Ledbetter Man Back In Jail After Being Released Less Than A Month Ago
Giddings Times & News
• A dispatcher at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a Dime Box resident on July 17 at 6:33 a.m. The homeowner reported that someone was banging on their door and shining a flashlight in the windows. Six minutes later at 6:39 a.m., the dispatcher received another call about someone banging on their door and wanting inside their home. A third call was received by the sheriff’s office at 6:40 a.m. when a caller reported there was a man wrapped in a blanket and banging on their door telling them to let him in. The male subject was last seen walking towards Hwy. 21. He was located and checked out by EMS. Property that was taken from one of the residences was returned and the male subject was taken into custody and charged with burglary. Upon intake, the subject was found to have prohibited substances. The subject identified as 44-year-old Arthur Allen of Ledbetter is a habitual offender who was just released from jail less than a month ago.
• A Port Lavaca man was pinned inside his Mercury Grand Marque after it collided with an 18-wheeler on Hwy 77 north across from Oakland Manor Nursing Home on the afternoon of July 19. Jaws of Life equipment had to be used to free David Brady from the wreckage. He was transported to the hospital with serious injuries by Lee County EMS. Richard Sunier of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the driver of the semi-truck, was not injured. Giddings Police reported that the Mercury sedan was southbound and the Kenworth tractor-trailer was northbound when the car veered across the center stripe and collided with the big rig.
Burleson County Tribune
• On July 19 just after 1 p.m. deputies were dispatched to the Caldwell High School parking lot for a “shots fired” call. The person reporting the incident told 911 that her friend had been struck with a projectile that caused welts, but did not require medical attention. Deputies were given a vehicle description and the direction of travel. Upon finding the vehicle in question, they found three people inside, all juveniles, and learned a fourth suspect may have been dropped off in the area. They soon obtained information that led them to the fourth individual, also a juvenile. Deputies interviewed the four juveniles and determined they were the ones involved in the incident. According to the Sheriff’s Office, investigators found a toy gun identified as a “Splat R Ball,” which they said is capable of shooting a “hydro ball” at high speeds and in rapid succession. Deputies said part of the toy gun was painted black in an effort to make it appear more realistic. The Sheriff’s Office will turn its findings over to the Burleson County District Attorney’s Office this week to determine which charges will be accepted and filed. Authorities say there is no danger to the public.
The Brenham Banner-Press
• No injuries are reported after a small plane tried to refuel and take off from a Washington County field on the afternoon of July 19. According to DPS, a single-engine Cessna landed in a field in the 800 block of Bilski Lane, just off Highway 36, south of Brenham, due to loss of fuel. It was a ‘minor’ incident, says the owner, Venko Daminove of Carrolton. He refueled the plane and attempted to take off but when he tried to leave his plane clipped a fence, resulting in damage to a tire and a wing. Sgt. Justin Ruiz says the Federal Aviation Administration was contacted about the incident. No one was injured. The Brenham Fire Department used its hazmat trailer to capture leaking fuel from the accident.
The Shiner Gazette
• After several complaints raised and more than an hour behind closed doors in two separate executive sessions on July 7 Shiner city council voted to place Police Chief Zach Kramer on an immediate 14-day administrative leave, pending an internal investigation into the claims raised at that meeting. Councilmen Furrh’s wife, Shiner Police Sgt. Tierra Furrh was the primary person at the July 7 meeting that the public heard from in lodging complaints against Kramer. Furrh detailed several specifics regarding the chief’s history of what some would call unusual or harsh reprimands enforced on some of the department’s personnel. At least five other Shiner police officers also filed comments with the city. Shiner Police Sgt. James Whited was named acting police chief in the interim.
Yoakum Herald-Times
• Two men and one woman were jailed on July 8 following a narcotics investigation conducted by multiple agencies that ended with a search warrant served in the 400 block of Tucker St. in Yoakum. Officers arrested three subjects inside the residence without incident. They included Vincente Rosales, 47 of Yoakum, Karen Beasley, 56 of Yoakum, and Jose Mora, 38 of Donna. Officers also seized a total aggregate weight of 215.3 grams in cocaine and methamphetamines. All three were transported to the Lavaca County Jail in Hallettsville and charged with manufacture or delivery of between 200 and 400 grams of a controlled substance.
The Gonzales Inquirer
• Ari Ince, a 2007 graduate of Gonzales High School, has been added to the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in the 32nd Olympic games in Tokyo from July 23 to Aug. 8. Ince, 32, placed fourth in the javelin at the U.S. Olympic Trials held in Eugene, OR last month-one slot away from making the team. However, the third-place finisher, Avionne Allgood-Whetstone, had not reached the Olympic qualifying mark. Thus Ince was invited to the team based on her No. 16 World Ranking score of 1,203. This year, Ince placed second at the USA Track and Field Throws Fest in Tucson, AZ with a season-best throw of 61.64m. • Juan Mario Garcia, 21 of Gonzales, is facing an array of charges after firing gunshots and holding his girlfriend and her three children in her house on the 1600 block of St. Vincent St. on July 9. Police responded to a shots-fired call at the house at 7:39 a.m. Police immediately set up one block perimeter around the house and evacuated residents from adjacent homes. Members of the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) entered the home shortly after 9 a.m. after a shot was fired from a window toward officers securing the property’s southwest corner. No one was injured during the 90-minute standoff. The motive behind the incident has not been determined. Garcia faces four counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated assault of a peace officer, and one count of felony possession of a firearm.
The Examiner
• Two Washington County residents were killed on July 21 in a head-on collision on Highway 105. The crash occurred shortly before 12:15 a.m. near the highway’s intersection with FM 159 in Brazos County, less than two miles west of Navasota. According to DPS Sergeant Justin Ruiz, a 2008 Nissan Altima headed west on Highway 105 failed to maintain its lane and struck an eastbound 2003 Mazda MX-5 Miata head-on. The driver of the Nissan, 27-year-old Jaquan Busby of Washington, and the Mazda, 43-year-old Spencer Scott of Brenham, were pronounced dead at the scene. DPS says investigation of the accident is ongoing.