are not a woman. You are not a cop. You can't spell VICTIM. NOT VICTOM. (all cops can spell that in reports everyday). Nothing was stolen from you're yard. You should not slander fine law enforcement by typing lies on this site. You must have serious issues pal. Why do you hate the police so much?

The Rag newspaper THE SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES with Elgin Jones causes these problems because the paper hates cops and prints lies.

Isn't The SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES a small crummy racist newspaper?

Yup. never saw any good articles in THAT RAG.

guestless, thanks for calling this woman officer a faceless loser? Go back to basic training and learn the law. One good deed of a group of people trying to save a heart attack victom does not justify items being stolen from my yard by these two officers by my own eye site. We are supposed to stop people from stealing not have a brother officer steal.Incredible.....


You are not a woman. You are not a cop. You can't spell VICTIM. NOT VICTOM. (all cops can spell that in reports everyday). Nothing was stolen from you're yard. You should not slander fine law enforcement by typing lies on this site. You must have serious issues pal. Why do you hate the police so much?

Sorry young man for not “believing” that I am a full fledged woman and not an officer in (CC) but this is your own personal problems and I could care less.
Sorry I did not spell check my victim when I wrote this blog, but this is not a report but you have serious issues when fellow officers steal from another and I see it for my self and you don’t want to believe it, it is time for you to find another occupation and leave us. There is a time to NOT defend another when a crime is committed. In New York our training consisted of honesty at our academy.
cc:CC

guestless, thanks for calling this woman officer a faceless loser? Go back to basic training and learn the law. One good deed of a group of people trying to save a heart attack victom does not justify items being stolen from my yard by these two officers by my own eye site. We are supposed to stop people from stealing not have a brother officer steal.Incredible.....


You are not a woman. You are not a cop. You can't spell VICTIM. NOT VICTOM. (all cops can spell that in reports everyday). Nothing was stolen from you're yard. You should not slander fine law enforcement by typing lies on this site. You must have serious issues pal. Why do you hate the police so much?

Sorry young man for not “believing” that I am a full fledged woman and not an officer in (CC) but this is your own personal problems and I could care less.
Sorry I did not spell check my victim when I wrote this blog, but this is not a report but you have serious issues when fellow officers steal from another and I see it for my self and you don’t want to believe it, it is time for you to find another occupation and leave us. There is a time to NOT defend another when a crime is committed. In New York our training consisted of honesty at our academy.
cc:CC

What is a full fledged woman vs a half fledged woman? Why would anyone need to spell check a simple word like victim? Why don't you go back to New York? I hear they give special training with plungers in that academy.