Store Clerk Fights Back Against Robber
Clerk Thankful Gun Jams During Struggle
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A North Texas store manager refused to become a victim when a robber jumped over the counter at his convenience store and attempted to rob him.
The store clerk, Ahmed Qasem, fought back and managed to restrain the robber until police arrived.
The attempted robbery happened in the 2300 block of west Main in Grand Prairie. Qasem said his survival instincts kicked in and allowed him to gain the upper hand over the robber.
Qasem said the man picked up two quarts of beer and asked for some cigarettes. The man then darted around the counter and put Qasem in a choke hold.
"He said, 'Do you want to die?' I said, 'No, I don't want to die,'" Qasem said.
With the crook's arm tight around his throat, Qasem then reached for his gun that was kept under the counter. He aimed at the robber and fired, but nothing happened. Qasem then used the gun to repeatedly hit the robber in the head.
"I felt that was my opportunity to just keep hitting him, take him all the way down," Qasem said.
Qasem then reached for the store's panic button and his phone. He called 911 and police arrived shortly after to arrest the robber.
Police arrested 35-year-old Charles Blakeley, charged him with robbery and transported him to a local hospital to be treated for cuts to his face and head.
Safe at home, Qasem recalled the struggle to NBC 5's Kristi Nelson. He told Nelson that he can't believe he fought off the bigger man.
"I guess that moment when he said 'do you wanna die', I kind of felt I was going to die. I wasn't going down by myself," Qasem said.
Qasem added that he hopes Blakeley is able to get his life together and that he is thankful his gun jammed when he tried to shoot.
"It's not easy to take somebody's life. And, it's not something that I want to live with," Qasem said.
News from the Lone Star State
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Johnston Principal Announces Retirement
AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE CBS 42) - Johnston High School Principal Tabita Gutierrez announced to the campus community that she plans to retire at the end of the academic year in June.
Gutierrez has 37 years in education inclcuding seven years in the classroom, 17 years as a counselor and 13 years in school administration. She is also Johnston's fifth principal in the last four years.
AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE CBS 42) - Johnston High School Principal Tabita Gutierrez announced to the campus community that she plans to retire at the end of the academic year in June.
Gutierrez has 37 years in education inclcuding seven years in the classroom, 17 years as a counselor and 13 years in school administration. She is also Johnston's fifth principal in the last four years.
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14-Year-Old Girl Shot While Playing Basketball
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - A seventh-grader at New Frontiers Charter School was shot in back of the head late Thursday afternoon while playing basketball outside her South Side home.
Police said Beatriz Diaz, 14, and a male friend were outside a home in the 100 block of Caldwell when a man in the bed of a green GMC pickup opened fire.
Diaz was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in critical condition. A relative of the victim told KSAT 12 News that Diaz's condition had worsened Thursday night.
"She didn't deserve this," said Veronica de la Rosa, the victim's aunt. "She was just outside playing basketball."
De la Rosa said they were inside the home when they heard five or six gunshots. Seconds later, they found Beatriz on the ground bleeding.
The pickup drove off. Police have not made any arrests or released a motive for the shooting.
De la Rosa said the shooting stirred some memories of another shooting involving another family member.
Beatriz's aunt, Annette Reyes, was fatally wounded inside an ice cream truck in January by an ex-boyfriend who later dumped her body at an East Side cemetery and then killed himself.
"You can't even sleep just thinking about it," de la Rosa said.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - A seventh-grader at New Frontiers Charter School was shot in back of the head late Thursday afternoon while playing basketball outside her South Side home.
Police said Beatriz Diaz, 14, and a male friend were outside a home in the 100 block of Caldwell when a man in the bed of a green GMC pickup opened fire.
Diaz was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in critical condition. A relative of the victim told KSAT 12 News that Diaz's condition had worsened Thursday night.
"She didn't deserve this," said Veronica de la Rosa, the victim's aunt. "She was just outside playing basketball."
De la Rosa said they were inside the home when they heard five or six gunshots. Seconds later, they found Beatriz on the ground bleeding.
The pickup drove off. Police have not made any arrests or released a motive for the shooting.
De la Rosa said the shooting stirred some memories of another shooting involving another family member.
Beatriz's aunt, Annette Reyes, was fatally wounded inside an ice cream truck in January by an ex-boyfriend who later dumped her body at an East Side cemetery and then killed himself.
"You can't even sleep just thinking about it," de la Rosa said.
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Euless man arrested after steroid bust
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
EULESS, Texas - A Tarrant County task force arrested a man in Euless on Wednesday who they suspect was dealing steroids.
Police seized the drugs, worth $14,500 on the street, after they executed a search warrant. Task force members said the arrest a big step forward in fighting the growing steroid problem in North Texas.
Narcotics officers found nearly 400 grams of anabolic steroids in tablet and syringe form after entering an apartment belonging to 27-year-old Charles Jeffrey Hall.
"Just because it's not cocaine or heroin doesn't mean we're not going to aggressively prosecute these," said Tarrant County assistant district attorney David Hagerman.
Hagerman works with the county's Narcotics Task Force. He said this bust is the first for them this year - but they expect more.
"They're becoming more common as time goes by," he said.
And concerns are starting to increase, especially among high school athletes. Just last week, parents and students packed a seminar at Colleyville Heritage High School after 10 football players there admitted to using.
"I think the key is to move forward, to learn from our own experiences and others," said Colleyville Heritage football coach Chris Cunningham. "(We'll) take steps toward education in this area with a proactive approach involving all those who touch the lives of the people that we care so much about."
Another came forward from Carroll High School in Southlake, but after an investigation school officials there reported this week that they found no signs of steroid use among others.
Experts still maintain teen usage is growing because of the need to win coveted positions on teams. But doctors fear what the youngsters don't see is the dangerous side effects of depression, liver disease and aggressive behavior.
"Who knows what damage the aggressive behavior may cause or have caused,"
Authorities won't say if Hall is connected to the current high school investigations.
"I don't want to pass judgment on that until our investigation is complete," Hagerman said. "Sometimes these things take on a life of their own and you may think there's not a connection, but one the investigation is completed there may be one."
Charles Hall is out of jail after he posted a bond of $21,000. He faces six counts of possession with the intent to deliver the controlled substances.
Once the case is accepted by the District Attorney's office, it will be forwarded to a grand jury.
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
EULESS, Texas - A Tarrant County task force arrested a man in Euless on Wednesday who they suspect was dealing steroids.
Police seized the drugs, worth $14,500 on the street, after they executed a search warrant. Task force members said the arrest a big step forward in fighting the growing steroid problem in North Texas.
Narcotics officers found nearly 400 grams of anabolic steroids in tablet and syringe form after entering an apartment belonging to 27-year-old Charles Jeffrey Hall.
"Just because it's not cocaine or heroin doesn't mean we're not going to aggressively prosecute these," said Tarrant County assistant district attorney David Hagerman.
Hagerman works with the county's Narcotics Task Force. He said this bust is the first for them this year - but they expect more.
"They're becoming more common as time goes by," he said.
And concerns are starting to increase, especially among high school athletes. Just last week, parents and students packed a seminar at Colleyville Heritage High School after 10 football players there admitted to using.
"I think the key is to move forward, to learn from our own experiences and others," said Colleyville Heritage football coach Chris Cunningham. "(We'll) take steps toward education in this area with a proactive approach involving all those who touch the lives of the people that we care so much about."
Another came forward from Carroll High School in Southlake, but after an investigation school officials there reported this week that they found no signs of steroid use among others.
Experts still maintain teen usage is growing because of the need to win coveted positions on teams. But doctors fear what the youngsters don't see is the dangerous side effects of depression, liver disease and aggressive behavior.
"Who knows what damage the aggressive behavior may cause or have caused,"
Authorities won't say if Hall is connected to the current high school investigations.
"I don't want to pass judgment on that until our investigation is complete," Hagerman said. "Sometimes these things take on a life of their own and you may think there's not a connection, but one the investigation is completed there may be one."
