News from the Lone Star State
Moderator: S2k Moderators
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Federal help sought for Trinity project
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Two lawmakers briefed Dallas city leaders Monday morning on efforts to get federal funding for the Trinity River floodway project.
For the first time in five years, a water resources bill is making its way through Congress. If passed, federal funding might just trickle down to the Trinity River.
"Last week, we passed a $10 billion bill out of our subcommittee that included a great many things," said Rep. Jim Duncan, R-Tennessee, who heads the House Water Resources Subcommittee.
After taking an aerial tour of the Trinity flood plain on Sunday at the invitation of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Duncan said he better understands the need to elevate and extend existing levees to better protect the people who live in the river's vicinity.
"We are talking here about flooding, which is very, very dangerous," said Johnson. "But it would even be more dangerous if we woke up and couldn't drink that water because of contamination."
Sinking federal money into the Trinity project sounds good to city leaders who attended the presentation. They have long hoped to tap the Trinity's potential, but they know that must begin with making it safe for expanded economic development in South Dallas.
The bill that would make such improvements possible has been approved by the Senate; it will be examined by the House on Wednesday.
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Two lawmakers briefed Dallas city leaders Monday morning on efforts to get federal funding for the Trinity River floodway project.
For the first time in five years, a water resources bill is making its way through Congress. If passed, federal funding might just trickle down to the Trinity River.
"Last week, we passed a $10 billion bill out of our subcommittee that included a great many things," said Rep. Jim Duncan, R-Tennessee, who heads the House Water Resources Subcommittee.
After taking an aerial tour of the Trinity flood plain on Sunday at the invitation of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Duncan said he better understands the need to elevate and extend existing levees to better protect the people who live in the river's vicinity.
"We are talking here about flooding, which is very, very dangerous," said Johnson. "But it would even be more dangerous if we woke up and couldn't drink that water because of contamination."
Sinking federal money into the Trinity project sounds good to city leaders who attended the presentation. They have long hoped to tap the Trinity's potential, but they know that must begin with making it safe for expanded economic development in South Dallas.
The bill that would make such improvements possible has been approved by the Senate; it will be examined by the House on Wednesday.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Federal agents search home of Dallas councilman
By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The federal investigation surrounding two Dallas City Council members continued Tuesday as FBI agents executed search warrants at the home of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill.
About a dozen agents were seen carrying boxes inside the house to pack up documents. Their activities continued after 9 a.m.
An FBI spokesman said numberous sealed warrants were served on Monday and others were served on Tuesday. The spokesman said no arrests were expected on Tuesday.
On Monday, the FBI searched Hill's City Hall office, his car and the vehicle of a staff member. They also examined the city's computer system for copies of Hill's electronic mail messages.
At the same time, federal agents searched the security business of James Fantroy, another City Council member. Fantroy had no comment, but earlier told WFAA-TV he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
Hill said Monday he does not know the reason for the warrants. "All I can do is stand on the fact that I haven't done anything wrong and I just cooperate with them in every way I can, and that's what I'm going to do," Hill said.
A court document found on the seat of Hill's car indicates that the FBI is looking for items related to bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. The investigation could also be related to housing.
Agents searched the offices of Southwest Housing Corporation in Dallas on Monday, a firm that specializes in low-income housing.
By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The federal investigation surrounding two Dallas City Council members continued Tuesday as FBI agents executed search warrants at the home of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill.
About a dozen agents were seen carrying boxes inside the house to pack up documents. Their activities continued after 9 a.m.
An FBI spokesman said numberous sealed warrants were served on Monday and others were served on Tuesday. The spokesman said no arrests were expected on Tuesday.
On Monday, the FBI searched Hill's City Hall office, his car and the vehicle of a staff member. They also examined the city's computer system for copies of Hill's electronic mail messages.
At the same time, federal agents searched the security business of James Fantroy, another City Council member. Fantroy had no comment, but earlier told WFAA-TV he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
Hill said Monday he does not know the reason for the warrants. "All I can do is stand on the fact that I haven't done anything wrong and I just cooperate with them in every way I can, and that's what I'm going to do," Hill said.
A court document found on the seat of Hill's car indicates that the FBI is looking for items related to bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. The investigation could also be related to housing.
Agents searched the offices of Southwest Housing Corporation in Dallas on Monday, a firm that specializes in low-income housing.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Fire destroys Arlington apartments
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - A four-alarm fire destroyed multiple units at an Arlington apartment complex Monday afternoon, taxing firefighters who had to contend with heat from the flames as well as the hot weather.
The blaze broke out just after 3 p.m. at the Hampton Hills Apartments in the 2200 block of Eisenhower off Collins Street, north of Interstate 30. The flames spread quickly, causing a plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.
Authorities said crews on scene soon went into defensive mode, because the building's roof became unstable and a danger to firefighters working insideworking to keep the fire from spreading rather than trying to put it out.
Arlington Fire assistant chief Allen Kassen said one resident had to be rescued from an upper floor; she was brought down safely by firefighters.
"We just moved in this weekend," said Gabbie Kirkland, an apartment resident. "We haven't even spent the night yet."
Some families, like the Kirklands', rushed to see if the fire was destroying their apartments. Other residents had to be rescued as fire burned their belongings.
Cleveland Wilson saw the fire from the Interstate and came to the seen to see if he could help. When he was six-years-old, he and his family lost their home in a fire.
"I know the pain and the memories and all that I lost," he said. "And what a lot of people don't realize is you got to think about the life."
He rushed to the first door he could reach and helped a family to safety.
Initially fire fighters tried to put the fire out from the inside, but when the roof and attic started to cave in commanders ordered the firefighters out of the apartments.
In all 30 people, including 12 children, lost their homes. However, there were no injuries.
Fire officials were investigating reports that a barbecue may have started the fire.
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - A four-alarm fire destroyed multiple units at an Arlington apartment complex Monday afternoon, taxing firefighters who had to contend with heat from the flames as well as the hot weather.
The blaze broke out just after 3 p.m. at the Hampton Hills Apartments in the 2200 block of Eisenhower off Collins Street, north of Interstate 30. The flames spread quickly, causing a plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.
Authorities said crews on scene soon went into defensive mode, because the building's roof became unstable and a danger to firefighters working insideworking to keep the fire from spreading rather than trying to put it out.
Arlington Fire assistant chief Allen Kassen said one resident had to be rescued from an upper floor; she was brought down safely by firefighters.
"We just moved in this weekend," said Gabbie Kirkland, an apartment resident. "We haven't even spent the night yet."
Some families, like the Kirklands', rushed to see if the fire was destroying their apartments. Other residents had to be rescued as fire burned their belongings.
Cleveland Wilson saw the fire from the Interstate and came to the seen to see if he could help. When he was six-years-old, he and his family lost their home in a fire.
"I know the pain and the memories and all that I lost," he said. "And what a lot of people don't realize is you got to think about the life."
He rushed to the first door he could reach and helped a family to safety.
Initially fire fighters tried to put the fire out from the inside, but when the roof and attic started to cave in commanders ordered the firefighters out of the apartments.
In all 30 people, including 12 children, lost their homes. However, there were no injuries.
Fire officials were investigating reports that a barbecue may have started the fire.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Mom on trial for dumping baby in trash (Updated)
By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas — Testimony was under way Monday at the trial of a Hurst mother accused of dumping her newborn baby in a trash bin.
Dana Wilson, 25, is charged with attempted capital murder, and could face a long jail term if convicted of throwing away her son, who doctors now say is mentally retarded as a result of the ordeal.
Wilson has admitted to giving birth to the unwanted baby alone at her home shortly before Thanksgiving in 2003.
Police said she wrapped the infant in two plastic garbage bags and discarded him in a dumpster behind a strip shopping center in Hurst.
Katy Marquis, an employee of a veterinary clinic, was the first to testify at Wilson's trial. She was throwing away trash when she thought she heard a kitten.
She said she alerted her boss, who climbed into the trash container and dug until he found the bag with a newborn baby inside.
"He opened it up, and he said, 'It is a baby; dial 911,'" Marquis said. "He looked good; he was breathing good. His little hands and feet were still blue, but they were still curled up in the fetal position."
The boy is now in the custody of his paternal grandparents. Doctors blame the child's mental retardation on being oxygen-deprived during the time he spent in the plastic bag.
"I still can't get over the fact that somebody would throw a little person like that in the trash," Marquis said. "I just hope she doesn't ever get a chance to do this again."
By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas — Testimony was under way Monday at the trial of a Hurst mother accused of dumping her newborn baby in a trash bin.
Dana Wilson, 25, is charged with attempted capital murder, and could face a long jail term if convicted of throwing away her son, who doctors now say is mentally retarded as a result of the ordeal.
