Gonzales Man Arrested by FBI Pleads Guilty
The Gonzales Inquirer
• Jaylyn Molina, a Gonzales County man, who was arrested by the FBI last year pled guilty on Jan. 25 to charges of planning to provide support to terrorists and receiving child pornography. He will be sentenced on April 22. He faces up to 20 years in prison and is currently in custody without bond.
Yoakum Herald-Times
• Three local teenagers were arrested on Jan. 21 in connection with the early Jan. 20 burglary of the Vape Shop located at 519 Forrest St. in Yoakum. The business was broken into at about 4:30 a.m. and more than $5,000 was reportedly stolen. The three boys responsible for the crime were two 13-year-olds and one 14-year-old. They were caught on camera breaking the store’s window and committing the burglary. One of the boys was arrested at the junior high and the other two were arrested at their homes.
• Yoakum Community Hospital recently became one of the first medical centers in the entire Gulf Coast region to offer the new, state-of-the-art digital scanning devices at all the entrances to its hospital and clinic facilities. The devices prescreen patients, visitors, and staffers alike with a quick digital temperature scan, and by using a few yes or no answers on the device’s touch screen, they can either approve entry to the facility or immediately warn hospital staff that there might be a problem. Six devices were installed in all.
• Two Yoakum convenience stores became the latest in what’s become a rash of thefts across the area in recent weeks when someone apparently tried to get at the cash machines on Jan.13. One of those crimes occurred at Yoakum’s Corner Stop, located at 1011 US Hwy. 77A N., just after 4 a.m. Someone drove into the building to try and access the ATM machine inside. The second crime took place even earlier that same day over at Yoakum’s Handy Stop Grocery, located at 425 E. Morris St. Thieves there tried to access the store through a back electrical panel but triggered an alarm in the process. No entry was made into the store. An eyewitness reported seeing a dark-colored four-door sedan leaving the Corner Stop at about the same time the crimes were reported.
• Members of the Lavaca County EMS received a $100,000 donation from the Dickson-Allen Foundation to be used towards communication equipment improvements. “We will use the grants to purchase new mobile and handheld radios as well as pagers for all our EMTs and paramedics,” said Michael Furrh, chief of the Lavaca County EMS. New technologies currently available could even make items like Bluetooth options possible for his crews where signals are passed by earpieces to larger transmission systems inside the ambulances themselves. Furrh said he would be investigating all options to find the best and most practical items for the crews out in the county.
Burleson County Tribune
• Caldwell police are investigating an aggravated assault call from Jan. 23 in the 300 block of County Road 300 at 10:40 p.m. in which a man suffered injuries to his neck, chest, and abdomen. Police had no further details at this time on the assault, on the weapon used, or the name of the victim pending an ongoing investigation, said Caldwell Police Detective Chris Peschel. A man was detained on the scene and questioned but no charges have been filed at this time. Officers on the scene rendered first aid until medics arrived and he was transported to CHI St. Joseph Health Center in Bryan. The man was still alive and remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Police learned that the two men were involved in an altercation prior to the assault.
• Chester Jackson Jr., the man whose arrest made national headlines in 2019 after he was left on life support after being taken to the Burleson County Jail, appeared in court on Jan. 25 on a charge of assault against a public servant. The status hearing set a reset date for Sept. 27. This will give the court time to assess the progress Jackson has made, if he is able to come to court and if he can defend himself on the criminal charges against him. Jackson at this time remains in a long-term assisted living facility in Austin. A civil lawsuit against several people involved in his case is pending. Jackson was arrested after his family called for help and said he was suffering a mental health crisis. His family told Burleson County Deputy John K. Bennett that he needed to go to a mental health facility. Bennett instead took Jackson to the Burleson County Jail and said Jackson was suffering from PCP intoxication. The charge of assault on a public servant comes from the allegation that he bit an officer while he was at the Burleson County Jail. Jailhouse video showed former Caldwell police officer Robert Baucom came into Jackson’s cell at the Burleson County Jail. A lawsuit later filed on behalf of Jackson claimed Baucom shoved a handcuffed Jackson to the floor of the cell, causing Jackson to slam his head on a metal toilet. The lawsuit claimed Jackson never received medical care and later had to be rushed to the hospital after he stopped breathing after being transported the next day to a psychiatric facility in Austin.
The Bellville Times
• A standoff in an Austin County subdivision on Jan. 28 ended with a woman’s arrest on an assault charge. Just before 2:30 p.m., Austin County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Kenney Express gas station on Highway 36 for an incident involving a subject with a weapon threatening people at a nearby home. Deputies made contact with 54-year-old Kristen Webb in the 400 block of Hickory Creek Road in the Hickory Creek Ranch subdivision between Kenney and Bellville, but Webb refused to leave the home. The Austin County Special Response Team (SRT) was activated and arrived on scene with members from the Sheriff’s Office, Bellville and Sealy Police Departments, Precinct Two Austin County Constable, a police K-9 unit from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, and Washington County Tactical EMS. After several hours of negotiations with the SRT, Webb left the home. She was examined by Austin County EMS and released to deputies for transport to the Austin County Jail, where she was booked for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Colorado County Citizen
• Tragedy struck and a life was claimed Jan. 26 around 3:30 p.m. on a curve on FM 102 near FM 949, also known as Ramsey Rd. Pronounced dead at Rice Medical Center in Eagle Lake was Ernest Jones, 73 of Galveston. Jones was the driver of a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox that collided with a Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck driven by James Lockett, 53 of Columbus. Lockett was air-lifted to Katy Memorial Hermann Hospital for his injuries. The Equinox was traveling southbound on FM 102 and the Chevrolet pickup was traveling Northbound on FM 102. According to DPS reports, the pickup truck lost control in the curve and entered the southbound lane occupied by the Equinox. Both drivers were wearing their safety belts at the time of the accident. No tickets or charges had been filed at press time.