Charles Hall is out of jail after he posted a bond of $21,000. He faces six counts of possession with the intent to deliver the controlled substances.
Once the case is accepted by the District Attorney's office, it will be forwarded to a grand jury.
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Dallas County jail gets failing grade
Rating follows report of health problems
By JIM O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - State inspectors gave the Dallas County Jail a failing grade Thursday after a three-day surprise visit, noting staff shortages, fire-safety issues and problems with health-care delivery.
It was the second failing grade issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in two years.
The state report echoes key findings in a recent study of the jail's health programs, which found sweeping problems with the delivery of health care because of staff shortages and facility shortcomings.
County commissioners said Thursday that they were moving forward with recommendations on how to fix the health care problems. One thing they can take quick action on, Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield said, is purchasing a chest X-ray machine to improve screening for tuberculosis, a problem cited by state inspectors and the jail-health study.
The lack of screening poses a health risk to the public because inmates who go untested and untreated can spread TB once they are released, health advocates say.
"This is a crisis, an emergency," Commissioner Maurine Dickey said. "The TB machine is one thing we can fix now, so let's do it. I totally support that."
A majority of commissioners said they were disinclined to renew the county's jail health-care contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch, which the county hired in late 2002. The contract is up for renewal this fall.
Several UTMB officials traveled to Dallas on Thursday to meet with County Judge Margaret Keliher. They said later that she left the door open but made no commitment to renew the contract or supply the 53 extra medical staff members that UTMB says it needs to ensure proper health care in the jail.
Ms. Keliher said in an interview, "We're going to have to address the staffing issue whether we do it through UTMB or someone else."
Dr. Ben Raimer, chief physician executive of correctional health care for UTMB, said he hopes the commissioners "take into consideration all the facts and the status of the jail today compared with two years ago." UTMB has argued that they inherited many problems and made significant improvements.
He added: "If the commissioners don't want us there, we don't want to be there. We want to be there by invitation."
Mrs. Dickey, Mr. Mayfield and Commissioner John Wiley Price said Thursday that they would not favor renewing UTMB's contract. Judge Keliher said last week that she was "dissatisfied" with UTMB's performance but said Thursday that she was not yet prepared to say UTMB has to go.
Mr. Mayfield said the county had retained Dr. Michael Puisis, a nationally respected expert on correctional health care, to advise them on how to plan for making jail health improvements.
Mr. Mayfield said Dr. Puisis is talking with some of the regional players in chronic and mental health care, including Parkland Memorial Hospital, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and MetroCare.
Dr. Puisis recently penned a 52-page study of the county's jail health care, detailing a long list of problems that actually exacerbate health problems for inmates, pose health risks and generate unnecessary expenses. The report was completed Feb. 1, but the county has yet to make it public. The Dallas Morning News obtained a copy last week.
One of the concerns Dr. Puisis highlighted was a lack of inmate screening for tuberculosis. He noted that the county uses a skin test on some, but not all, inmates, and the lag time for test results means many inmates get released before knowing they have TB.
He noted that the Cook County Jail in Chicago gives all new inmates a chest X-ray to detect active TB immediately.
The new inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, concluded Thursday, noted several major problems with the jail's structure as well as inadequate guard staffing.
The county must respond to the failed inspection with a plan to remedy the problems. If the county doesn't show progress, the state commission could order it to make immediate changes, possibly by capping inmate population by floor, said Sgt. Don Peritz, a Sheriff's Department spokesman. That would force the county to reopen the mothballed Decker jail facility until the problems are fixed at the main jail, the Lew Sterrett Justice Center.
Sgt. Peritz said Sheriff Lupe Valdez, at a conference in Washington, had been briefed on the failed inspection and expressed concern.
The inspection report noted that the area where people are booked into jail was designed to accommodate 63 inmates but currently holds up to 350 at one time. It also notes staffing shortages throughout the facility, failing to keep the state required ratio of one guard for every 48 inmates.
The state inspectors also reported that inmates who ask for medical care are not being seen within the 72 hours required in the medical policies outlined by UTMB. On average, inmates are being treated or seen six days after requesting care.
Dr. Steven Bowers, the jail's medical director, said he was surprised the average was that low.
"At times it has been more like two weeks," he said. "Until we get more staff, it isn't going to change much."
The state inspectors also wrote that "inmates are not being tested for tuberculosis on or before the seventh day of confinement," as required by the state. Dr. Bowers said the state wants the TB screening team up to compliance by a week from today.
Other problems the state cited include an inadequate smoke-management system in the jail, a faulty intercom system that prevents two-way communication from cells to jail staff, and a lack of fire-resistant mattress covers.
The staffing shortages, as well as the smoke and intercom systems, were also cited in last year's state inspection.
County Administrator Allen Clemson said that the state had signed off on a plan to reconfigure the jail's intake section to accommodate more people but that inspectors reversed themselves during this week's visit. He also said the county would look at the staffing numbers and add more if needed.
Mr. Clemson said the county has already outfitted a demonstration cell with a new smoke detection and removal system, which the state inspectors viewed and approved, and which the county plans to install shortly. He also said the county has awarded a bid contract to fix the intercom system.
Rating follows report of health problems
By JIM O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - State inspectors gave the Dallas County Jail a failing grade Thursday after a three-day surprise visit, noting staff shortages, fire-safety issues and problems with health-care delivery.
It was the second failing grade issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in two years.
The state report echoes key findings in a recent study of the jail's health programs, which found sweeping problems with the delivery of health care because of staff shortages and facility shortcomings.
County commissioners said Thursday that they were moving forward with recommendations on how to fix the health care problems. One thing they can take quick action on, Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield said, is purchasing a chest X-ray machine to improve screening for tuberculosis, a problem cited by state inspectors and the jail-health study.
The lack of screening poses a health risk to the public because inmates who go untested and untreated can spread TB once they are released, health advocates say.
"This is a crisis, an emergency," Commissioner Maurine Dickey said. "The TB machine is one thing we can fix now, so let's do it. I totally support that."
A majority of commissioners said they were disinclined to renew the county's jail health-care contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch, which the county hired in late 2002. The contract is up for renewal this fall.
Several UTMB officials traveled to Dallas on Thursday to meet with County Judge Margaret Keliher. They said later that she left the door open but made no commitment to renew the contract or supply the 53 extra medical staff members that UTMB says it needs to ensure proper health care in the jail.
Ms. Keliher said in an interview, "We're going to have to address the staffing issue whether we do it through UTMB or someone else."
Dr. Ben Raimer, chief physician executive of correctional health care for UTMB, said he hopes the commissioners "take into consideration all the facts and the status of the jail today compared with two years ago." UTMB has argued that they inherited many problems and made significant improvements.
He added: "If the commissioners don't want us there, we don't want to be there. We want to be there by invitation."
Mrs. Dickey, Mr. Mayfield and Commissioner John Wiley Price said Thursday that they would not favor renewing UTMB's contract. Judge Keliher said last week that she was "dissatisfied" with UTMB's performance but said Thursday that she was not yet prepared to say UTMB has to go.
Mr. Mayfield said the county had retained Dr. Michael Puisis, a nationally respected expert on correctional health care, to advise them on how to plan for making jail health improvements.
Mr. Mayfield said Dr. Puisis is talking with some of the regional players in chronic and mental health care, including Parkland Memorial Hospital, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and MetroCare.
Dr. Puisis recently penned a 52-page study of the county's jail health care, detailing a long list of problems that actually exacerbate health problems for inmates, pose health risks and generate unnecessary expenses. The report was completed Feb. 1, but the county has yet to make it public. The Dallas Morning News obtained a copy last week.
One of the concerns Dr. Puisis highlighted was a lack of inmate screening for tuberculosis. He noted that the county uses a skin test on some, but not all, inmates, and the lag time for test results means many inmates get released before knowing they have TB.
He noted that the Cook County Jail in Chicago gives all new inmates a chest X-ray to detect active TB immediately.
The new inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, concluded Thursday, noted several major problems with the jail's structure as well as inadequate guard staffing.