Wilson has admitted to giving birth to the unwanted baby alone at her home shortly before Thanksgiving in 2003.
Police said she wrapped the infant in two plastic garbage bags and discarded him in a dumpster behind a strip shopping center in Hurst.
Katy Marquis, an employee of a veterinary clinic, was the first to testify at Wilson's trial. She was throwing away trash when she thought she heard a kitten.
She said she alerted her boss, who climbed into the trash container and dug until he found the bag with a newborn baby inside.
"He opened it up, and he said, 'It is a baby; dial 911,'" Marquis said. "He looked good; he was breathing good. His little hands and feet were still blue, but they were still curled up in the fetal position."
The boy is now in the custody of his paternal grandparents. Doctors blame the child's mental retardation on being oxygen-deprived during the time he spent in the plastic bag.
"I still can't get over the fact that somebody would throw a little person like that in the trash," Marquis said. "I just hope she doesn't ever get a chance to do this again."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Holdup suspects dressed as police (Updated)
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Three men dressed as police officers held up a Fort Worth bank Monday morning.
Employees at the Bank One branch at Ramey Avenue and Loop 820 told investigators that the men—wearing black clothing with "police" and "task force" lettering on their shirts—entered the building and demanded cash.
One of the holdup men fired a handgun and hit a television monitor.
The suspects were last seen speeding away northbound on Loop 820 in a gold Toyota Camry.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Three men dressed as police officers held up a Fort Worth bank Monday morning.
Employees at the Bank One branch at Ramey Avenue and Loop 820 told investigators that the men—wearing black clothing with "police" and "task force" lettering on their shirts—entered the building and demanded cash.
One of the holdup men fired a handgun and hit a television monitor.
The suspects were last seen speeding away northbound on Loop 820 in a gold Toyota Camry.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Frisco Cenference Center holds first event
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
FRISCO, Texas - Baseball fans who came to fan fest seemed impressed with the sprawling new Frisco Conference Center located at 7600 John Q. Hammons Drive.
The center's very first event - a hitting, pitching and baserunning extravaganza - kicked off the Texas League All-Star game that will be held Tuesday night at the adjacent Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Ballpark..
"In order to fill the hotels you need a conference center, or some type of convention center, that's going to allow you the flexibility to have trade shows and festivals and activities such as tonight," said Mike McCall, Roughriders' president.
The conference center is attached to the 12-story Embassy Suites Hotel that opened last month. Frisco leaders said they believe the complex will attract new business and that it's North dallas' largest meeting center.
"They go shopping because they're not in meetings all day," said Mike Simpson, Frisco's mayor. "They go over to the retail centers. They eat in our restaurants. They go out at night. It brings a lot of economic development to the city and it's something we've never had before."
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
FRISCO, Texas - Baseball fans who came to fan fest seemed impressed with the sprawling new Frisco Conference Center located at 7600 John Q. Hammons Drive.
The center's very first event - a hitting, pitching and baserunning extravaganza - kicked off the Texas League All-Star game that will be held Tuesday night at the adjacent Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Ballpark..
"In order to fill the hotels you need a conference center, or some type of convention center, that's going to allow you the flexibility to have trade shows and festivals and activities such as tonight," said Mike McCall, Roughriders' president.
The conference center is attached to the 12-story Embassy Suites Hotel that opened last month. Frisco leaders said they believe the complex will attract new business and that it's North dallas' largest meeting center.
"They go shopping because they're not in meetings all day," said Mike Simpson, Frisco's mayor. "They go over to the retail centers. They eat in our restaurants. They go out at night. It brings a lot of economic development to the city and it's something we've never had before."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
FBI continues to probe Hill, Fantroy
Warrants sealed; 2 say they're in dark
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - FBI agents were continuing to execute search warrants Tuesday in connection with an investigation that has centered on two City Council members and the offices of a prominent low-income housing developer.
A team of agents returned early Tuesday to the home of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, a one-story, brown-brick house in the 1700 block of Boca Chica, near Oak Cliff Country Club.
About a dozen agents were seen carrying boxes inside the house to pack up documents. Their activities continued after 9 a.m.
“We’re still conducting searches today … but I’m not at liberty to provide a total number,” FBI Special Agent Lori Bailey said. “It’s my understanding there will be more activity today in connection with the investigation.”
Agents served search warrants Monday at Mr. Hill’s City Hall office and law firm and at council member James Fantroy's security company. Search warrants also were executed at the offices of Southwest Housing Development Co.
Agent Bailey said she could not comment on the nature of the investigation, and she declined to say whether other public officials are under scrutiny.
"We are executing warrants as part of an ongoing investigation," she said. "They are under seal."
A copy of one search warrant indicated the search was for materials related to allegations of bribery, contraband, money laundering, wire fraud or conspiracy to commit those offenses.
Mr. Hill said he had done nothing wrong.
"And they haven't said I have," Mr. Hill said Monday night after emerging from his office.
"I don't really have a lot of information from them – they said it's a wide-ranging investigation involving a number of issues. I'll be at work tomorrow and Wednesday and the day after."
Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, uniformed Dallas police and several men dressed in suits entered the Dallas mayoral suite, which includes the offices of Mayor Laura Miller, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia and Mr. Hill.
Police and FBI agents shuttled in and out of the suite for more than three hours, flashing their badges to City Hall security officers. Investigators shuffled through documents and snapped photographs as Mr. Hill sat in his office, out of view.
Several Dallas police officers stood guard outside the office as Mr. Hill's assistant, Steve Williams, paced in and out.
"They've been looking at everything; they're taking pictures of everything," Mr. Hill said. "I've answered any questions they've been asking. This is a very, very serious matter."
City Manager Mary Suhm said federal agents also pulled e-mails related to Mr. Hill from the city's computer information services department Monday afternoon. She said that no FBI officials had contacted her Monday and that she knows of no other city offices that had been searched.
Also searched by agents Monday was an automobile – parked in a City Hall lot – belonging to D'Angelo Lee, appointed by Mr. Hill to the City Plan Commission in 2003. He said he didn't know why agents had searched his car.
Southwest Housing Development is owned by Brian Potashnik, a prominent Dallas developer who specializes in low-income housing, particularly in the southern sector. According to the company's Web site, it owns more than 9,000 units in Texas and Colorado.
Mr. Potashnik's housing company is under criminal investigation in Garland over allegations that executives forged a city letter to obtain $3.9 million in funding from Wachovia Securities.
Mr. Potashnik, who could not be reached for comment, is an acquaintance of Ms. Miller and has contributed thousands of dollars to her political campaigns. He also has made campaign contributions to Mr. Hill.
Agent Bailey said investigators were also looking for evidence at other locations.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, confirmed her agency's involvement in the investigation but declined to comment.
Reasons unknown
Official information on the search warrants was not available Monday evening. Search warrants – and any affidavits used to obtain them from a judge – are generally unsealed at the discretion of a prosecutor or judge.
Agent Bailey said the FBI also had obtained a search warrant for Mr. Hill's one-story brown-brick home in the 1700 block of Boca Chica, near Oak Cliff Country Club."I don't know anything," Mr. Hill's wife, Vivian Hill, said Monday afternoon. "This is the first I have heard of all this. You're actually the bearer of bad news."
Mr. Fantroy sat alone in his City Council office while FBI agents searched J.L.'s Security and Investigations, his family business in the 2200 block of Lamont Avenue. He was demanding information from aides and reporters. He appeared angry and bewildered.
"I haven't talked to a soul!" he shouted. "I haven't heard from no police, no investigation. I've been right here. Why don't they come talk to me?"
When told of the search at his business, Mr. Fantroy dialed his son's phone number over and over. No one answered. When told that a shotgun had been removed from his son's sport utility vehicle, he raised his eyebrows. The shotgun was later returned.
"There ain't nothing out there," he said.
Mr. Fantroy questioned why agents didn't search his council office.
"If they want to come in here, they're welcome," he said.
Mary Watkins, president of the Arden Terrace Neighborhood Association in Mr. Fantroy's council district, said she thinks Mr. Fantroy is an honest person.
"I have had nothing but good dealings with him," she said. "He's always been very honest, trustworthy as far as I know."
Linda Sorrells, an attorney for Mr. Fantroy, showed up at the council member's security company late Monday afternoon. She said she did not know whom the agents were targeting.
"There are no arrest warrants, just a search warrant," she said. "They're searching for records and documents."
Several FBI cars were parked haphazardly in front of the worn, metal building with peeling paint.
James Fantroy III, the council member's grandson, said agents had not ransacked the building.
"We've been cooperating with the search," he said, describing himself as a security guard for the firm. "We've got nothing to hide. It's a little embarrassing. I know we are legitimate."
Asked what ties his family has with Mr. Hill, he said, "Little to none that I know of."
