Donations create extra awards
to help police in hard-to-solve cases
In difficult police cases - such as when a victim of a crime does not know the perpetrator, or few clues are found at a crime scene - relatives, friends and employers will sometimes post additional award monies that are added to the customary amount, up to $1,000, that CrimeStoppers can pay for a successful tip.
The additional funds are held by CrimeStoppers in the hope that the sizable award draws a successful tip that helps police solve the case. Following are two incidents in which extra awards have been posted.
$7,500 offered
in
assault
on
Highway Patrol
Commissioner Gibbons asks for public's help
A $7,500 award has been offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for attacking the Tennessee Highway Patrol station in Bartlett earlier this month. At least fourteen rounds were fired from an assault rifle into the front of the building June 5, causing considerable damage. Although officers were in the building at the time, no one was injured.
Law enforcement officers say they have few leads and surveillance camera footage provided little to no information.
The award was announced in a press conference by Bill Gibbons, Tennessee Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security. "This is a deliberate attack on the fiber of all that is good," Gibbons said. "This despicable act of violence is not acceptable and will not be tolerated."
$13,500 to be paid
to
tipster in January murder
An award of $13,500 will be paid this month to someone who called in an anonymous tip to CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County that led to indictments against two men in the robbery and murder of Lonnie Ludvigson in January.
A caller to CrimeStoppers' hot line, 528-CASH (2274), named Devonte Vaughn, who lives in Orange Mound, as one of four men involved in Ludvigson's slaying. Using the information, the Memphis Police Department built a case against Vaughn and DeMarco McKinley. The two were indicted by the Shelby County Grand Jury for first degree murder, criminal attempted first degree murder and the employment of a firearm with intent to commit a felony.
MPD Detective Fausto Frias led the investigation, which included a trip to interview a suspect in a Texas jail. Vaughn was arrested Tuesday night. McKinley is in custody in Dallas, Texas and awaiting extradition to Memphis.
A pedestrian saw Ludvigson pulled from his car by four masked men in front of 787 S. Prescott St. in the Buntyn neighborhood January 9. Ludvigson was marched at gunpoint to a nearby blue vehicle. He tried to run away and was shot by one of the men. The robbers fled the scene after exchanging gunfire with the witness.
Extra award money was donated to CrimeStoppers in this case in February. CrimeStoppers tip number 17295 was the result.
Ludvigson was from Iowa. His mother told a
Commercial Appeal reporter, "You can imagine the frustration that we felt at the beginning when we wondered if anyone would be caught for Lonnie's murder; that frustration has ended. It's a big relief to know that the police have done their job."
"We really appreciate the CrimeStoppers group," Donna Ludvigson added.
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CopperStoppers was created by CrimeStoppers in collaboration with businesses to fight the theft of and illegal sales, purchases and transportation out of town of copper and other scrap metals.
 Copper stripped from wiring, appliances, plumbing or electrical boxes may bring hundreds of dollars when sold, but often results in thousands of dollars in damages to homes, apartments, churches and other facilities.
Special awards up to $1,000 are available for information leading to arrests.
Help stop the criminals - the "copperheads" - doing economic harm to our community.
Visit www.copperstoppersmem.com for information on how to help.
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Help spread the word
If you like - we hope you do! - you can help the cause against the metal thieves by liking our new
CopperStoppers Facebook page. And tell your friends, co-workers and acquaintances.
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City homicide rate
stays on hot pace
The number of homicides in the Memphis area stood at an unofficial 112 for the first six months of the calendar year ending June 30.
In all of 2015 there were 161 homicides.
Three of the 112 cases involved
vehicular homicide.
In 92 deaths guns were used.
And authorities so far have made 82 arrests in the slayings.
The second half of the year already had seen its first murder a few hours into
July 1 when a man was
shot outside a strip mall in the Orange Mound neighborhood.
Websites building new awareness
CrimeStoppers and its many programs are explained - and the public is engaged - in various places on the internet.
Our main website explains the organization's purpose, and keeps count on major cases in which police need help from citizens - crimestopmem.org.
A companion site helps students keep their schools safer -
Senior citizens who are afraid or otherwise need help can find information they can use at another site - seniorbsafe.org.
Spanish-speaking citizens can learn about CrimeStoppers on a fourth site -
Now, because the theft of copper and other metals has become a major problem in the metro area we have launched a website for our newest program, CopperStoppers:
copperstoppersmemphis.com
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