The county must respond to the failed inspection with a plan to remedy the problems. If the county doesn't show progress, the state commission could order it to make immediate changes, possibly by capping inmate population by floor, said Sgt. Don Peritz, a Sheriff's Department spokesman. That would force the county to reopen the mothballed Decker jail facility until the problems are fixed at the main jail, the Lew Sterrett Justice Center.
Sgt. Peritz said Sheriff Lupe Valdez, at a conference in Washington, had been briefed on the failed inspection and expressed concern.
The inspection report noted that the area where people are booked into jail was designed to accommodate 63 inmates but currently holds up to 350 at one time. It also notes staffing shortages throughout the facility, failing to keep the state required ratio of one guard for every 48 inmates.
The state inspectors also reported that inmates who ask for medical care are not being seen within the 72 hours required in the medical policies outlined by UTMB. On average, inmates are being treated or seen six days after requesting care.
Dr. Steven Bowers, the jail's medical director, said he was surprised the average was that low.
"At times it has been more like two weeks," he said. "Until we get more staff, it isn't going to change much."
The state inspectors also wrote that "inmates are not being tested for tuberculosis on or before the seventh day of confinement," as required by the state. Dr. Bowers said the state wants the TB screening team up to compliance by a week from today.
Other problems the state cited include an inadequate smoke-management system in the jail, a faulty intercom system that prevents two-way communication from cells to jail staff, and a lack of fire-resistant mattress covers.
The staffing shortages, as well as the smoke and intercom systems, were also cited in last year's state inspection.
County Administrator Allen Clemson said that the state had signed off on a plan to reconfigure the jail's intake section to accommodate more people but that inspectors reversed themselves during this week's visit. He also said the county would look at the staffing numbers and add more if needed.
Mr. Clemson said the county has already outfitted a demonstration cell with a new smoke detection and removal system, which the state inspectors viewed and approved, and which the county plans to install shortly. He also said the county has awarded a bid contract to fix the intercom system.
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TexasStooge
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KEY FINDINGS:
Jail's intake area, designed for 63 inmates, now holds up to 350 at one time.
Inmates who request medical care wait on average six days to be treated or seen.
Inmates are not tested for tuberculosis in a timely fashion.
The smoke detection and management system fails requirements.
The intercom system doesn't provide adequate two-way communication between cells and jail staff.
Fire resistant mattress covers are not used.
SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News / WFAA ABC 8
Jail's intake area, designed for 63 inmates, now holds up to 350 at one time.
Inmates who request medical care wait on average six days to be treated or seen.
Inmates are not tested for tuberculosis in a timely fashion.
The smoke detection and management system fails requirements.
The intercom system doesn't provide adequate two-way communication between cells and jail staff.
Fire resistant mattress covers are not used.
SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News / WFAA ABC 8
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Grand Prairie man guilty in 2 deaths
He gets life term; jurors reject self-defense claim in shooting abductors
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
GRAND PRARIE, Texas - A 64-year-old Grand Prairie man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after jurors in his capital murder trial ruled that he was not acting in self-defense when he shot two men who he said had abducted and robbed him.
Jurors in Foyil Deal's trial were in their fourth day of deliberations when two jurors holding out for acquittal changed their votes and agreed to support a guilty verdict. Mr. Deal, who had no felony crime record, was then given an automatic life sentence.
Jurors said they struggled during their long deliberations over whether Mr. Deal's actions could be justified as self-defense. By law, deadly force is allowed in Texas in cases where someone feels there is an immediate threat that deadly force will be used against them and if a reasonable person in such a situation would not retreat.
"That's the thing we wrestled with – was it self-defense or not. ... Was he in fear of bodily harm at that time," said one juror who asked that his name not be published.
The juror said the circumstances of Mr. Deal's story were unusual, and they wondered why Mr. Deal fired the gunshots when he did.
According to trial testimony, Mr. Deal told police that two men abducted him from his home in the 500 block of Cimarron Trace in January 2004. Before leaving the house, he said he was allowed to place two nitroglycerin patches on his chest for his heart condition and was able to conceal a .22-caliber handgun in his pants.
Mr. Deal was taken to an ATM, where the two men withdrew $100 though he had more than $300 in his account. The men only took $80 of the money they withdrew and left Mr. Deal $20.
It wasn't until the men returned Mr. Deal to his home that Mr. Deal said he grabbed the single-action revolver from his pocket and shot the men. Wesley Duncan, 40, of Cleburne was shot twice in the head as he sat in the car's passenger seat. Wylie Casey Jr., 35, of Arlington was shot three times in the head as he sat in the driver's seat.
Neither man had a gun, though one was wearing a ski mask over his face, and police found a bat and a knife inside the car.
Prosecutor Robert Rogers argued that Mr. Deal was not in danger at the time of the shooting, so the shootings amounted to murder.
"Deadly force was not necessary," he said. "He killed them. It was murder, not self-defense."
Mr. Deal's attorney, Mike Sullivan, said he thinks the jury was being too analytical as they tried to apply the law to his client's case. He doubted that anyone who was not there at the time could know whether his client felt threatened when he shot the men.
"I totally disagree with the jury's verdict, but that's why we're here," Mr. Sullivan said. "They looked at self-defense as a cut-and-dried thing. ... They were trying to be more analytical than this case requires. The issue was what was he thinking" when he shot them men.
Mr. Duncan's father, Joe Duncan, praised the jury's verdict.
"When you take someone's life, that's the worst thing a man can do in life, according to God," he said. "We didn't want it to go the other way. Man must be punished when he does wrong. ... We must understand this."
He gets life term; jurors reject self-defense claim in shooting abductors
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
GRAND PRARIE, Texas - A 64-year-old Grand Prairie man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after jurors in his capital murder trial ruled that he was not acting in self-defense when he shot two men who he said had abducted and robbed him.
Jurors in Foyil Deal's trial were in their fourth day of deliberations when two jurors holding out for acquittal changed their votes and agreed to support a guilty verdict. Mr. Deal, who had no felony crime record, was then given an automatic life sentence.
Jurors said they struggled during their long deliberations over whether Mr. Deal's actions could be justified as self-defense. By law, deadly force is allowed in Texas in cases where someone feels there is an immediate threat that deadly force will be used against them and if a reasonable person in such a situation would not retreat.
"That's the thing we wrestled with – was it self-defense or not. ... Was he in fear of bodily harm at that time," said one juror who asked that his name not be published.
The juror said the circumstances of Mr. Deal's story were unusual, and they wondered why Mr. Deal fired the gunshots when he did.
According to trial testimony, Mr. Deal told police that two men abducted him from his home in the 500 block of Cimarron Trace in January 2004. Before leaving the house, he said he was allowed to place two nitroglycerin patches on his chest for his heart condition and was able to conceal a .22-caliber handgun in his pants.
Mr. Deal was taken to an ATM, where the two men withdrew $100 though he had more than $300 in his account. The men only took $80 of the money they withdrew and left Mr. Deal $20.
It wasn't until the men returned Mr. Deal to his home that Mr. Deal said he grabbed the single-action revolver from his pocket and shot the men. Wesley Duncan, 40, of Cleburne was shot twice in the head as he sat in the car's passenger seat. Wylie Casey Jr., 35, of Arlington was shot three times in the head as he sat in the driver's seat.
Neither man had a gun, though one was wearing a ski mask over his face, and police found a bat and a knife inside the car.
Prosecutor Robert Rogers argued that Mr. Deal was not in danger at the time of the shooting, so the shootings amounted to murder.
"Deadly force was not necessary," he said. "He killed them. It was murder, not self-defense."
Mr. Deal's attorney, Mike Sullivan, said he thinks the jury was being too analytical as they tried to apply the law to his client's case. He doubted that anyone who was not there at the time could know whether his client felt threatened when he shot the men.
"I totally disagree with the jury's verdict, but that's why we're here," Mr. Sullivan said. "They looked at self-defense as a cut-and-dried thing. ... They were trying to be more analytical than this case requires. The issue was what was he thinking" when he shot them men.