Agents also served search warrants at Burt Barr & Associates, the law firm where Mr. Hill works. A receptionist confirmed that the law office was closed Monday afternoon while agents executed the warrants.
John Barr, an attorney at the firm, was listed as Mr. Hill's campaign treasurer during his last run for City Council.
'High degree of fear'
Federal agents declined to provide any information about why they served the warrants at the law firm.
Paul Coggins, a former U.S. attorney in Dallas, described the FBI actions as highly unusual. He said executing a search warrant, as opposed to issuing a subpoena for records, means federal authorities are "worried about the loss of records."
"To serve a search warrant on such high-profile people, you'd have to have a high degree of fear" about records disappearing, said Mr. Coggins, now in private practice in Dallas.
"Searching a lawyer's office raises even more questions," he said.
Mr. Coggins said a case against a public official usually "starts with someone on the inside" providing information to federal officials.
Council members said Monday that they knew nothing about the investigation.
"Are you kidding me?" council member Mitchell Rasansky said when told of the searches. "We don't need any more bad publicity for the City Council.
"I'm in a state of shock, an absolute state of shock. What the hell is going on? We have a lot of important business. We don't need this."
Warrants sealed; 2 say they're in dark
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - FBI agents were continuing to execute search warrants Tuesday in connection with an investigation that has centered on two City Council members and the offices of a prominent low-income housing developer.
A team of agents returned early Tuesday to the home of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, a one-story, brown-brick house in the 1700 block of Boca Chica, near Oak Cliff Country Club.
About a dozen agents were seen carrying boxes inside the house to pack up documents. Their activities continued after 9 a.m.
“We’re still conducting searches today … but I’m not at liberty to provide a total number,” FBI Special Agent Lori Bailey said. “It’s my understanding there will be more activity today in connection with the investigation.”
Agents served search warrants Monday at Mr. Hill’s City Hall office and law firm and at council member James Fantroy's security company. Search warrants also were executed at the offices of Southwest Housing Development Co.
Agent Bailey said she could not comment on the nature of the investigation, and she declined to say whether other public officials are under scrutiny.
"We are executing warrants as part of an ongoing investigation," she said. "They are under seal."
A copy of one search warrant indicated the search was for materials related to allegations of bribery, contraband, money laundering, wire fraud or conspiracy to commit those offenses.
Mr. Hill said he had done nothing wrong.
"And they haven't said I have," Mr. Hill said Monday night after emerging from his office.
"I don't really have a lot of information from them – they said it's a wide-ranging investigation involving a number of issues. I'll be at work tomorrow and Wednesday and the day after."
Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, uniformed Dallas police and several men dressed in suits entered the Dallas mayoral suite, which includes the offices of Mayor Laura Miller, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia and Mr. Hill.
Police and FBI agents shuttled in and out of the suite for more than three hours, flashing their badges to City Hall security officers. Investigators shuffled through documents and snapped photographs as Mr. Hill sat in his office, out of view.
Several Dallas police officers stood guard outside the office as Mr. Hill's assistant, Steve Williams, paced in and out.
"They've been looking at everything; they're taking pictures of everything," Mr. Hill said. "I've answered any questions they've been asking. This is a very, very serious matter."
City Manager Mary Suhm said federal agents also pulled e-mails related to Mr. Hill from the city's computer information services department Monday afternoon. She said that no FBI officials had contacted her Monday and that she knows of no other city offices that had been searched.
Also searched by agents Monday was an automobile – parked in a City Hall lot – belonging to D'Angelo Lee, appointed by Mr. Hill to the City Plan Commission in 2003. He said he didn't know why agents had searched his car.
Southwest Housing Development is owned by Brian Potashnik, a prominent Dallas developer who specializes in low-income housing, particularly in the southern sector. According to the company's Web site, it owns more than 9,000 units in Texas and Colorado.
Mr. Potashnik's housing company is under criminal investigation in Garland over allegations that executives forged a city letter to obtain $3.9 million in funding from Wachovia Securities.
Mr. Potashnik, who could not be reached for comment, is an acquaintance of Ms. Miller and has contributed thousands of dollars to her political campaigns. He also has made campaign contributions to Mr. Hill.
Agent Bailey said investigators were also looking for evidence at other locations.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, confirmed her agency's involvement in the investigation but declined to comment.
Reasons unknown
Official information on the search warrants was not available Monday evening. Search warrants – and any affidavits used to obtain them from a judge – are generally unsealed at the discretion of a prosecutor or judge.
Agent Bailey said the FBI also had obtained a search warrant for Mr. Hill's one-story brown-brick home in the 1700 block of Boca Chica, near Oak Cliff Country Club."I don't know anything," Mr. Hill's wife, Vivian Hill, said Monday afternoon. "This is the first I have heard of all this. You're actually the bearer of bad news."
Mr. Fantroy sat alone in his City Council office while FBI agents searched J.L.'s Security and Investigations, his family business in the 2200 block of Lamont Avenue. He was demanding information from aides and reporters. He appeared angry and bewildered.
"I haven't talked to a soul!" he shouted. "I haven't heard from no police, no investigation. I've been right here. Why don't they come talk to me?"
When told of the search at his business, Mr. Fantroy dialed his son's phone number over and over. No one answered. When told that a shotgun had been removed from his son's sport utility vehicle, he raised his eyebrows. The shotgun was later returned.
"There ain't nothing out there," he said.
Mr. Fantroy questioned why agents didn't search his council office.
"If they want to come in here, they're welcome," he said.
Mary Watkins, president of the Arden Terrace Neighborhood Association in Mr. Fantroy's council district, said she thinks Mr. Fantroy is an honest person.
"I have had nothing but good dealings with him," she said. "He's always been very honest, trustworthy as far as I know."
Linda Sorrells, an attorney for Mr. Fantroy, showed up at the council member's security company late Monday afternoon. She said she did not know whom the agents were targeting.
"There are no arrest warrants, just a search warrant," she said. "They're searching for records and documents."
Several FBI cars were parked haphazardly in front of the worn, metal building with peeling paint.
James Fantroy III, the council member's grandson, said agents had not ransacked the building.
"We've been cooperating with the search," he said, describing himself as a security guard for the firm. "We've got nothing to hide. It's a little embarrassing. I know we are legitimate."
Asked what ties his family has with Mr. Hill, he said, "Little to none that I know of."
Agents also served search warrants at Burt Barr & Associates, the law firm where Mr. Hill works. A receptionist confirmed that the law office was closed Monday afternoon while agents executed the warrants.
John Barr, an attorney at the firm, was listed as Mr. Hill's campaign treasurer during his last run for City Council.
'High degree of fear'
Federal agents declined to provide any information about why they served the warrants at the law firm.
Paul Coggins, a former U.S. attorney in Dallas, described the FBI actions as highly unusual. He said executing a search warrant, as opposed to issuing a subpoena for records, means federal authorities are "worried about the loss of records."
"To serve a search warrant on such high-profile people, you'd have to have a high degree of fear" about records disappearing, said Mr. Coggins, now in private practice in Dallas.
"Searching a lawyer's office raises even more questions," he said.
Mr. Coggins said a case against a public official usually "starts with someone on the inside" providing information to federal officials.
Council members said Monday that they knew nothing about the investigation.
"Are you kidding me?" council member Mitchell Rasansky said when told of the searches. "We don't need any more bad publicity for the City Council.
"I'm in a state of shock, an absolute state of shock. What the hell is going on? We have a lot of important business. We don't need this."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Paralegal accused of posing as lawyer
Grand jury to consider charges today; he denies misrepresenting himself
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Judge Gracie Lewis heard the rumor at lunch: Someone was making the rounds at the Dallas County courthouse posing as an attorney.
Hours later, a man she'd never seen before hustled into her court carrying a handful of documents and preparing to ask her to delay a hearing for a juvenile.
"When he walked in, I knew it was him," said Judge Lewis, who was struck by the fact that he didn't identify himself, as is customary. "I asked him specifically, 'Are you an attorney?' "
John Dejean gave her a law license number, but a quick Internet search found that it wasn't his.
At that point, lawyers and judges say, a bold charade that had gone on for months – and may have helped get a client charged with capital murder – began to unravel. A grand jury today will consider indicting Mr. Dejean on charges of theft and falsely claiming to be an attorney.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for theft and up to 10 years for posing as an attorney.
In the theft allegation, Mr. Dejean is accused of charging more than $1,500 to a client for a variety of tasks including representing a relative in a parole hearing, filing a divorce and drafting a restraining order. Authorities say the work was not performed, but they declined to discuss details.
Mr. Dejean, 50, maintains he is innocent, saying he was only an "attorney representative." In all the cases in question, he says, he was acting on behalf of other lawyers. He says he doesn't know anything about the theft allegation.
