Tag: jail
Man allegedly strangled wife to save her from going to jail over new car debt
A northeast Houston man told police he murdered his wife because he did not want her to go to jail if she could not pay for her new car.
Francisco Olazaran, 67, is charged with the murder of his wife, Maria Olazaran, 63. The medical examiner ruled she died from manual strangulation.
According to Houston police, on the morning of July 4, when the city was getting hammered by rain, Francisco walked into Sand Dollar Thrift Store on Harrisburg in east Houston and said his wife, who was sitting in the car, had just been choked and robbed by three men.
An employee called for help. Police say Francisco repeated that same story to them and then changed it.
According to court documents, he said his wife had just traded in an older car for a newer one. He didn’t have a job. Maria, he said, didn’t make much money working for Walmart, and he was worried she could not afford the car payments.
“The defendant stated that morning he killed the complainant because he did not want her to go to jail over the debt,” a prosecutor read from documents during Francisco’s first court appearance on July 5. “He stated that he did not want her to go to jail and that he preferred for her to die.”
An investigator told Eyewitness News the couple had been married for many years. The victim, a mother and grandmother, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Francisco’s charges were upgraded to murder on Saturday.
He is being held in jail on an $80,000 bond and, as a Mexican National who has lived in the United States for 15 years, must surrender his passport if he posts it.
Francisco is expected in court on Tuesday.
via: http://abc7chicago.com/man-allegedly-strangled-wife-to-save-her-from-going-to-jail/3738764/
Toddler denied kidney transplant from father because father violated probation
A mother says an Atlanta hospital is unfairly endangering her 2-year-old son because of his father’s mistakes.
Carmellia Burgess told WGCL that her son, A.J., was born without kidneys and needs a transplant. The boy’s father, Anthony Dickerson, is a perfect match and wants to give this lifesaving gift to his son.
“That’s all I ever wanted was a son,” Dickerson told the television station. “And I finally got him, and he’s in this situation.”
The surgery had been planned for Oct. 3, but an Emory University Hospital official sent Burgess a letter saying it would be delayed until Dickerson could show that he has complied with the conditions of his parole for three months.
“They’re making this about Dad,” Burgess told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . “It’s not about Dad. It’s about our son.”
Dickerson has repeatedly been in trouble with the law and was arrested last month for violating his probation, WGCL reported.
That didn’t initially seem to be an obstacle. A letter to the Gwinnett County jail from Emory’s Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program requested his temporary release.
“If Mr. Dickerson could be escorted to Emory for blood work and a pre-operative appointment tomorrow, September 29, we will be able to continue with the scheduled surgery,” the Sept. 28 letter says.
But then Burgess received a letter from the hospital saying the surgery would be delayed until Dickerson can provide documentation from his parole officer showing compliance for the next three months.
“We will re-evaluate Mr. Dickerson in January 2018 after receipt of this completed documentation,” the letter said.
Burgess was extremely upset by the hospital’s decision, saying it is endangering her son.
“He’s only 2,” she told WXIA. “He don’t deserve this. We’ve been waiting so long for this.”
Emory spokeswoman Janet Christenbury said privacy regulations bar her from providing specific information about the hospital’s patients. She also declined to speak more generally about how criminal history could affect an organ donor’s eligibility.
“Guidelines for organ transplantation are designed to maximize the chance of success for organ recipients and minimize risk for living donors,” she said in an emailed statement. “Transplant decisions regarding donors are made based on many medical, social, and psychological factors.”
via: http://abc7.com/health/toddler-denied-transplant-because-father-violated-probation/2541711/
Inmates escape jail for a few hours to visit girlfriends, smoke weed then walked back to the jail
HUGO, Okla. — An Oklahoma sheriff says two inmates briefly escaped to visit their girlfriends and smoke marijuana and then walked back to the jail.
Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park tells The Oklahoman that inmates Harley Davidson and Rakeem Lennox waited for jail staff to leave the area near their room about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. He says the men then entered the booking room to steal a laundry room door key and fled.
The sheriff says they returned to the county jail on foot after midnight and could face additional charges.
He says both men were in jail for drug possession.
http://nypost.com/2017/10/14/inmates-escape-jail-for-a-few-hours-to-visit-girlfriends-smoke-weed/
Jail staffers could face charges in dehydration death of inmate
Seven staffers from a Milwaukee County jail run by outspoken sheriff David Clarke could face criminal charges in the dehydration death of an inmate who was left without water for seven days.
A jury on Monday determined that they had found probable cause for “abuse of a resident of a penal facility” in the death of the 38-year-old inmate and recommended criminal charges.
Clarke, who is one of President Trump’s most vocal supporters, regularly appears on cable news where he advocates for strict law enforcement policies.
The jury’s recommendation came after a six-day inquest that included testimony from jail staff and evidence from county prosecutors.
The inmate, Terrill Thomas, suffered from bipolar disorder and was denied water as a form of punishment. He died in his cell last year.
The Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel reported that an inmate in the cell across from Thomas pleaded with guards to turn the water back on.
“I could tell he was getting weaker,” Marcus Berry told the paper. “One day he just lay down, dehydrated and hungry.”
On Monday, the six-person jury returned its recommendation just a few hours after morning testimony that the sheriff’s office continued using water deprivation as a form of punishment even after Thomas’ death.
“This isn’t the first time this happened. This is a pattern,” Assistant District Attorney Kurt Bentley said.
Sheriff Clarke was not targeted and has declined to comment on Thomas’ death but has alluded to the man’s criminal record in the past.
“Is this the guy who was in custody for shooting up the Potawatomi Casino causing one man to be hit by gunfire while in possession of a firearm by a career convicted felon?” Clarke said in a statement last month.
“The media never reports that in stories about him. If that is him, then at least I know who you are talking about.”
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said he had no timeline to decide, and that he could charge more people — or fewer.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/05/01/jail-staffers-could-face-charges-in-dehydration-death-of-inmate/