Mr. Duncan's father, Joe Duncan, praised the jury's verdict.
"When you take someone's life, that's the worst thing a man can do in life, according to God," he said. "We didn't want it to go the other way. Man must be punished when he does wrong. ... We must understand this."
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Fort Worth police assess cadaver case
Fort Worth officials evaluate whether storing bodies in van was an offense
By JEFF MOSIER and DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH, Texas – Police were determining Thursday whether a mortuary services contractor committed a crime by storing three decomposed bodies in a van in front of his home.
If a case is pursued against Donald Short, owner of North Star Transportation Inc., authorities said they probably would charge him with misdemeanor counts of improper disposal of a body. If convicted, he could face up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
"We've got to figure out first if we have an offense," said Lt. Mark Krey, a Fort Worth police spokesman. "We do have some idea as to who these people are based on various records that are used when dealing with deceased bodies. There is a paper trail, but we need to verify and make sure who the transport company says they are actually matches up."
Officials with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office compared dental records, X-rays and medical records Thursday on the three bodies to determine identification.
All three – two elderly black men from Tarrant County and one elderly black man from Dallas County – are thought to have died of natural causes. Officials would not release their names until their identities are confirmed.
Standing on the front porch of his house Thursday in Hurst, Mr. Short said: "It'll all come out. Our lawyer said not to say anything, so we're just following his advice."
He declined to comment further.
The three bodies were originally taken to Williams Funeral Home on Ramey Avenue in southeast Fort Worth after the deaths in 1999 and 2000. Then the bodies were to have been driven to a crematorium by North Star Transportation, police said.
Officials at the medical examiner's office said the bodies appeared to have been placed in cold storage for an unknown period and then transferred to the van. It's not known how long the bodies were stored in the vehicle or why they were never cremated.
Funeral home workers at Williams declined to comment.
Despite laws and regulations governing how cadavers are treated, some people "just fall through the cracks," said David Walkinshaw, a spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association.
"There's lots of checks and balances to ensure things like these don't happen," he said. "But with 2 million deaths every year, it's inevitable that something isn't handled in exactly the right fashion."
A Texas law was passed in 2003 to help track cremated remains. That was approved in response to a 2002 scandal in which a Georgia crematory operator was found to have stashed more than 300 bodies on the crematory's grounds after the building's furnaces broke down. Ray Brent Marsh received a 12-year prison sentence in January after pleading guilty to 787 counts of abuse of a corpse, theft, fraud and making false statements.
In California, a funeral home owner was stripped of his license in 2002 after he apparently removed body parts from corpses and sold them for medical research.
In each case, Mr. Walkinshaw said it's hardest for the survivors.
"The biggest issues is that there are usually families involved," he said. "I really feel sorry for the families."
Mr. Short's company is facing a lawsuit in Tarrant County alleging that he and a funeral home mishandled a body. The lawsuit said the body was "covered with seeping blisters and that his body was discolored" because of improper embalming.
It wasn't clear in the lawsuit filings whether Mr. Short's firm was involved in the embalming. North Star Transportation received an embalming license in 1999, but that expired in 2003 when a renewal wasn't requested, a state official said.
The company also had a contract with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office to transport bodies since March 1999. That contract was suspended Wednesday, a Tarrant County spokesman said.
The grisly discovery in the back of Mr. Short's van was made Wednesday morning after it was repossessed in Hurst.
Gary McKnight, general manager of Bower Services Inc., said one of his drivers towed the white Chevrolet Express van, which had been parked in front of Mr. Short's home, about 6 a.m.
The 15-foot van was taken to the company's East Fort Worth lot and parked amid dozens of other repossessed vehicles. Two hours later, the bank that had requested the repossession called to say a body was inside the van.
"We knew the industry he was in, so we knew the possibility was there that there was a body left inside," Mr. McKnight said. "We thought it had just been left there overnight and that he hadn't had a chance to deliver it. We always take a visual look, and there didn't appear to be anything in there out of the ordinary."
Mr. McKnight said he called Fort Worth police before opening the van.
"We were told that there was one body in the van," Mr. McKnight said. "One body. But we actually had three body bags. One blue, one white and one black. They were on top of each other."
The stack of bodies was covered by a blanket and cardboard, he said.
Mr. McKnight, who has been in the towing business for 14 years, said the sight was staggering.
"We usually get CDs and umbrellas and baby car seats – just about anything you would carry in your car," he said. "This is a first."
Neighbors Monica and Bill Seidmeyer said Mr. Short's repossessed van was parked in front of his home for a few months.
"They seemed like pretty normal people," Mrs. Seidmeyer said of Mr. Short and his wife. "We were just dumbfounded."
Fort Worth officials evaluate whether storing bodies in van was an offense
By JEFF MOSIER and DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH, Texas – Police were determining Thursday whether a mortuary services contractor committed a crime by storing three decomposed bodies in a van in front of his home.
If a case is pursued against Donald Short, owner of North Star Transportation Inc., authorities said they probably would charge him with misdemeanor counts of improper disposal of a body. If convicted, he could face up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
"We've got to figure out first if we have an offense," said Lt. Mark Krey, a Fort Worth police spokesman. "We do have some idea as to who these people are based on various records that are used when dealing with deceased bodies. There is a paper trail, but we need to verify and make sure who the transport company says they are actually matches up."
Officials with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office compared dental records, X-rays and medical records Thursday on the three bodies to determine identification.
All three – two elderly black men from Tarrant County and one elderly black man from Dallas County – are thought to have died of natural causes. Officials would not release their names until their identities are confirmed.
Standing on the front porch of his house Thursday in Hurst, Mr. Short said: "It'll all come out. Our lawyer said not to say anything, so we're just following his advice."
He declined to comment further.
The three bodies were originally taken to Williams Funeral Home on Ramey Avenue in southeast Fort Worth after the deaths in 1999 and 2000. Then the bodies were to have been driven to a crematorium by North Star Transportation, police said.
Officials at the medical examiner's office said the bodies appeared to have been placed in cold storage for an unknown period and then transferred to the van. It's not known how long the bodies were stored in the vehicle or why they were never cremated.
Funeral home workers at Williams declined to comment.
Despite laws and regulations governing how cadavers are treated, some people "just fall through the cracks," said David Walkinshaw, a spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association.
"There's lots of checks and balances to ensure things like these don't happen," he said. "But with 2 million deaths every year, it's inevitable that something isn't handled in exactly the right fashion."
A Texas law was passed in 2003 to help track cremated remains. That was approved in response to a 2002 scandal in which a Georgia crematory operator was found to have stashed more than 300 bodies on the crematory's grounds after the building's furnaces broke down. Ray Brent Marsh received a 12-year prison sentence in January after pleading guilty to 787 counts of abuse of a corpse, theft, fraud and making false statements.
In California, a funeral home owner was stripped of his license in 2002 after he apparently removed body parts from corpses and sold them for medical research.
In each case, Mr. Walkinshaw said it's hardest for the survivors.
"The biggest issues is that there are usually families involved," he said. "I really feel sorry for the families."
Mr. Short's company is facing a lawsuit in Tarrant County alleging that he and a funeral home mishandled a body. The lawsuit said the body was "covered with seeping blisters and that his body was discolored" because of improper embalming.
It wasn't clear in the lawsuit filings whether Mr. Short's firm was involved in the embalming. North Star Transportation received an embalming license in 1999, but that expired in 2003 when a renewal wasn't requested, a state official said.
The company also had a contract with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office to transport bodies since March 1999. That contract was suspended Wednesday, a Tarrant County spokesman said.
The grisly discovery in the back of Mr. Short's van was made Wednesday morning after it was repossessed in Hurst.
Gary McKnight, general manager of Bower Services Inc., said one of his drivers towed the white Chevrolet Express van, which had been parked in front of Mr. Short's home, about 6 a.m.
The 15-foot van was taken to the company's East Fort Worth lot and parked amid dozens of other repossessed vehicles. Two hours later, the bank that had requested the repossession called to say a body was inside the van.