Mr. Dejean is in fact a successful paralegal who represents mostly poor clients. He has done a remarkable job reassembling his life after going to prison for check forgery in 1993.
For about eight years, he has done paralegal work – filing and drafting documents, doing research and performing many other tasks short of courtroom work, which is reserved for lawyers.
In recent years, Mr. Dejean established a bustling paralegal business, mainly helping convicts file legal motions. In his wallet, he carried a folded-up newspaper clipping detailing how his work helped free a man who had languished in prison for more than 30 years.
Clients seeking help with problems from traffic tickets to homicides streamed in and out of the glass-walled suite he opened in a bank tower near the Frank Crowley Courts Building. Lawyers say Mr. Dejean boasted that he had plenty of paying customers he could refer to them.
But clients, lawyers and judges say Mr. Dejean crossed the line along the way. They say he started trying to do the work of a full-fledged attorney by himself.
Most of the cases in which they say he misrepresented himself as a licensed attorney involved his putting himself in a position where they assumed he was.
State District Judge Manny Alvarez said he became suspicious when Mr. Dejean walked into his courtroom to ask him for a bond reduction hearing, something only a lawyer can do. When confronted, Mr. Dejean acknowledged that he was not a lawyer. Judge Alvarez said he then confiscated the court file Mr. Dejean was carrying.
A capital murder case
Jimmy Scoggins says his son is in jail facing capital murder charges in large part because of Mr. Dejeans' legal advice. Timothy Scoggins scrounged up $3,000 and turned to Mr. Dejean for help when he learned that Dallas police wanted to talk to him about a drug-related quadruple homicide in January.
Jimmy Scoggins drove his son to meet Mr. Dejean in the parking lot outside Dallas police headquarters. Mr. Dejean advised the younger Mr. Scoggins that police were interested in him only as a witness to the robbery and shooting and accompanied him to give a statement to detectives.
"He told me that we didn't have anything to worry about, that everything would be all right and the detective didn't want my son for anything but a witness," Jimmy Scoggins said.
He said he and his son thought Mr. Dejean was an attorney.
According to court records, Mr. Scoggins told police he had been present during the robbery as a lookout and had carried a shotgun and fired at a fleeing car.
Mr. Scoggins was arrested a few weeks later and charged with capital murder, as any suspect in a robbery that leads to a homicide can be, even if authorities believe the suspect wasn't the killer.
Mr. Scoggins faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. He declined an interview request from jail.
His statement would be critical in his prosecution because the only evidence linking Mr. Scoggins to the crime is the statement of a co-defendant, which isn't admissible in trial without corroboration.
"My son's in a situation now that he shouldn't even be in because his case was handled by someone who isn't even a lawyer," Jimmy Scoggins said.
Mr. Dejean says he did sit with the younger Mr. Scoggins when he talked with police detectives but says he never gave him legal advice and told the officers present that he was there only as a friend. He says that he was given only $700 for Mr. Scoggins' bail fund, but that it hasn't been enough to get the man out of jail.
"People think if they can lie about me, it's going to help Tim," Mr. Dejean said. "Tim is in jail because there was a shooting and he was there."
Mr. Scoggins now has a licensed attorney, public defender Michael Byck, who said he hopes he can get the statement suppressed. Prosecutors say that's not likely because Mr. Scoggins gave the statement voluntarily and police were not part of any deception.
Maintaining innocence
Mr. Dejean blames the allegations on miscommunication or lies. He said that because he has a flourishing paralegal business, he has no incentive to pose as an attorney.
"These people coming out of the woodwork saying I'm an attorney is a straight lie," he said.
The confusion started, he said, when an attorney he worked closely with began having personal problems. Mr. Dejean said he had to secure delays for cases and find other lawyers to handle them – all duties that a paralegal can perform. That attorney did not return phone calls.
Sharion Fisher, another attorney, said she agreed to take on some of the clients. But she said that relationship ended when she learned that someone had signed her name on some court documents for some cases she knew nothing about. A federal lawsuit in Florida was also filed using her name.
"I don't do cases out of the state, and I don't do very much on the federal level," Ms. Fisher said. "Somebody signed my name on the pleadings – I sure didn't. That's when I disassociated myself with him totally. You don't sign my name on anything without permission."
Lavanda Collins hired Mr. Dejean when someone stole her identity and began writing checks in her name, leading to her arrest. Months later, while her case languished and while she thought Mr. Dejean was acting as her attorney to get her cleared, Ms. Collins learned she could have easily been cleared of wrongdoing with a couple of phone calls to investigators that Mr. Dejean never made.
She says she never got her $500 back.
"He acts like he's more for you than the rest of the world," Ms. Collins said. "But he ran over me harder than the person who stole my identity."
Mr. Dejean's most celebrated client, Robert Coney, said Mr. Dejean played only a minor role in his release from prison.
Mr. Coney had his 1962 murder conviction overturned more than 30 years ago but stayed in prison because the paperwork somehow got lost. He said he toiled mostly on his own to win his release and later got help from attorney David O'Neil and, to a limited degree, Mr. Dejean.
A Texas appeals court set aside his conviction in December, but he was picked up on a 1959 prison escape warrant out of Georgia. He was finally released in January.
But Mr. Coney praised Mr. Dejean for one thing – acting quickly to make copies of legal documents when his case was stalled in federal court because his motion was filed without the required 13 copies. Mr. Dejean rushed to make extra copies and got the case back on track. Mr. Coney said he appreciates Mr. Dejean's work.
"He played a role, and he was sincere about helping me when I needed help on doing minor matters," Mr. Coney said. But he added, "He was not the catalyst or instrument in my appeal that most people have been made to believe."
In the spotlight
Mr. Dejean has found himself in the public eye several times. In 1996, while still in jail, he testified during a Dallas capital murder trial that a cellmate had confessed to paying gang members to kill another man.
When a gunman opened fire at the Smith County courthouse in Tyler in February, Mr. Dejean happened to be at the courthouse that day on business. He described the drama to TV reporters at the scene.
Since his recent troubles began, Mr. Dejean has been far less in the limelight and even a little difficult to find.
Clients demanding service or a refund continue visiting his office, only to turn around when they see the lights turned off and the mail piled up beyond the glass-front façade.
"People come into my office looking for him, angry," said attorney Lena Levario, whose office is across the hall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT THEY CAN DO
Attorneys are licensed professionals with authority to solve problems for their clients. They can:
•Give legal advice on business and personal decisions.
•Represent clients before a judge.
•Do everything a paralegal can do.
Paralegals increasingly handle many of the research and support tasks traditionally handled by attorneys, including:
•Investigating facts of a case.
•Performing legal research.
•Preparing reports, legal motions and contracts.
•They cannot give legal advice or appear before a judge unless assisting an attorney.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
Grand jury to consider charges today; he denies misrepresenting himself
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Judge Gracie Lewis heard the rumor at lunch: Someone was making the rounds at the Dallas County courthouse posing as an attorney.
Hours later, a man she'd never seen before hustled into her court carrying a handful of documents and preparing to ask her to delay a hearing for a juvenile.
"When he walked in, I knew it was him," said Judge Lewis, who was struck by the fact that he didn't identify himself, as is customary. "I asked him specifically, 'Are you an attorney?' "
John Dejean gave her a law license number, but a quick Internet search found that it wasn't his.
At that point, lawyers and judges say, a bold charade that had gone on for months – and may have helped get a client charged with capital murder – began to unravel. A grand jury today will consider indicting Mr. Dejean on charges of theft and falsely claiming to be an attorney.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for theft and up to 10 years for posing as an attorney.
In the theft allegation, Mr. Dejean is accused of charging more than $1,500 to a client for a variety of tasks including representing a relative in a parole hearing, filing a divorce and drafting a restraining order. Authorities say the work was not performed, but they declined to discuss details.
Mr. Dejean, 50, maintains he is innocent, saying he was only an "attorney representative." In all the cases in question, he says, he was acting on behalf of other lawyers. He says he doesn't know anything about the theft allegation.
Mr. Dejean is in fact a successful paralegal who represents mostly poor clients. He has done a remarkable job reassembling his life after going to prison for check forgery in 1993.
For about eight years, he has done paralegal work – filing and drafting documents, doing research and performing many other tasks short of courtroom work, which is reserved for lawyers.
In recent years, Mr. Dejean established a bustling paralegal business, mainly helping convicts file legal motions. In his wallet, he carried a folded-up newspaper clipping detailing how his work helped free a man who had languished in prison for more than 30 years.
Clients seeking help with problems from traffic tickets to homicides streamed in and out of the glass-walled suite he opened in a bank tower near the Frank Crowley Courts Building. Lawyers say Mr. Dejean boasted that he had plenty of paying customers he could refer to them.
