RKBABob
Member
Ok, I'm not sure how many folks here will be interested in this... but we do have a few LEO's on this fourm. Maybe this will serve as a reminder to our peace officers, be careful out there!
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_4gun.6137604nov14,0,4811615.story
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_4gun.6137604nov14,0,4811615.story
Bethlehem police missed gun in search of slaying suspect
Trillble El had loaded weapon in lockup, finally turned it in.
By Pamela Lehman | Of The Morning Call
November 14, 2007
A woman charged with shooting and killing a Bethlehem man Oct. 26 and setting fire to his apartment had a loaded gun hidden in her pants while being detained at police headquarters that day, sources say.
They say Trillble El, 23, of Philadelphia eventually told police about the .25-caliber pistol, but only after being at the police station and in a holding cell for hours.
El was given a pat-down search by a police officer, but neither a cavity search nor a search with a metal detector was done, sources say. She didn't threaten anyone with the gun, and no additional weapon charges have been filed against her.
Sources say police administrators are conducting an internal investigation, but police Commissioner Randy Miller declined to comment. He also declined to provide a copy of the department's protocol for searching a person detained in the police cellblock.
Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan said Tuesday, ''It's an ongoing police investigation in which we don't know all the details. I can't say more than that right now.''
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said he wasn't aware of the department's internal investigation.
El is charged with killing Stammond S. Jenkins, 37, of 826 Wyandotte St. Fire crews were called to a fire at his apartment the morning of Oct. 26. Police found Jenkins dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head.
El told police she was playing with a .357-caliber revolver while in bed with Jenkins when she accidentally shot him in the head, according to court documents.
An affidavit states El was one of three potential witnesses to the fire and she was taken to the station for questioning, although she identified herself as Tasha Green. Police said they found out her true identity when her fingerprints were processed through a database.
According to court records:
Jenkins had rented a room at the house for the past seven months. Aja Jones, 29, who lived on the first floor of the Wyandotte Street house, said she discovered the fire when she woke to go to work. She checked the bedrooms and said the doorknob to the room where Jenkins was staying felt hot and smoke was seeping from the edges around the door.
El told police that after she accidentally shot Jenkins, she gathered guns, an assault rifle, a .357-caliber revolver and drug paraphernalia and put them in a duffle bag and left the home. That bag was later found in the 700 block of Ontario Street.
She told police the fire started from a cigarette she was smoking. Fire officials said the fire had two points of origin and ruled it an arson.
El is charged with homicide, arson, reckless endangerment, causing a catastrophe, giving false identification to police, possessing instruments of crime, carrying firearms without a license and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at Northampton County Courthouse in Easton on Dec. 5.
El has a criminal record in Philadelphia dating to 2004 that includes a guilty plea to charges of simple assault, aggravated harassment by a prisoner and resisting arrest.