"We knew the industry he was in, so we knew the possibility was there that there was a body left inside," Mr. McKnight said. "We thought it had just been left there overnight and that he hadn't had a chance to deliver it. We always take a visual look, and there didn't appear to be anything in there out of the ordinary."
Mr. McKnight said he called Fort Worth police before opening the van.
"We were told that there was one body in the van," Mr. McKnight said. "One body. But we actually had three body bags. One blue, one white and one black. They were on top of each other."
The stack of bodies was covered by a blanket and cardboard, he said.
Mr. McKnight, who has been in the towing business for 14 years, said the sight was staggering.
"We usually get CDs and umbrellas and baby car seats – just about anything you would carry in your car," he said. "This is a first."
Neighbors Monica and Bill Seidmeyer said Mr. Short's repossessed van was parked in front of his home for a few months.
"They seemed like pretty normal people," Mrs. Seidmeyer said of Mr. Short and his wife. "We were just dumbfounded."
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TexasStooge
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Dallas ISD rolls out retirement offer
Early-exit incentives laid out to cut deficit, avoid layoffs in district
By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas school district is hoping to avoid layoffs by tempting employees to retire early.
Trustees approved an early retirement incentive at Thursday's meeting that will pay qualifying employees a lump-sum payment of $10,000 to $35,000.
The money saved is expected to help reduce a $28 million deficit projected in next year's budget. The district needs to eliminate about 400 positions; of those, about 250 are now filled. District officials hope 250 to 275 employees will take the early retirement so they can avoid laying off employees.
"The absolute goal ... is to not have any involuntary separations," interim Superintendent Larry Groppel said. "We're going to do everything within our power to prevent layoffs."
Eight hundred employees will be offered the retirement incentive, which is a lump-sum payment of up to 30 percent of the employee's salary. The deadline to apply is March 25. The district has about 20,000 employees.
District officials estimated that if 275 employees retire early, it could save $9.6 million next year and up to $15.3 million in 2007. The retired employee's position would not be filled or would be filled at a lower cost.
Lump-sum payment
Employees who submit paperwork for the early retirement incentive have until April 1 to change their minds. Those who follow through will receive their lump-sum payment in September or January.
Eligible employees include assistant principals, deans, custodians, noncampus office support, school police officers and some high-level central staff personnel. Those who are not eligible include teachers, principals, counselors, social workers, speech therapists and employees in critical needs areas, such as nurses, audiologist and athletic trainers.
Eligible employees have to be actively contributing members to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and actively working or on an approved leave of absence as of March 31. The employee also must be eligible for retirement with TRS, be eligible for contract renewal and be in good standing with the district's performance rating system.
No rehiring for 2 years
Employees who take the retirement offer can't be rehired by the district in any capacity, nor can they hold a contract with the district for at least two years.
At Thursday's meeting, trustees initiated a reduction in force, or RIF.
Officials have estimated that 400 nonteaching positions would need to be cut to help offset the budget. More than half of the positions are filled with employees"Any reduction of employees is difficult," trustee Ron Price said.
District administrators will look at several areas when deciding which employees to cut, if the retirement goal is not met. The criteria will include whether the employee is in a critical position and the employee's total years of service.
Other cost cutting
Other cost-saving measures used by the district to offset costs include implementing a hiring freeze in January and filling some central staff vacancies by reassigning current employees. An additional 120 vacant teaching positions and campus administrator positions also would be eliminated because of decreased enrollment.
Board members discussed various ways to further cut costs.
Mr. Price urged more scrutiny of consultant contracts, while trustee Jerome Garza suggested the district look at whether it really needs eight area superintendents.
"This is a golden opportunity for us to streamline," Mr. Garza said. "We need to look at some of our internal structures."
Early-exit incentives laid out to cut deficit, avoid layoffs in district
By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas school district is hoping to avoid layoffs by tempting employees to retire early.
Trustees approved an early retirement incentive at Thursday's meeting that will pay qualifying employees a lump-sum payment of $10,000 to $35,000.
The money saved is expected to help reduce a $28 million deficit projected in next year's budget. The district needs to eliminate about 400 positions; of those, about 250 are now filled. District officials hope 250 to 275 employees will take the early retirement so they can avoid laying off employees.
"The absolute goal ... is to not have any involuntary separations," interim Superintendent Larry Groppel said. "We're going to do everything within our power to prevent layoffs."
Eight hundred employees will be offered the retirement incentive, which is a lump-sum payment of up to 30 percent of the employee's salary. The deadline to apply is March 25. The district has about 20,000 employees.
District officials estimated that if 275 employees retire early, it could save $9.6 million next year and up to $15.3 million in 2007. The retired employee's position would not be filled or would be filled at a lower cost.
Lump-sum payment
Employees who submit paperwork for the early retirement incentive have until April 1 to change their minds. Those who follow through will receive their lump-sum payment in September or January.
Eligible employees include assistant principals, deans, custodians, noncampus office support, school police officers and some high-level central staff personnel. Those who are not eligible include teachers, principals, counselors, social workers, speech therapists and employees in critical needs areas, such as nurses, audiologist and athletic trainers.
Eligible employees have to be actively contributing members to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and actively working or on an approved leave of absence as of March 31. The employee also must be eligible for retirement with TRS, be eligible for contract renewal and be in good standing with the district's performance rating system.
No rehiring for 2 years
Employees who take the retirement offer can't be rehired by the district in any capacity, nor can they hold a contract with the district for at least two years.
At Thursday's meeting, trustees initiated a reduction in force, or RIF.
Officials have estimated that 400 nonteaching positions would need to be cut to help offset the budget. More than half of the positions are filled with employees"Any reduction of employees is difficult," trustee Ron Price said.
District administrators will look at several areas when deciding which employees to cut, if the retirement goal is not met. The criteria will include whether the employee is in a critical position and the employee's total years of service.
Other cost cutting
Other cost-saving measures used by the district to offset costs include implementing a hiring freeze in January and filling some central staff vacancies by reassigning current employees. An additional 120 vacant teaching positions and campus administrator positions also would be eliminated because of decreased enrollment.
Board members discussed various ways to further cut costs.
Mr. Price urged more scrutiny of consultant contracts, while trustee Jerome Garza suggested the district look at whether it really needs eight area superintendents.
"This is a golden opportunity for us to streamline," Mr. Garza said. "We need to look at some of our internal structures."
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TexasStooge
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Border Patrol agents deliver new citizen
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (The Dallas Morning News/AP) – Abandoned by an immigrant smuggler and fleeing her boyfriend, a pregnant Mexican woman walked for nearly a week through the brush before she was found.
The woman, who told a Catholic Charities nun that she didn't want to be identified or interviewed for fear her boyfriend would find her, had crossed the Texas-Mexico border near Laredo on Feb. 22, according to several accounts.
But the trip was rigorous even for able-bodied people let alone a woman in her 7th month of pregnancy. After a few days she began to slow the group down.
The smuggler – or coyote – told her that if she couldn't keep up, she would be left behind to fend for her own in the desert.
She walked a few days more alone, till she reached a farm-to-market road.
Tired, thirsty, filthy and bleeding, the 27-year-old drew the attention of two anonymous Good Samaritans at about 9 a.m. Sunday who called the Border Patrol to collect her on the rural road 60 miles north of the Mexican border.
"She kept telling me she had to go to the bathroom," Border Patrol Agent Marisol Cantu said Thursday.
But the woman was in labor. When Cantu examined her, "I could see the baby's head."
Less than 15 minutes later, Cantu and two of her colleagues delivered a 1-pound, 14-ounce baby, two months premature, in the back of her Border Patrol vehicle.
The baby was in intensive care at a Corpus Christi hospital. The mother was staying at a Catholic shelter.
"I don't have any kids, so this was a huge experience for me," Cantu said.
While Cantu swabbed the newborn's mouth out with her gloved fingers, agent Jerry Doyal, a former hospital corpsman in the Navy, pinched the umbilical cord with his fingers because he didn't have clamps.
"I've never seen anyone that far along in the brush," he said. While pregnant women sometimes cross the border so their children are born U.S. citizens, it is usually during the first trimester, he said.