But clients, lawyers and judges say Mr. Dejean crossed the line along the way. They say he started trying to do the work of a full-fledged attorney by himself.
Most of the cases in which they say he misrepresented himself as a licensed attorney involved his putting himself in a position where they assumed he was.
State District Judge Manny Alvarez said he became suspicious when Mr. Dejean walked into his courtroom to ask him for a bond reduction hearing, something only a lawyer can do. When confronted, Mr. Dejean acknowledged that he was not a lawyer. Judge Alvarez said he then confiscated the court file Mr. Dejean was carrying.
A capital murder case
Jimmy Scoggins says his son is in jail facing capital murder charges in large part because of Mr. Dejeans' legal advice. Timothy Scoggins scrounged up $3,000 and turned to Mr. Dejean for help when he learned that Dallas police wanted to talk to him about a drug-related quadruple homicide in January.
Jimmy Scoggins drove his son to meet Mr. Dejean in the parking lot outside Dallas police headquarters. Mr. Dejean advised the younger Mr. Scoggins that police were interested in him only as a witness to the robbery and shooting and accompanied him to give a statement to detectives.
"He told me that we didn't have anything to worry about, that everything would be all right and the detective didn't want my son for anything but a witness," Jimmy Scoggins said.
He said he and his son thought Mr. Dejean was an attorney.
According to court records, Mr. Scoggins told police he had been present during the robbery as a lookout and had carried a shotgun and fired at a fleeing car.
Mr. Scoggins was arrested a few weeks later and charged with capital murder, as any suspect in a robbery that leads to a homicide can be, even if authorities believe the suspect wasn't the killer.
Mr. Scoggins faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. He declined an interview request from jail.
His statement would be critical in his prosecution because the only evidence linking Mr. Scoggins to the crime is the statement of a co-defendant, which isn't admissible in trial without corroboration.
"My son's in a situation now that he shouldn't even be in because his case was handled by someone who isn't even a lawyer," Jimmy Scoggins said.
Mr. Dejean says he did sit with the younger Mr. Scoggins when he talked with police detectives but says he never gave him legal advice and told the officers present that he was there only as a friend. He says that he was given only $700 for Mr. Scoggins' bail fund, but that it hasn't been enough to get the man out of jail.
"People think if they can lie about me, it's going to help Tim," Mr. Dejean said. "Tim is in jail because there was a shooting and he was there."
Mr. Scoggins now has a licensed attorney, public defender Michael Byck, who said he hopes he can get the statement suppressed. Prosecutors say that's not likely because Mr. Scoggins gave the statement voluntarily and police were not part of any deception.
Maintaining innocence
Mr. Dejean blames the allegations on miscommunication or lies. He said that because he has a flourishing paralegal business, he has no incentive to pose as an attorney.
"These people coming out of the woodwork saying I'm an attorney is a straight lie," he said.
The confusion started, he said, when an attorney he worked closely with began having personal problems. Mr. Dejean said he had to secure delays for cases and find other lawyers to handle them – all duties that a paralegal can perform. That attorney did not return phone calls.
Sharion Fisher, another attorney, said she agreed to take on some of the clients. But she said that relationship ended when she learned that someone had signed her name on some court documents for some cases she knew nothing about. A federal lawsuit in Florida was also filed using her name.
"I don't do cases out of the state, and I don't do very much on the federal level," Ms. Fisher said. "Somebody signed my name on the pleadings – I sure didn't. That's when I disassociated myself with him totally. You don't sign my name on anything without permission."
Lavanda Collins hired Mr. Dejean when someone stole her identity and began writing checks in her name, leading to her arrest. Months later, while her case languished and while she thought Mr. Dejean was acting as her attorney to get her cleared, Ms. Collins learned she could have easily been cleared of wrongdoing with a couple of phone calls to investigators that Mr. Dejean never made.
She says she never got her $500 back.
"He acts like he's more for you than the rest of the world," Ms. Collins said. "But he ran over me harder than the person who stole my identity."
Mr. Dejean's most celebrated client, Robert Coney, said Mr. Dejean played only a minor role in his release from prison.
Mr. Coney had his 1962 murder conviction overturned more than 30 years ago but stayed in prison because the paperwork somehow got lost. He said he toiled mostly on his own to win his release and later got help from attorney David O'Neil and, to a limited degree, Mr. Dejean.
A Texas appeals court set aside his conviction in December, but he was picked up on a 1959 prison escape warrant out of Georgia. He was finally released in January.
But Mr. Coney praised Mr. Dejean for one thing – acting quickly to make copies of legal documents when his case was stalled in federal court because his motion was filed without the required 13 copies. Mr. Dejean rushed to make extra copies and got the case back on track. Mr. Coney said he appreciates Mr. Dejean's work.
"He played a role, and he was sincere about helping me when I needed help on doing minor matters," Mr. Coney said. But he added, "He was not the catalyst or instrument in my appeal that most people have been made to believe."
In the spotlight
Mr. Dejean has found himself in the public eye several times. In 1996, while still in jail, he testified during a Dallas capital murder trial that a cellmate had confessed to paying gang members to kill another man.
When a gunman opened fire at the Smith County courthouse in Tyler in February, Mr. Dejean happened to be at the courthouse that day on business. He described the drama to TV reporters at the scene.
Since his recent troubles began, Mr. Dejean has been far less in the limelight and even a little difficult to find.
Clients demanding service or a refund continue visiting his office, only to turn around when they see the lights turned off and the mail piled up beyond the glass-front façade.
"People come into my office looking for him, angry," said attorney Lena Levario, whose office is across the hall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT THEY CAN DO
Attorneys are licensed professionals with authority to solve problems for their clients. They can:
•Give legal advice on business and personal decisions.
•Represent clients before a judge.
•Do everything a paralegal can do.
Paralegals increasingly handle many of the research and support tasks traditionally handled by attorneys, including:
•Investigating facts of a case.
•Performing legal research.
•Preparing reports, legal motions and contracts.
•They cannot give legal advice or appear before a judge unless assisting an attorney.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Man's trial set in Farmersville slaying
Collin: Death penalty sought for confessed killer of woman, 20
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
FARMERSVILLE, Texas - Moises Mendoza has never disputed that he killed Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson. He has confessed to the crime several times. The story just changed a bit.
His capital murder trial begins Tuesday in the March 2004 death of the Farmersville woman who left her 6-month-old baby on a bed when police say Mr. Mendoza forced Ms. Tolleson, 20, to leave her home.
Her burned body was found in far eastern Collin County in a creek bed after days of searching by family, friends and Farmersville police.
Mr. Mendoza, 21, initially confessed to the crime, saying he acted alone, police said. Then, he told police he had help. Police say they have discounted the latter version of his story.
His attorney, Juan C. Sanchez, could not be reached for comment.
The Collin County district attorney is seeking the death penalty if Mr. Mendoza is convicted of capital murder.
Ms. Tolleson's family members said they will attend the trial at the McKinney courthouse. It's hard to imagine the horror that Ms. Tolleson went through, her family said Monday.
"We just hope justice will be served," said Char Clark, a cousin. "We're very devastated this has to come up again, that we have to relive it."
Ms. Tolleson and her husband, Andrew, were estranged at the time of her death. Although they attended Farmersville High School with Mr. Mendoza, her family has said the three were not friends. They also said Ms. Tolleson and Mr. Mendoza were not dating.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Mr. Mendoza said he killed Ms. Tolleson out of fear of going to jail.
"No matter what they read, people think I'm an animal. I'm a human being. People make mistakes. I'm not saying that justified it," he said. "I know I took that little girl's mother away ... a mother, a daughter, cousin to others. I want to send them my apologies. I know it means nothing."
In a letter to his parents, Mr. Mendoza said he "turned into the devil" when he killed Ms. Tolleson, according to court records.
Police say he raped Ms. Tolleson, strangled her and hid her body in a field behind his house. He moved her body to a creek and burned it a few days later.
Mr. Mendoza has denied raping Ms. Tolleson or setting her body on fire. He said she left her home willingly and the sex was consensual. Relatives say she never would have left her daughter, Avery, alone.
Authorities say the disarray of furniture, her unattended child and groceries in her car show that Ms. Tolleson was abducted.
Mr. Mendoza told The News he is a mild-mannered person and has never been physically violent with women. Police say that's not true.
During a domestic disturbance, police said, Mr. Mendoza threw his sister down in the front yard of their home, bruising her stomach. He had been upset because his mother would not give him the car keys, according to the police report.
An ex-girlfriend told police that she was hit, sexually assaulted, choked and stalked in 2003 after trying to break off her relationship with Mr. Mendoza.
Collin: Death penalty sought for confessed killer of woman, 20
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
FARMERSVILLE, Texas - Moises Mendoza has never disputed that he killed Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson. He has confessed to the crime several times. The story just changed a bit.
