Secret Service Visits Flatonia To Investigate Online Threat
Flatonia Police worked a trio of unusual cases last week including a stolen U-Haul, a Secret Service investigation and a possible sex trafficking victim.
The strange week started on Sunday with a call reporting a suspicious man in a U-Haul truck at the Amigos convenience store, located at the northeast corner of Interstate 10 and FM 609.
Flatonia Police Chief Lee Dick said the man had been seen digging in the garbage. When officers arrived to investigate, they discovered that the U-Haul was reported stolen from San Antonio. Upon questioning, Dick said the man told police he was homeless and that the U-Haul ran out of gas. Dick said the man also appeared to be suffering from drug withdrawal symptoms as well.
Police learned that the suspect allegedly stole the U-Haul from a dealer in San Antonio. They arrested the suspect, 30-year-old Marcus Ardison, for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Fayette County EMS also responded to evaluate the suspect before he was taken to jail.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Dick said he received a call from the United States Secret Service requesting assistance with an investigation. Dick said the Secret Service was investigating a video posted to social media that appeared to threaten someone under their protection. National security authorities determined that the video originated in Flatonia, Dick said.
Dick did not say who the video allegedly threatened. The Secret Service provides security for the president, vice president, former presidents, certain presidential candidates, the presidentelect and vice president-elect, and the immediate families of all those.
“My understanding is that the post appeared on Saturday or Sunday (Nov. 14 or 15), and it made the circle in about two days,” he said.
Dick said he met with the Secret Service special agent tasked with the investigation along with that agent’s partner. Dick helped them to identify the person who posted the video, who he described as “a very young teenager.”
Dick said the person identified did not “possess the ability nor the judgement” to carry out the threat.
No charges were filed, but Dick said the case illustrates how the actions young people take on social media can have serious real-world consequences.
Then on Wednesday, Nov. 18, a 13-year-old girl who was possibly a sex trafficking victim showed up at the police station. Dick said a family she was traveling with dropped her off.
Dick said the girl was originally from Bexar County, but Tarrant County authorities had been looking for her after she ran away from home. The girl somehow ended up with a family from Louisiana. Dick said the girl was apparently friends with a teenaged brother and sister in the family.
Dick said the Louisiana family traveled to San Antonio with the girl, allegedly to pick up an engine. On their way back to Louisiana, a Tarrant County investigator called one of the parents in the vehicle and explained the situation. Dick said the parents took the girl to the nearest police station, which happened to be in Flatonia. Dick said a Flatonia officer transported the girl to Temple, where the girl was transferred to a Tarrant County child protection official.
Dick said investigators believe the girl initially ran away from home because her mother had forced her into prostitution. Dick said the girl appeared and acted much older than 13.