The baby, named Sarai Marisol in honor of Cantu, will be a U.S. citizen because she was north of the border when she was born.
The Rev. Roger Smith baptized the 5-day-old in the hospital Thursday with the mother in attendance. Minutes later, the mother was taken to be interviewed and fingerprinted by immigration officials so she can be documented until her immigration status is resolved.
Maria Elena Garcia, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said she was unfamiliar with the case. But in general, she said, a parent's status had nothing to do with that of the child.
"The child is automatically a U.S. citizen, the parents obviously are not," she said. The mother is here illegally and "obviously subject to removal proceedings. The child will be able to petition for them when the child is 18 years of age."
She said the woman's case might be different because the infant's health was at stake.
"People just assume because you have a baby it'll be easier," said Barbara Netek, a Catholic nun who has embraced the case. "But (immigration officials) don't look favorably on that."
Netek said the woman said she wanted to stay for a better life for her child. She said the woman was vague about who had paid for her trip across the Rio Grande and whether she had U.S. contacts or a destination.
"She swam the river, she had been walking three days. She began to be sick and bleed and they left her. They left her to die. ... How could you leave a human being? Actually two human beings."
Netek said Border Patrol agents sometimes refer illegal immigrants, particularly women, to Catholic Charities.
Alejandro Lopez Bajo with the Mexican consulate in Laredo said consular officials had already contacted the woman's family in their rural town in Guanajuato.
He said it was unclear what would happen next.
"We don't know of family or destination. When we talked to her she had just delivered her baby and she was kind of dizzy, so we didn't want to pressure her," he said. "We don't know yet what is her deicison, what does she want to do."
Cantu had recently gone through medical training to be part of the Border Patrol's Border Area Rescue Team.
"That baby was coming," Cantu said. "She was coming out regardless. We were thankful we were there to help her."
Agent Jerry Cabriales, who assisted, said Border Patrol agents were accustomed to immigrants who were hungry, deydrated, and full of blisters, but this was a first.
"You have to be prepared for anything, but I never thought I was going to encounter something like this," he said.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (The Dallas Morning News/AP) – Abandoned by an immigrant smuggler and fleeing her boyfriend, a pregnant Mexican woman walked for nearly a week through the brush before she was found.
The woman, who told a Catholic Charities nun that she didn't want to be identified or interviewed for fear her boyfriend would find her, had crossed the Texas-Mexico border near Laredo on Feb. 22, according to several accounts.
But the trip was rigorous even for able-bodied people let alone a woman in her 7th month of pregnancy. After a few days she began to slow the group down.
The smuggler – or coyote – told her that if she couldn't keep up, she would be left behind to fend for her own in the desert.
She walked a few days more alone, till she reached a farm-to-market road.
Tired, thirsty, filthy and bleeding, the 27-year-old drew the attention of two anonymous Good Samaritans at about 9 a.m. Sunday who called the Border Patrol to collect her on the rural road 60 miles north of the Mexican border.
"She kept telling me she had to go to the bathroom," Border Patrol Agent Marisol Cantu said Thursday.
But the woman was in labor. When Cantu examined her, "I could see the baby's head."
Less than 15 minutes later, Cantu and two of her colleagues delivered a 1-pound, 14-ounce baby, two months premature, in the back of her Border Patrol vehicle.
The baby was in intensive care at a Corpus Christi hospital. The mother was staying at a Catholic shelter.
"I don't have any kids, so this was a huge experience for me," Cantu said.
While Cantu swabbed the newborn's mouth out with her gloved fingers, agent Jerry Doyal, a former hospital corpsman in the Navy, pinched the umbilical cord with his fingers because he didn't have clamps.
"I've never seen anyone that far along in the brush," he said. While pregnant women sometimes cross the border so their children are born U.S. citizens, it is usually during the first trimester, he said.
The baby, named Sarai Marisol in honor of Cantu, will be a U.S. citizen because she was north of the border when she was born.
The Rev. Roger Smith baptized the 5-day-old in the hospital Thursday with the mother in attendance. Minutes later, the mother was taken to be interviewed and fingerprinted by immigration officials so she can be documented until her immigration status is resolved.
Maria Elena Garcia, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said she was unfamiliar with the case. But in general, she said, a parent's status had nothing to do with that of the child.
"The child is automatically a U.S. citizen, the parents obviously are not," she said. The mother is here illegally and "obviously subject to removal proceedings. The child will be able to petition for them when the child is 18 years of age."
She said the woman's case might be different because the infant's health was at stake.
"People just assume because you have a baby it'll be easier," said Barbara Netek, a Catholic nun who has embraced the case. "But (immigration officials) don't look favorably on that."
Netek said the woman said she wanted to stay for a better life for her child. She said the woman was vague about who had paid for her trip across the Rio Grande and whether she had U.S. contacts or a destination.
"She swam the river, she had been walking three days. She began to be sick and bleed and they left her. They left her to die. ... How could you leave a human being? Actually two human beings."
Netek said Border Patrol agents sometimes refer illegal immigrants, particularly women, to Catholic Charities.
Alejandro Lopez Bajo with the Mexican consulate in Laredo said consular officials had already contacted the woman's family in their rural town in Guanajuato.
He said it was unclear what would happen next.
"We don't know of family or destination. When we talked to her she had just delivered her baby and she was kind of dizzy, so we didn't want to pressure her," he said. "We don't know yet what is her deicison, what does she want to do."
Cantu had recently gone through medical training to be part of the Border Patrol's Border Area Rescue Team.
"That baby was coming," Cantu said. "She was coming out regardless. We were thankful we were there to help her."
Agent Jerry Cabriales, who assisted, said Border Patrol agents were accustomed to immigrants who were hungry, deydrated, and full of blisters, but this was a first.
"You have to be prepared for anything, but I never thought I was going to encounter something like this," he said.
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TexasStooge
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Phone, DSL service out in West Plano, Texas
By MARISSA ALANIS / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - About 1,000 homes and small businesses in west Plano were without Verizon telephone service or Internet connectivity early Friday as the result of a damaged cable.
A subcontractor for a water company inadvertently sliced through a Verizon underground cable at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The subcontractor was performing new construction work at the southeast corner of Preston and Parker roads.
Verizon crews were on the scene through the night splicing around the damaged cable, said company spokesman Bill Kula . He said Verizon customers would not have local and long distance phone service and Internet connectivity, dial-up or DSL, at least through midnight.
WFAA ABC 8 contributed to this report.
By MARISSA ALANIS / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas - About 1,000 homes and small businesses in west Plano were without Verizon telephone service or Internet connectivity early Friday as the result of a damaged cable.
A subcontractor for a water company inadvertently sliced through a Verizon underground cable at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The subcontractor was performing new construction work at the southeast corner of Preston and Parker roads.
Verizon crews were on the scene through the night splicing around the damaged cable, said company spokesman Bill Kula . He said Verizon customers would not have local and long distance phone service and Internet connectivity, dial-up or DSL, at least through midnight.
WFAA ABC 8 contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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4 Men Attack, Stab Man Outside Pub
HOUSTON, Texas (KPRC NBC 2) - Police are searching for four men who attacked a man outside a northwest Harris County pub Friday morning, sending him to a hospital with stab wounds, Local 2 reported.
The man was stabbed in the right side of his chest outside the West End Pub on Little York at Barker Cypress shortly after 2 a.m. as he left the pub and walked to his car.
Officials rushed him to Memorial Hermann Hospital with several stab wounds, where doctors listed him in stable condition. He is expected to survive.
Investigators said they are not sure what triggered the stabbing, but witnesses told them the man and the group of men were engaged in an argument before the stabbing occurred.
Authorities told Local 2 they do not believe the victim knew his attackers.
Witnesses said the four attackers, whose ages ranged from 18 to 50 years old, took off in two cars. They remain on the run.
HOUSTON, Texas (KPRC NBC 2) - Police are searching for four men who attacked a man outside a northwest Harris County pub Friday morning, sending him to a hospital with stab wounds, Local 2 reported.