His capital murder trial begins Tuesday in the March 2004 death of the Farmersville woman who left her 6-month-old baby on a bed when police say Mr. Mendoza forced Ms. Tolleson, 20, to leave her home.
Her burned body was found in far eastern Collin County in a creek bed after days of searching by family, friends and Farmersville police.
Mr. Mendoza, 21, initially confessed to the crime, saying he acted alone, police said. Then, he told police he had help. Police say they have discounted the latter version of his story.
His attorney, Juan C. Sanchez, could not be reached for comment.
The Collin County district attorney is seeking the death penalty if Mr. Mendoza is convicted of capital murder.
Ms. Tolleson's family members said they will attend the trial at the McKinney courthouse. It's hard to imagine the horror that Ms. Tolleson went through, her family said Monday.
"We just hope justice will be served," said Char Clark, a cousin. "We're very devastated this has to come up again, that we have to relive it."
Ms. Tolleson and her husband, Andrew, were estranged at the time of her death. Although they attended Farmersville High School with Mr. Mendoza, her family has said the three were not friends. They also said Ms. Tolleson and Mr. Mendoza were not dating.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Mr. Mendoza said he killed Ms. Tolleson out of fear of going to jail.
"No matter what they read, people think I'm an animal. I'm a human being. People make mistakes. I'm not saying that justified it," he said. "I know I took that little girl's mother away ... a mother, a daughter, cousin to others. I want to send them my apologies. I know it means nothing."
In a letter to his parents, Mr. Mendoza said he "turned into the devil" when he killed Ms. Tolleson, according to court records.
Police say he raped Ms. Tolleson, strangled her and hid her body in a field behind his house. He moved her body to a creek and burned it a few days later.
Mr. Mendoza has denied raping Ms. Tolleson or setting her body on fire. He said she left her home willingly and the sex was consensual. Relatives say she never would have left her daughter, Avery, alone.
Authorities say the disarray of furniture, her unattended child and groceries in her car show that Ms. Tolleson was abducted.
Mr. Mendoza told The News he is a mild-mannered person and has never been physically violent with women. Police say that's not true.
During a domestic disturbance, police said, Mr. Mendoza threw his sister down in the front yard of their home, bruising her stomach. He had been upset because his mother would not give him the car keys, according to the police report.
An ex-girlfriend told police that she was hit, sexually assaulted, choked and stalked in 2003 after trying to break off her relationship with Mr. Mendoza.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Man dies in Collin Co. trailer fire
FAIRVIEW, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An elderly man was found dead in a burning travel trailer in Collin County Tuesday night.
Fire officials in Fairview, a community between Allen and McKinney, said they received an alarm for a grass fire in the 400 block of Country Club Road at 11:10 p.m.
The first firefighters to arrive at the scene found a 20-foot travel trailer engulfed in flames. They recovered the body of a 74-year-old man inside.
Investigators said the man had moved to the area within the past week, and was leasing the land and adjacent pasture for his two horses.
An initial examination of the evidence found no sign of foul play, Fairview investigators said.
The name of the victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
FAIRVIEW, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An elderly man was found dead in a burning travel trailer in Collin County Tuesday night.
Fire officials in Fairview, a community between Allen and McKinney, said they received an alarm for a grass fire in the 400 block of Country Club Road at 11:10 p.m.
The first firefighters to arrive at the scene found a 20-foot travel trailer engulfed in flames. They recovered the body of a 74-year-old man inside.
Investigators said the man had moved to the area within the past week, and was leasing the land and adjacent pasture for his two horses.
An initial examination of the evidence found no sign of foul play, Fairview investigators said.
The name of the victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Motel employee shot, wounded
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A motel employee was shot and wounded at the Dallas Inn in Oak Cliff early Wednesday.
Police said many guests of the facility at U.S. 67 and Kiest Blvd. were awakened by the sound of a single gunshot at around 4 a.m.
The shooting occurred in a rear courtyard of the motel. The unidentified employee was wounded in the hand and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the shooting.
Police said they were looking for two suspects in a red car armed with a shotgun.
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - A motel employee was shot and wounded at the Dallas Inn in Oak Cliff early Wednesday.
Police said many guests of the facility at U.S. 67 and Kiest Blvd. were awakened by the sound of a single gunshot at around 4 a.m.
The shooting occurred in a rear courtyard of the motel. The unidentified employee was wounded in the hand and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the shooting.
Police said they were looking for two suspects in a red car armed with a shotgun.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Toddler critical after falling from truck
SHERMAN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A toddler was in critical condition after a driver and her three young children fell out of the family's pickup truck in Sherman Tuesday night.
The pickup kept moving, hitting three parked vehicles.
Police said it appears a two-year old opened a passenger door as his mother pulled into a parking lot.
As the woman reached for him, she and her other two children also fell out of the truck.
Names of the victims and the conditions of the woman and the other two children were not available.
SHERMAN, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A toddler was in critical condition after a driver and her three young children fell out of the family's pickup truck in Sherman Tuesday night.
The pickup kept moving, hitting three parked vehicles.
Police said it appears a two-year old opened a passenger door as his mother pulled into a parking lot.
As the woman reached for him, she and her other two children also fell out of the truck.
Names of the victims and the conditions of the woman and the other two children were not available.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Sex club crackdown: How far is too far?
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police have confirmed they are conducting an internal affairs investigation involving the behavior of a vice squad officer. The probe follows an allegation that the officer acted inappropriately at a local massage parlor.
Last month, police raided Acapulco Spa and hauled off evidence. During the raid, an employee recognized one of the vice officers.
The owner of the club said the officer had been there a few days earlier and performed an inappropriate sex act while on duty.
He also said he captured it on video tape.
Massage parlors and bathhouses have sprouted up all along the Stemmons corridor in Northwest Dallas. Police say they target these spots to shut them down because of illegal prostitution.
In January, News 8 talked to Deputy Chief Julian Bernal, head of the vice sqaud, about the problem. "We are committed to that problem as much as any other problem in the city," he said.
How far should officers go to make an arrest at a bathhouse? In Dallas, officers are allowed to strip down to make their case.
Police said officers have to be given some latitude, but the owner of Acapulco Spa said—in this case—the officer went too far.
Dallas police said their investigation continues. The spa's owner has turned the tape of the alleged incident over to an attorney.
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police have confirmed they are conducting an internal affairs investigation involving the behavior of a vice squad officer. The probe follows an allegation that the officer acted inappropriately at a local massage parlor.
Last month, police raided Acapulco Spa and hauled off evidence. During the raid, an employee recognized one of the vice officers.
The owner of the club said the officer had been there a few days earlier and performed an inappropriate sex act while on duty.
He also said he captured it on video tape.
Massage parlors and bathhouses have sprouted up all along the Stemmons corridor in Northwest Dallas. Police say they target these spots to shut them down because of illegal prostitution.
In January, News 8 talked to Deputy Chief Julian Bernal, head of the vice sqaud, about the problem. "We are committed to that problem as much as any other problem in the city," he said.
How far should officers go to make an arrest at a bathhouse? In Dallas, officers are allowed to strip down to make their case.
Police said officers have to be given some latitude, but the owner of Acapulco Spa said—in this case—the officer went too far.
Dallas police said their investigation continues. The spa's owner has turned the tape of the alleged incident over to an attorney.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Financial corruption at center of FBI probe
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Federal agents spent Tuesday morning at Dallas City Council member Don Hill's home removing more evidence.
FBI officials confirmed to News 8 that financial corruption is at the center of the investigation, which is focusing on Hill, fellow council member James Fantroy and the Southwest Housing Development Corporation.
Agents also searched the offices of Southwest Housing, which builds and manages housing for seniors and low-income families. A recent lawsuit questioned the way Southwest does business, and the company and its president need a good relationship with the Dallas City Council to survive.
Southwest Housing's founder Brian Potashnik and his wife have given at least $29,000 to Laura Miller's election campaigns, and another $10,000 to the strong-mayor campaign. Miller has been a strong supporter of the company's efforts.
"There are so many developers that come in, and you know that he's not going to flip it after he builds it and let it decline," Miller said in 2003 about Potashnik's efforts.
Potashnik has built $200 million worth of low income housing in Colorado and Texas, including 16 projects in the Dallas area. To do that, he needs federal tax credits - and the City of Dallas is one step in awarding those funds.
Potashnik takes pride in his reputation.
"Our profit is over the long-term," he said in 2003. "We own these properties for a minimum of 15 years; these are properties that I want my children to own."
The aforementioned lawsuit, filed by one of Potashnik's former employees, questions the company's integrity. It charges that company officials forged a document on City of Garland stationery, and substituted another, with the goal of obtaining bank funding for a development in that city.
