Offender:
Donnell Preston
Original
Charges: Second-degree attempted murder and second-degree burglary.
Convicted
of: Burglary
Case
Status: Closed
Crime
Date: May 27,2008
Crime
Location: Montebello, New York
Ramapo
Police Department
237
Rt 59
Suffern,
New York 10901
(845)357-2400
Detective:
Lt. Brad Weidel
Town
of Ramapo Police Department
NEWS
RELEASE
No.
08-53 Issuance Date: May 27, 2008
Subject:
Attempted Murder Arrest
Issuing
Authority: Detective Lieutenant Brad Weidel
www.travelingsalescrews.info/pdf/Donnell
Preston police release 052708.pdf
Magazine
Sales Crew: Paragon Sales
Magazine
Clearinghouse: Midwest Clearing, Inc.
Midwest
Clearing, Inc.
President:
ANDRE' M WALKER
3649
W 183rd St.
Suite
101
Hazel
Crest, IL 60429
Info
on Magazine Clearinghouse:
Midwest
Clearing, Inc
Website:
http://www.midwestclearing.com
http://www.midwestclearing.com
Midwest
Clearing, Inc.
3649
W 183rd St.
Suite
101
Hazel
Crest, IL 60429
phone (708) 206-2001
fax (708) 206-2005
Illinois
Secretary of State File Number: 63505978
President
Name:
ANDRE'
M WALKER SR
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080528/NEWS03/805280380/-1/newsfront#pluckcomments
Police:
Solicitor tried to kill girlfriend in hotel
Steve
Lieberman
The
Journal News
LoHud.com
May
28, 2008
MONTEBELLO
- An Ohio man, accused of choking his girlfriend until she became unconscious,
eluded police yesterday for nearly three hours.
Donnell
Preston, 28, of Dayton was charged with second-degree attempted murder and
second-degree burglary, both felonies.
Preston
and the 25-year-old woman had a long-standing relationship and had two children
together, Ramapo police said.
They
were staying at the Holiday Inn in Montebello as part of a group selling
magazine subscriptions door to door across the region, police said. They worked
for Tennessee-based Paragon magazine sales, police said.
Preston
is accused of following the woman and forcing his way into her room about 8:40
a.m. yesterday, said Detective Lt. Brad Weidel of the
Ramapo police.
"He
didn't break down the door," Weidel said, but
the suspect is accused of forcing his way through the door after the woman
opened it and going inside.
"They
started arguing," Weidel said. Preston is
accused of attempting to strangle the woman with a chokehold during the
argument before stopping, police said. Preston and the woman then continued
arguing, their screams getting louder, Weidel said.
While
yelling, Preston made comments to the victim that police later used as a basis
for charging him with attempted murder, Weidel said.
Weidel declined to
discuss the comments. He said Preston gave a statement to police after his
arrest.
Preston
is accused of grabbing the woman by the throat a second time, Weidel said.
The
couple's magazine-selling colleagues heard the screams.
"They
started banging on the door," Weidel said, and
Preston "jumped out the window." The woman came to and was able to to get to the door and let the other people in, he said.
The
second-story window is about 15 feet off the ground, Weidel
said.
The
woman spoke to police when they arrived. A description of Preston was
broadcast, and Ramapo officers found him behind Drug Mart in
Airmont, Weidel said.
Officers
chased him, but lost him in the woods. Police sealed off the area with the help
of officers from Suffern, Mahwah, N.J., and the state police. The Sheriff's
Department Bureau of Criminal Investigation looked for evidence at the scene.
Ramapo
police used a computerized phone system to warn nearby residents and businesses
about the search, Weidel said.
Two
officers with tracking dogs joined the effort -Ramapo Officer Christopher
Franklin and his canine partner, Shea, and Clarkstown
Officer Joseph Knarich and Oz. The dogs searched
vacant buildings and sheds.
As
police and dogs searched the ground, the county police helicopter flew around
the area.
Ramapo
officers arrested Preston about three hours after the attack. He was found
between logs in the woods behind the old Grand Union on the northwest corner of
Route 59 and Airmont Avenue, Weidel
said.
The
woman was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.
"She's
going to survive," Weidel said.
Preston
was being held, pending arraignment in Ramapo Town Court. Weidel
said Preston likely would be held without bail in the county jail, based on the
felony charges, previous felony convictions and the fact he had no ties to
Rockland County.
Weidel said police
also were looking into the company that sent the magazine sellers to Rockland.
Weidel said the
magazine solicitors planned to work in Ramapo and other areas of the county
yesterday, even though they didn't have a permit and would be stopped if found
by police.
Hours
after the hotel incident, several solicitors were dropped off in West Nyack,
police said, but Clarkstown police warned them that
they couldn't sell without a permit.
Usually,
during the spring, such solicitors pop up around Rockland. They hail from other
states and are dropped off by van in neighborhoods, where they go door to door,
trying to sell magazine subscriptions.
Several
have been arrested over the years for soliciting without a peddler's permit or
for other crimes.
Sgt.
Eric Eisele of the Clarkstown
police said yesterday that his squad recently had arrested a magazine
solicitor.
"The
guy was too aggressive, and he wouldn't leave the homeowner alone and take no
for an answer," Eisele said. "The guy then
started cursing the homeowner."
The
solicitor also didn't have a permit to sell in Clarkstown,
he said.
Eisele and Weidel said, in their experience, the magazine solicitors
generally were young, came from out of state and work for a type of commission.
Reach
Steve Lieberman at slieberm@lohud.com or 845-578-2443.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080530/NEWS03/805300396/0/NEWS02
May
30, 2008
New
York
Three
charged with selling magazines door-to-door in Airmont
Steve
Lieberman
The
Journal News
AIRMONT
- Defying Ramapo police orders, magazine subscription sellers were arrested on
charges of violating a local law prohibiting soliciting without a permit.