The man was stabbed in the right side of his chest outside the West End Pub on Little York at Barker Cypress shortly after 2 a.m. as he left the pub and walked to his car.
Officials rushed him to Memorial Hermann Hospital with several stab wounds, where doctors listed him in stable condition. He is expected to survive.
Investigators said they are not sure what triggered the stabbing, but witnesses told them the man and the group of men were engaged in an argument before the stabbing occurred.
Authorities told Local 2 they do not believe the victim knew his attackers.
Witnesses said the four attackers, whose ages ranged from 18 to 50 years old, took off in two cars. They remain on the run.
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TexasStooge
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Court upholds sentence in windshield death
Convicted woman's lawyer will appeal
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — An appeals court upheld the murder conviction of a woman who ran over a homeless man and then left him to die after he became lodged in her windshield.
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth upheld Chante Mallard's conviction on Thursday. Her attorney had argued that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to convict her in the death of Gregory Glenn Biggs.
Mallard was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 50 years in prison. She also received ten years for tampering with evidence for helping dump Biggs' body and burning one of her car seats in an attempted cover-up.
Robert Ford, Mallard's appellate attorney, says he will take the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
The prosecution argued that Mallard, by hitting Biggs, caused his death by driving home with the man in her windshield and then hiding him in her garage.
The appeals court judges said evidence showed that the initial impact did not kill Biggs, but that Mallard's actions afterward ensured his death.
Convicted woman's lawyer will appeal
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — An appeals court upheld the murder conviction of a woman who ran over a homeless man and then left him to die after he became lodged in her windshield.
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth upheld Chante Mallard's conviction on Thursday. Her attorney had argued that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to convict her in the death of Gregory Glenn Biggs.
Mallard was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 50 years in prison. She also received ten years for tampering with evidence for helping dump Biggs' body and burning one of her car seats in an attempted cover-up.
Robert Ford, Mallard's appellate attorney, says he will take the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
The prosecution argued that Mallard, by hitting Biggs, caused his death by driving home with the man in her windshield and then hiding him in her garage.
The appeals court judges said evidence showed that the initial impact did not kill Biggs, but that Mallard's actions afterward ensured his death.
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10 Austin Police Dept. employees reprimanded over controversial posting
AUSTIN, Texas (KVUE ABC 24) - Ten employees of the Austin Police Department face disciplinary action over the latest racially charged controversy to hit the department.
As a Feb. 18 fire destroyed Midtown Live, a predominantly black club in Northeast Austin, the words "burn baby burn" popped up on a communication terminal inside a marked police cruiser on the scene.
An internal investigation began immediately on the scene.
Now a source with the police department tells KVUE News that 10 APD employees, the majority of whom are patrol officers, will be punished, with some suspended for as many as 15 days. The others involved are dispatchers.
Two APD officers will be suspended without pay for 15 days.
One will be suspended for eight days, one for five days, and another for three days, all without pay.
A sixth officer received a written reprimand.
Four other police employees are also being reprimanded.
Austin Police Association President Mike Sheffield tells KVUE, "This was an unfortunate incident. The officers took full responsibility and received harsh discipline for the statements they made. Bars and nightclubs in Austin serve alcohol, which in turn generates calls for police assistance. These range from burglary of vehicles, disturbances, assaults, up to and including shootings. This causes frustration on the part of officers who have to respond to these calls night after night. When people are frustrated, sometimes they say things they wish they hadn't. These are good officers who made mistakes."
Austin Police Chief Stan Knee offered a written apology three days after the posting.
In the statement, Chief Knee said, "The message was inappropriate and the Austin Police Department apologizes to the business owners and community."
Chief Knee will hold a news conference Friday morning to discuss this latest development.
AUSTIN, Texas (KVUE ABC 24) - Ten employees of the Austin Police Department face disciplinary action over the latest racially charged controversy to hit the department.
As a Feb. 18 fire destroyed Midtown Live, a predominantly black club in Northeast Austin, the words "burn baby burn" popped up on a communication terminal inside a marked police cruiser on the scene.
An internal investigation began immediately on the scene.
Now a source with the police department tells KVUE News that 10 APD employees, the majority of whom are patrol officers, will be punished, with some suspended for as many as 15 days. The others involved are dispatchers.
Two APD officers will be suspended without pay for 15 days.
One will be suspended for eight days, one for five days, and another for three days, all without pay.
A sixth officer received a written reprimand.
Four other police employees are also being reprimanded.
Austin Police Association President Mike Sheffield tells KVUE, "This was an unfortunate incident. The officers took full responsibility and received harsh discipline for the statements they made. Bars and nightclubs in Austin serve alcohol, which in turn generates calls for police assistance. These range from burglary of vehicles, disturbances, assaults, up to and including shootings. This causes frustration on the part of officers who have to respond to these calls night after night. When people are frustrated, sometimes they say things they wish they hadn't. These are good officers who made mistakes."
Austin Police Chief Stan Knee offered a written apology three days after the posting.
In the statement, Chief Knee said, "The message was inappropriate and the Austin Police Department apologizes to the business owners and community."
Chief Knee will hold a news conference Friday morning to discuss this latest development.
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Police Find 4 Dallas Children Home Alone
Children Now In Custody Of CPS
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Four Dallas children are in state custody after a 5-year-old girl called 911 and was found home alone with a 3-year-old and two 2-year-olds Thursday night.
When Dallas police responded to the call from a south Oak Cliff apartment, they found four children home alone, with no idea where their mother was.
Police described the children as being dirty and uncared for.
They called Child Protective Services officials who decided to remove them all from the home.
As police got the children into their cars to take them away, KXAS-TV cameras captured a relative of the mother pleading that the children remain at home.
She pleaded with officers not to take the kids, but there was no discussion at that point.
A neighbor said police did the right thing.
Children Now In Custody Of CPS
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Four Dallas children are in state custody after a 5-year-old girl called 911 and was found home alone with a 3-year-old and two 2-year-olds Thursday night.
When Dallas police responded to the call from a south Oak Cliff apartment, they found four children home alone, with no idea where their mother was.
Police described the children as being dirty and uncared for.
They called Child Protective Services officials who decided to remove them all from the home.
As police got the children into their cars to take them away, KXAS-TV cameras captured a relative of the mother pleading that the children remain at home.
She pleaded with officers not to take the kids, but there was no discussion at that point.
A neighbor said police did the right thing.
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TexasStooge
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Church Burglars Leave Satanic Mark
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Burglars who struck a Wise County church weren't satisfied simply with taking valuables. They also left their marks on the church.
The Wise County sheriff is investigating a second break-in in the area earlier this week. Criminals also sprayed the church with graffiti before leaving the scene.
One spray-painted area was marked with "666," and another was painted with a swastika.
Members of the Crofton Baptist Church discovered the burglary and graffiti when they arrived for Wednesday night services. Investigators said the damage is similar that marks left inside a different Wise County church during an earlier break-in.
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Burglars who struck a Wise County church weren't satisfied simply with taking valuables. They also left their marks on the church.
The Wise County sheriff is investigating a second break-in in the area earlier this week. Criminals also sprayed the church with graffiti before leaving the scene.
One spray-painted area was marked with "666," and another was painted with a swastika.
Members of the Crofton Baptist Church discovered the burglary and graffiti when they arrived for Wednesday night services. Investigators said the damage is similar that marks left inside a different Wise County church during an earlier break-in.
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TexasStooge
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Here's another reason not to gamble:
Woman Who Led Police On 9-City Chase Speaks To Family
Woman Says Gambling Addiction Forced Her To Steal
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A Weatherford mother who led police on a nine-city chase apologized Thursday for what she did.
New surveillance video of the Wednesday night chase shows Lisa Duchane nearly running other cars off the highway -- even driving on the shoulder and almost losing control.
Incredibly, during the chase, Duchane called 911 from her cell phone.
"This is Lisa Duchane calling. I have two police officers chasing me ... If you could radio them and tell them if they stop chasing me, I'll turn around and go home," she said to the 911 operator.