News 8 has learned that the FBI and local authorities have talked to the person who filed the lawsuit last month that included the forgery charges.
Potashnik and other officials with Southwest Housing could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
WFAA-TV's Chris Heinbaugh contributed to this report.
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Federal agents spent Tuesday morning at Dallas City Council member Don Hill's home removing more evidence.
FBI officials confirmed to News 8 that financial corruption is at the center of the investigation, which is focusing on Hill, fellow council member James Fantroy and the Southwest Housing Development Corporation.
Agents also searched the offices of Southwest Housing, which builds and manages housing for seniors and low-income families. A recent lawsuit questioned the way Southwest does business, and the company and its president need a good relationship with the Dallas City Council to survive.
Southwest Housing's founder Brian Potashnik and his wife have given at least $29,000 to Laura Miller's election campaigns, and another $10,000 to the strong-mayor campaign. Miller has been a strong supporter of the company's efforts.
"There are so many developers that come in, and you know that he's not going to flip it after he builds it and let it decline," Miller said in 2003 about Potashnik's efforts.
Potashnik has built $200 million worth of low income housing in Colorado and Texas, including 16 projects in the Dallas area. To do that, he needs federal tax credits - and the City of Dallas is one step in awarding those funds.
Potashnik takes pride in his reputation.
"Our profit is over the long-term," he said in 2003. "We own these properties for a minimum of 15 years; these are properties that I want my children to own."
The aforementioned lawsuit, filed by one of Potashnik's former employees, questions the company's integrity. It charges that company officials forged a document on City of Garland stationery, and substituted another, with the goal of obtaining bank funding for a development in that city.
News 8 has learned that the FBI and local authorities have talked to the person who filed the lawsuit last month that included the forgery charges.
Potashnik and other officials with Southwest Housing could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
WFAA-TV's Chris Heinbaugh contributed to this report.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Perry slips crude phrase while cameras roll
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry apologized Tuesday for using a vulgar expression that was captured on camera after a Houston TV interview.
Trying to build publicity for the rollout of his education plan, Mr. Perry did a series of TV interviews Monday in a studio in Austin. In one, he repeatedly declined to give KTRK-TV reporter Ted Oberg details of his proposal, which the governor didn't intend to divulge until a news conference Tuesday.
After the interview was over and Mr. Perry had said you're welcome and so long, Mr. Oberg acknowledged that Mr. Perry had successfully maintained the secrecy of his plan for another day: "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."
Mr. Perry looked off camera and appeared to mock Mr. Oberg, saying: "Try as I may, governor, I'm just not going to wait that long. ... "
Then the governor added as a sign-off: "Adios, mo-fo."
On Tuesday morning, the station aired the end of the interview. Mr. Oberg said during his report that the governor had called him back and apologized, saying that he had spoken without malice.
Mr. Oberg told viewers that the governor's comment "isn't something you want to say to your mother or use in good company."
On Tuesday, during a news conference on his education plan, Mr. Perry said he had apologized to Mr. Oberg and tried to explain his comment.
"I explained to him it was some inappropriate banter that was directed towards [deputy press secretary] Robert Black," Mr. Perry said.
"No offense towards him, and I shared that with him, nor anybody else, for that matter. It was Robert and I making some banter, and it was inappropriate," he said.
It is the second time Mr. Perry, who is running for re-election, has been captured on tape in a less than flattering light.
In 2000, while lieutenant governor, Mr. Perry's SUV was pulled over by a state trooper for going 20 mph over the speed limit. An unidentified Perry aide was driving and was out of the car talking to the female officer.
The camera in her cruiser caught Mr. Perry impatiently exiting the passenger side twice. The second time, he said, "Are you writing him a ticket?"
When the trooper said no, a testy Mr. Perry replied, "Then what's the holdup here? Why don't you just let us get down the road?"
ERICH SCHLEGEL/Dallas Morning News
Gov. Rick Perry chatted with lawmakers Tuesday on the floor of the House on the first day of a special session he called to address school finance.
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry apologized Tuesday for using a vulgar expression that was captured on camera after a Houston TV interview.
Trying to build publicity for the rollout of his education plan, Mr. Perry did a series of TV interviews Monday in a studio in Austin. In one, he repeatedly declined to give KTRK-TV reporter Ted Oberg details of his proposal, which the governor didn't intend to divulge until a news conference Tuesday.
After the interview was over and Mr. Perry had said you're welcome and so long, Mr. Oberg acknowledged that Mr. Perry had successfully maintained the secrecy of his plan for another day: "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."
Mr. Perry looked off camera and appeared to mock Mr. Oberg, saying: "Try as I may, governor, I'm just not going to wait that long. ... "
Then the governor added as a sign-off: "Adios, mo-fo."
On Tuesday morning, the station aired the end of the interview. Mr. Oberg said during his report that the governor had called him back and apologized, saying that he had spoken without malice.
Mr. Oberg told viewers that the governor's comment "isn't something you want to say to your mother or use in good company."
On Tuesday, during a news conference on his education plan, Mr. Perry said he had apologized to Mr. Oberg and tried to explain his comment.
"I explained to him it was some inappropriate banter that was directed towards [deputy press secretary] Robert Black," Mr. Perry said.
"No offense towards him, and I shared that with him, nor anybody else, for that matter. It was Robert and I making some banter, and it was inappropriate," he said.
It is the second time Mr. Perry, who is running for re-election, has been captured on tape in a less than flattering light.
In 2000, while lieutenant governor, Mr. Perry's SUV was pulled over by a state trooper for going 20 mph over the speed limit. An unidentified Perry aide was driving and was out of the car talking to the female officer.
The camera in her cruiser caught Mr. Perry impatiently exiting the passenger side twice. The second time, he said, "Are you writing him a ticket?"
When the trooper said no, a testy Mr. Perry replied, "Then what's the holdup here? Why don't you just let us get down the road?"

ERICH SCHLEGEL/Dallas Morning News
Gov. Rick Perry chatted with lawmakers Tuesday on the floor of the House on the first day of a special session he called to address school finance.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
TI computer pioneer Kilby dies
By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The Texas Instrument engineer is remembered as a man who transformed the very way we all lived. Kilby invented the integrated circuit, the foundation for modern microelectronics. This milestone also earned him the Nobel Prize for physics in the year 2000.
Every time we buy groceries, safely land at the end of a vacation or take a trip to another world on our sofa there's a piece of microscopic magic involved created by a true Texas pioneer.
Even as he accepted the Nobel Prize in physics, Jack Kilby wrapped notable modesty into his 6-foot-6-inch frame. To everyone at Texas Instruments he was a gentle giant.
He sketched the first integrated circuit in 1958 and built it with one transistor. Microprocessors right now have more than 200 million of them.
Jack Kilby put calculators in our pockets and he made computers fit on desks instead of filling a room.
Sixty U.S. patents bear his name and millions of engineers and scientists work under his legacy.
"Even after he retired he kept an office here and innovators and scientist would drop in and see him and ask him for his advice and council, said Phill Ritter of Texas Instruments. "We've lost a great friend, wonderful innovator and a magnificient human being. We are really saddened by Jack's passing."
Rest in Peace, Jack Kilby (1923-2005).
By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The Texas Instrument engineer is remembered as a man who transformed the very way we all lived. Kilby invented the integrated circuit, the foundation for modern microelectronics. This milestone also earned him the Nobel Prize for physics in the year 2000.
Every time we buy groceries, safely land at the end of a vacation or take a trip to another world on our sofa there's a piece of microscopic magic involved created by a true Texas pioneer.
Even as he accepted the Nobel Prize in physics, Jack Kilby wrapped notable modesty into his 6-foot-6-inch frame. To everyone at Texas Instruments he was a gentle giant.
He sketched the first integrated circuit in 1958 and built it with one transistor. Microprocessors right now have more than 200 million of them.
Jack Kilby put calculators in our pockets and he made computers fit on desks instead of filling a room.
Sixty U.S. patents bear his name and millions of engineers and scientists work under his legacy.
"Even after he retired he kept an office here and innovators and scientist would drop in and see him and ask him for his advice and council, said Phill Ritter of Texas Instruments. "We've lost a great friend, wonderful innovator and a magnificient human being. We are really saddened by Jack's passing."

Rest in Peace, Jack Kilby (1923-2005).
Last edited by TexasStooge on Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Merc developer is enthusiastic
Dallas: Council to vote on brokering deal worth millions in subsidies
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - It's a project as complicated as it is expensive.
But the man responsible for the redevelopment of Dallas' Mercantile Bank complex and several other vacant downtown office towers gushed with confidence that they'll soon be filled with apartments, condominiums and retail space.
"We're going to do a hell of a good job in Dallas," David Levey, Forest City's executive vice president, said Tuesday. "And our deeds will be as strong as our words."