The
three people from out of state are staying at the Holiday Inn in Montebello as
part of a sales force of nearly 40 for Paragon Sales.
The
Midwest-based business sends young people across the country to sell
subscriptions for a commission. They are driven to neighborhoods to sell
subscriptions by managers.
Ramapo
police specifically warned the Paragon leaders that a permit was needed to
conduct door-to-door sales, Detective Lt. Brad Weidel
has said.
Weidel said the
warning came after one seller, Donnell Preston, 28, of Dayton, Ohio, was
charged Tuesday with second-degree attempted murder.
He
is accused of breaking into a Holiday Inn room and trying to choke to death
another seller, an Ohio woman with whom he has two children.
Based
on complaints from residents, Ramapo police arrested three sellers on Wednesday
evening.
Charged
with soliciting without a permit are Tracey M. White, 32, of New Orleans;
Lorenzo Crawford, 21, of Chicago; and Steven M. Johnson, 41, of South Bend,
Ind., Ramapo Lt. Mark Emma said.
All
three were released on $50 bail set by the police. They would forfeit the bail
money if they don't show up June 28 in Airmont
Justice Court. They face a fine as penalty.
Both
White and Johnson are accused of soliciting on Sonia Court about 5:30 p.m.,
Emma said. Crawford is accused of knocking on doors trying to sell magazines on
Route 59 in Airmont.
The
magazine soliciting business has come under criticism for exploiting the
sellers - most of whom are 18-year-olds and up into their early 20s. Some also
have criminal records.
Critics
and police claim the sellers are paid low commissions, and any money they earn
is held by their managers so the sellers cannot leave even if they want to.
Violence
is used to keep disgruntled sellers in line, critics and police said.
Supporters
contend the business gives many young people a second chance in life and an
opportunity to learn a business and responsibility.
Supporters
also claim companies are encouraged to do background checks on recruits and
hold seminars focused on rules and regulations.
The
sellers are active across the county. An Orangetown
woman said yesterday that she was convinced by a seller to buy $40 worth of
magazines that she didn't need. She said he passed a no-trespassing sign and
came up a large hill to her house.
Emma
said the attempted murder at the Holiday Inn in Montebello and complaints from
the public raised the department's awareness about the solicitors.
"Problems
can come up when you have people from out-of-state with no ties to the
community knocking on people's doors," Emma said.
http://www.newstin.co.uk/tag/uk/96665239
Magazine
solicitor admits breaking into girlfriend's hotel room
thejournalnews.com
06-Jan-2009
An
Ohio magazine solicitor first charged with trying to kill his girlfriend has
pleaded guilty to a lesser burglary count after she refused to cooperate
because she loved him, prosecutors said. The woman's affection for Donnell
Preston means he faces a year in the Rockland County jail when sentenced for
third-degree burglary for breaking into her hotel room in May, Rockland
District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said. Preston, 28,
and the 25-year-old woman, also from Ohio, had a long-standing relationship and
have two children together, Ramapo police said. Without the victim's testimony,
prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree
burglary against Preston, Zugibe said. "Counsel
for the defendant provided this office with letters from the victim stating
that she loved him and that she would not... [read
full story]
http://lohud.com/article/20090813/NEWS03/908130424/-1/SPORTS
3
magazine peddlers charged with having drugs, gun
By
Jane Lerner • jlerner@lohud.com • August 13, 2009
RAMAPO
— Three people facing felony drug and weapon charges
are the latest out-of-town magazine peddlers who have been arrested in
Rockland.
The
three were arrested Tuesday after an off-duty Ramapo police officer spotted a
customer in the Monsey 7-11 convenience store with what appeared to be
marijuana, police said. The officer saw the suspect get into a car and then
called police.
They
are the latest people working for nationwide magazine companies to get arrested
in Rockland. Nearly every summer, solicitors from out of state come to Rockland
to sell magazine subscriptions door to door.
In
the most recent case in Ramapo, police pulled the car over on Route 59 and
began questioning the male driver and two female passengers.
Police
said they found marijuana, methamphetamines and a .22-caliber handgun in the
car.
The
driver, identified by police as Terrell L. Williams, 24, of Haines City, Fla.,
tried to run away but was captured by police after a short chase.
He
was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree
criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies; and fifth-degree
criminal possession of marijuana, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and
resisting arrest, all misdemeanors.
Janice
Lee Moody, 20, of Jackson, Fla., and Lauri Etta
Pride, 18, of Cincinnati were charged with third-degree criminal possession of
a controlled substance, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a
weapon, a misdemeanor.
All
three suspects told police that they were working for Urban Development
Solutions Magazine Sellers. They were staying in the Holiday Inn in Montebello.
Police
said they found more marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Williams’ hotel room.
All
three spent the night in the Ramapo jail and were arraigned yesterday. They are
being held in the county jail. Court and bail information was unavailable.
Last
week, two men were arrested in Stony Point and charged with violating the town
code by selling magazine subscriptions without a permit.
Sherric Jones, 20, of
Chicago and Larry Lee Linn, 23, of Ottawa., Ill., were released on $50 bail
each.
In
July, Ramapo police arrested a North Carolina man who was selling magazines on
charges of stealing a truck in Suffern.
Also
last month, a Missouri woman arrested in Ramapo on charges of peddling
magazines door to door without a permit pleaded guilty in Clarkstown
a week later to the same charge.
Last
year, an Ohio magazine solicitor was accused of attacking his girlfriend at the
Holiday Inn. He was charged with attempted murder, but the woman wouldn’t
cooperate, prosecutors said.
The
man pleaded guilty to a lesser assault charge and served several months in the
county jail.