Police eventually spiked her tires in Fort Worth, and when she tried to run an officer knocked her to the ground.
In a jailhouse interview with KXAS-TV Thursday, Duchane said she has a gambling addiction that forced her to steal.
"I have no idea what happened. I've never done anything like that in my entire life," she said.
"I have a very serious problems and it's called gambling. It gets me into a lot of trouble," Duchane said. "I keep thinking I'm going to win the big one."
The mother of six said she panicked when police tried to stop her with warrants for her arrest.
"I didn't know what to do, I just kept going," she said.
She spoke directly to her family.
"I'm sorry, I love you all. You've got to forgive me, and you've got to know I'm going to get some help," Duchane said.
She said she knows she faces jail time for her crimes, but she also said she hopes to one day start a new life.
Woman Who Led Police On 9-City Chase Speaks To Family
Woman Says Gambling Addiction Forced Her To Steal
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A Weatherford mother who led police on a nine-city chase apologized Thursday for what she did.
New surveillance video of the Wednesday night chase shows Lisa Duchane nearly running other cars off the highway -- even driving on the shoulder and almost losing control.
Incredibly, during the chase, Duchane called 911 from her cell phone.
"This is Lisa Duchane calling. I have two police officers chasing me ... If you could radio them and tell them if they stop chasing me, I'll turn around and go home," she said to the 911 operator.
Police eventually spiked her tires in Fort Worth, and when she tried to run an officer knocked her to the ground.
In a jailhouse interview with KXAS-TV Thursday, Duchane said she has a gambling addiction that forced her to steal.
"I have no idea what happened. I've never done anything like that in my entire life," she said.
"I have a very serious problems and it's called gambling. It gets me into a lot of trouble," Duchane said. "I keep thinking I'm going to win the big one."
The mother of six said she panicked when police tried to stop her with warrants for her arrest.
"I didn't know what to do, I just kept going," she said.
She spoke directly to her family.
"I'm sorry, I love you all. You've got to forgive me, and you've got to know I'm going to get some help," Duchane said.
She said she knows she faces jail time for her crimes, but she also said she hopes to one day start a new life.
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TexasStooge
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Man Accused Of Burning Child With Iron
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - An 8-year-old girl was burned with an iron, allegedly as punishment.
She and her younger brother and sister have been placed in the custody of child protective services.
Jaime Castaneda, 29, was arrested and charged with injury to a child after allegedly burning the girl on her arm for not keeping a closer eye on her younger brother.
The three children will remain in protective custody for the next week until a court hearing before a judge.
The relationship between the man and the girl was not clear.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - An 8-year-old girl was burned with an iron, allegedly as punishment.
She and her younger brother and sister have been placed in the custody of child protective services.
Jaime Castaneda, 29, was arrested and charged with injury to a child after allegedly burning the girl on her arm for not keeping a closer eye on her younger brother.
The three children will remain in protective custody for the next week until a court hearing before a judge.
The relationship between the man and the girl was not clear.
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TexasStooge
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- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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Police: 7th-Grader Was Not Intended Drive-By Shooting Target
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - A 13-year-old girl remained in critical condition Friday at Brooke Army Medical Center after she was shot during a drive-by shooting outside her South Side home.
Beatriz Diaz, a seventh-grader at New Frontiers Charter School, suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head while she and a male friend were playing basketball late Thursday afternoon in the 100 block of Caldwell.
San Antonio police said that Diaz's friend, and not the girl, was the intended target.
Police said the shooting was in retaliation to a disturbance an hour earlier at a nearby convenience store between rival gangs.
Detectives on Friday found the green GMC pickup that was believed to have been used in the shooting.
No arrests have been made.
"She didn't deserve this," said Veronica de la Rosa, the victim's aunt. "She was just outside playing basketball."
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KSAT ABC 12) - A 13-year-old girl remained in critical condition Friday at Brooke Army Medical Center after she was shot during a drive-by shooting outside her South Side home.
Beatriz Diaz, a seventh-grader at New Frontiers Charter School, suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head while she and a male friend were playing basketball late Thursday afternoon in the 100 block of Caldwell.
San Antonio police said that Diaz's friend, and not the girl, was the intended target.
Police said the shooting was in retaliation to a disturbance an hour earlier at a nearby convenience store between rival gangs.
Detectives on Friday found the green GMC pickup that was believed to have been used in the shooting.
No arrests have been made.
"She didn't deserve this," said Veronica de la Rosa, the victim's aunt. "She was just outside playing basketball."
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TexasStooge
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911 operator wouldn't help victim
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
IRVING, Texas - All of us have come to rely on 911 in the case of an emergency, but Dallas Fire-Rescue officials are investigating a call in which a 911 operator refused to help a man.
The call captured a chase - an apparent road rage incident - as it began in Irving and raced into Dallas down Airport Freeway.
The driver Brian Hedenberg is a New York moviemaker. But driving down Highway 114 he could never imagine the twist in plot when he encountered an enraged driver trying to run him off the highway.
"I needed help; I didn't know who this guy was," Hedenberg said. "911 left me high and dry."
Brian called 911, but Irving dispatchers transferred the call when the chase quickly entered Dallas city limits.
"Dallas 911, Paige speaking."
"This is Terry with Irving. I've got a transfer - it's road rage."
But instead of help, Brian then heard something different on the line.
The Dallas dispatcher said, "You haven't advised him to pull over in your city so that he can make a report with your officer? It's not a road rage for Dallas."
"Are you not willing to help this gentleman?"
"I never said that I wasn't, sir, but the incident occurred in Irving. It's not going to be a Dallas offense."
"So, while they're arguing over whose responsibilty it is, I've got some (guy) on my tail, chasing me at 100mph."
Finally, Brian hung up.
"I knew at that point that I was wasting my time with 911," he said.
Officials with Dallas Fire-Rescue have reviewed the tape, and said the ten-year veteran 911 operator did not follow procedure.
"He really needed to have a police officer to come help him," said Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Jesse Garcia. "First of all, she failed to initiate collecting of information, and second of all she failed to transfer the call to a police dispatcher."
The captain believes this is an isolated case.
Depending on what their investigation determines, the 911 operator could face disciplinary action.
As for Brian, he was able to lose the driver who was chasing him once he was run off the road and chased through some back streets.
By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8
NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
IRVING, Texas - All of us have come to rely on 911 in the case of an emergency, but Dallas Fire-Rescue officials are investigating a call in which a 911 operator refused to help a man.
The call captured a chase - an apparent road rage incident - as it began in Irving and raced into Dallas down Airport Freeway.
The driver Brian Hedenberg is a New York moviemaker. But driving down Highway 114 he could never imagine the twist in plot when he encountered an enraged driver trying to run him off the highway.
"I needed help; I didn't know who this guy was," Hedenberg said. "911 left me high and dry."
Brian called 911, but Irving dispatchers transferred the call when the chase quickly entered Dallas city limits.
"Dallas 911, Paige speaking."
"This is Terry with Irving. I've got a transfer - it's road rage."
But instead of help, Brian then heard something different on the line.
The Dallas dispatcher said, "You haven't advised him to pull over in your city so that he can make a report with your officer? It's not a road rage for Dallas."
"Are you not willing to help this gentleman?"
"I never said that I wasn't, sir, but the incident occurred in Irving. It's not going to be a Dallas offense."
"So, while they're arguing over whose responsibilty it is, I've got some (guy) on my tail, chasing me at 100mph."
Finally, Brian hung up.
"I knew at that point that I was wasting my time with 911," he said.
Officials with Dallas Fire-Rescue have reviewed the tape, and said the ten-year veteran 911 operator did not follow procedure.
"He really needed to have a police officer to come help him," said Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Jesse Garcia. "First of all, she failed to initiate collecting of information, and second of all she failed to transfer the call to a police dispatcher."
The captain believes this is an isolated case.
Depending on what their investigation determines, the 911 operator could face disciplinary action.
As for Brian, he was able to lose the driver who was chasing him once he was run off the road and chased through some back streets.
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