The City Council is scheduled to vote today to give City Manager Mary Suhm powers to negotiate a development contract with Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises that would land the developer more than $60 million in public subsidies. The total project may cost upward of a quarter-billion dollars.
Mr. Levey said that despite the project's complexity and a near breakdown in negotiations with city officials last month, "we're confident, and we're moving forward."
Mr. Levey spoke to about 50 business owners and representatives Tuesday about his philosophy of hiring companies owned by racial and ethnic minorities to perform subcontracting work.
Such a philosophy is essential to such a key Dallas project, Mayor Laura Miller said.
"If there's subsidy, we have to have many people participating in the work," she said.
Dallas: Council to vote on brokering deal worth millions in subsidies
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - It's a project as complicated as it is expensive.
But the man responsible for the redevelopment of Dallas' Mercantile Bank complex and several other vacant downtown office towers gushed with confidence that they'll soon be filled with apartments, condominiums and retail space.
"We're going to do a hell of a good job in Dallas," David Levey, Forest City's executive vice president, said Tuesday. "And our deeds will be as strong as our words."
The City Council is scheduled to vote today to give City Manager Mary Suhm powers to negotiate a development contract with Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises that would land the developer more than $60 million in public subsidies. The total project may cost upward of a quarter-billion dollars.
Mr. Levey said that despite the project's complexity and a near breakdown in negotiations with city officials last month, "we're confident, and we're moving forward."
Mr. Levey spoke to about 50 business owners and representatives Tuesday about his philosophy of hiring companies owned by racial and ethnic minorities to perform subcontracting work.
Such a philosophy is essential to such a key Dallas project, Mayor Laura Miller said.
"If there's subsidy, we have to have many people participating in the work," she said.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Skate event leads to arrest
By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A skate gathering turned bad Tuesday when Fort Worth police issued tickets and arrested one skateboarder. Perhaps a hundred skateboarders or more skated through downtown making a point, but paying a big price.
The skaters gathered together for an event called "Wild in the Streets," promoted through the internet and word of mouth. Skaters took part in several cities nationally and globally as a sort of worldwide skateboarder demonstration of who they are.
As skaters reached the Fort Worth train station, they were met by police and officials who warned them they could not skate on the sidewalks.
"Skater haters man," said one skater as he waved his ticket in the air. "Six-hundered-bucks for waxing a curb that was already waxed."
Police said it is legal to skateboard on sidewalks, but not on the downtown streets. However, skaters continued and rolled north weaving through cars and pedestrians .
They didn't know officers were waiting for them at Heritage Park near the old courthouse.
Someone yelled cops and the chase began.
Police ticketed 20 to 30 skateboarders and jailed one who they said refused to stop.
Perhaps the department's first ever bust for evading arrest on a skateboard.
"It was supposed to be a just go skateboarding day," said Mike Beedle, a skateboarder. "Have a good time and just enjoy the weather with friends."
Another skater expressed his annoyance at the lack of places to skate.
"There's public baseball fields," said Jayson "Shag" Arrington. "There's public pools. They need to create a public area for skating."
Courtesy of WFAA ABC 8
A skateboarder gets arrested Tuesday in Fort Worth for evading police.
By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A skate gathering turned bad Tuesday when Fort Worth police issued tickets and arrested one skateboarder. Perhaps a hundred skateboarders or more skated through downtown making a point, but paying a big price.
The skaters gathered together for an event called "Wild in the Streets," promoted through the internet and word of mouth. Skaters took part in several cities nationally and globally as a sort of worldwide skateboarder demonstration of who they are.
As skaters reached the Fort Worth train station, they were met by police and officials who warned them they could not skate on the sidewalks.
"Skater haters man," said one skater as he waved his ticket in the air. "Six-hundered-bucks for waxing a curb that was already waxed."
Police said it is legal to skateboard on sidewalks, but not on the downtown streets. However, skaters continued and rolled north weaving through cars and pedestrians .
They didn't know officers were waiting for them at Heritage Park near the old courthouse.
Someone yelled cops and the chase began.
Police ticketed 20 to 30 skateboarders and jailed one who they said refused to stop.
Perhaps the department's first ever bust for evading arrest on a skateboard.
"It was supposed to be a just go skateboarding day," said Mike Beedle, a skateboarder. "Have a good time and just enjoy the weather with friends."
Another skater expressed his annoyance at the lack of places to skate.
"There's public baseball fields," said Jayson "Shag" Arrington. "There's public pools. They need to create a public area for skating."

Courtesy of WFAA ABC 8
A skateboarder gets arrested Tuesday in Fort Worth for evading police.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Fire leaves families homeless
By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - Gabbie Kirkland and her family just moved into their apartment the weekend before the fire that left 30 homeless Monday.
"We just moved in here on Saturday and haven't even had the chance to sleep here," Kirkland said.
What Kirkland didn't know at the time was that it was her moving boxes that were to blame.
Dept. Keith Ebel, of the Arlington Fire Dept., said that during the Kirlands moving process, someone had unintentionally turned the knobs of the stove.
"When power was restored to the electric range it caught the box on fire," he said.
Sixteen-year-old Chelsea Tadlock was babysitting and said she knew there wasn't much time to get out.
"I looked over this way and I saw apartments on fire," Tadlock said. "We had to go get my cousin and my brother out of the house."
Cathy Wilson, a family friend, came on the scene minutes later to assist.
"The first thing I thought of [were] these kids," said Cathy WIlson. "We need to get the kids out and here we are today and it is just unbelievable."
Despite the intensity and speed of the fire, no one was hurt. However, lives will have to be rebuilt.
The Montez family worked in a room trying to pick up what was left of their belongings.
"Basically everything is gone except for their clothes," said Alma Solis, a friend. "They had a beautiful home...and it's gone."
By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - Gabbie Kirkland and her family just moved into their apartment the weekend before the fire that left 30 homeless Monday.
"We just moved in here on Saturday and haven't even had the chance to sleep here," Kirkland said.
What Kirkland didn't know at the time was that it was her moving boxes that were to blame.
Dept. Keith Ebel, of the Arlington Fire Dept., said that during the Kirlands moving process, someone had unintentionally turned the knobs of the stove.
"When power was restored to the electric range it caught the box on fire," he said.
Sixteen-year-old Chelsea Tadlock was babysitting and said she knew there wasn't much time to get out.
"I looked over this way and I saw apartments on fire," Tadlock said. "We had to go get my cousin and my brother out of the house."
Cathy Wilson, a family friend, came on the scene minutes later to assist.
"The first thing I thought of [were] these kids," said Cathy WIlson. "We need to get the kids out and here we are today and it is just unbelievable."
Despite the intensity and speed of the fire, no one was hurt. However, lives will have to be rebuilt.
The Montez family worked in a room trying to pick up what was left of their belongings.
"Basically everything is gone except for their clothes," said Alma Solis, a friend. "They had a beautiful home...and it's gone."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Pedestrian killed in Loop 820 wreck
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/The Dallas Morning News) - A 13-year-old boy died Tuesday after he was struck by a Texas Department of Public Safety patrol car along Loop 820 in west Fort Worth.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. near the White Settlement Road overpass. The teen, whose name was not released, ran onto the freeway while carrying a skateboard and into the path of a vehicle driven by Trooper Samuel Blair, 42.
A CareFlite helicopter transported the teen to Harris Methodist Medical Center, where he died.
“Running across was a very dangerous thing to do,” said DPS spokesperson Lonny Haschel. “It’s not safe. Another hundred yards, you have an underpass.”
Blair, a 10-year DPS veteran, was driving northbound on 820 when the accident occurred, Haschel said.
“He didn’t have time to react, didn’t see him at all,” Haschel said. “He is obviously upset. Our hearts go out to the family.”
Both northbound and southbound lanes of Loop 820 were shut down for about an hour, officials said.
An investigation has begun into the accident.
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/The Dallas Morning News) - A 13-year-old boy died Tuesday after he was struck by a Texas Department of Public Safety patrol car along Loop 820 in west Fort Worth.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. near the White Settlement Road overpass. The teen, whose name was not released, ran onto the freeway while carrying a skateboard and into the path of a vehicle driven by Trooper Samuel Blair, 42.
A CareFlite helicopter transported the teen to Harris Methodist Medical Center, where he died.
“Running across was a very dangerous thing to do,” said DPS spokesperson Lonny Haschel. “It’s not safe. Another hundred yards, you have an underpass.”
Blair, a 10-year DPS veteran, was driving northbound on 820 when the accident occurred, Haschel said.
“He didn’t have time to react, didn’t see him at all,” Haschel said. “He is obviously upset. Our hearts go out to the family.”
Both northbound and southbound lanes of Loop 820 were shut down for about an hour, officials said.
An investigation has begun into the accident.
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests