Tag: texas
Texas inmates caught escaping prison for a whiskey run
Four inmates have been caught busting out of a federal prison in Texas to go on a whiskey run — and then returning, according to officials.
A special surveillance op was conducted by sheriff’s deputies and US Marshalls after “repeated reports of prisoners continuing to escape” from Beaumont federal prison, officials said on Facebook.
The team spotted four inmates leaving the prison grounds last Friday, fleeing when they saw officers springing from their hiding spots in the brush, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
All four were quickly arrested — and found carrying contraband, with some cellphones along with bottles of whiskey, the crime report said.
Julian Lemus, 34, Robert Young, 45, Leo Martinez, 25, and Silvstre Rico, 35, were all charged with escaping custody.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/15/texas-inmates-caught-escaping-prison-for-a-whiskey-run-officials/
Photo Credit: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Teen injured when gun goes off while taking selfie
A Texas teen trying to take a selfie while holding a gun ended up in the hospital after it went off, sending pieces of glass and metal into his face and penetrating his brain, according to a report.
The photo shoot went awry around 11 p.m. Thursday as the 16-year-old boy was posing with a loaded 9mm pistol at a San Antonio home, news station KABB reported.
The unidentified boy accidentally fired a bullet at his phone, sending glass and metal shrapnel into his face and eye, authorities said.
The shooting penetrated the teen’s brain, and he was rushed to University Hospital in stable condition, radio station WOAI reported.
Police are investigating to determine how the teen got hold of the gun.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/23/teen-injured-when-gun-goes-off-while-taking-selfie/
United Airlines employee allegedly called actress a ‘shining monkey’
A United Airlines employee repeatedly shouted racial slurs at an actress in view of other customers, calling her a “shining monkey,” according to the woman’s attorneys and court documents.
The actress, Cacilie Hughes, was returning home to Houston on Feb. 26 after a speaking engagement on women’s empowerment at a university in Michigan when she encountered a United Airlines employee named Carmella Davano while waiting for her luggage to arrive, according to attorneys Benjamin Crump and Jasmine Rand.
Hughes, 31, then asked Davano for a “refund code,” prompting the woman to erupt at United’s terminal inside George Bush Intercontinental Airport and call her a “monkey” and a “shining monkey,” Hughes told the New York Times.
“I was humiliated,” Hughes told the newspaper. “I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.”
Crump and Rand, who are holding a press conference Tuesday on the alleged incident, said in a news release Monday that Davano also told Hughes to stop looking at her with her “monkey face.” Other passengers at the terminal witnessed the exchange and tried to intervene, but were unsuccessful.
Hughes then asked another United employee to call police, a request that was denied, leading her to contact authorities herself. Davano was later criminally charged with disorderly conduct for using a racial slur, Crump and Rand said.
Court documents obtained by the New York Times show that the misdemeanor charge was filed against Davano, who could not be reached for comment, one month after Houston police issued her a citation for profane and abusive language in a public space.
The outlet reports that two witnesses also told responding officers that they heard Davano direct the slurs toward Hughes, who appeared in 2015’s “Focus” alongside actor Will Smith. She’s also the vice president of the Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program, according to the nonprofit group’s website.
Davano could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She has not returned to work for United since the alleged incident, according to a statement from the airline obtained by The Post.
“At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind,” the statement reads. “We have withheld the employee from service since the night of the incident pending an internal investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we will take any and all appropriate corrective action up to and including termination.”
Crump and Rand said the incident is the latest example of a “companywide pattern of racial discrimination” by United Airlines, citing a Nigerian woman’s lawsuit alleging that she was kicked off a flight last year after a white passenger said she smelled.
The attorneys also referenced Eric Murdock, a former NBA point guard who sued the airline for $10 million in December for kicking him out of an exit row before allowing a white passenger to take his seat.
“Racial slurs like ‘shining monkey’ should be relics of history, not resurrected to fuel the fire of racism faced by so many African Americans in today’s society and condoned on United Airlines flights,” Crump and Rand’s joint statement read.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/23/united-airlines-employee-allegedly-called-actress-a-shining-monkey/
Man charged with shooting wife’s lover in the shower
A Texas man allegedly shot and killed his employee in the shower — after he found out that the worker had been having an affair with his wife, according to police and a new report.
Edwin Figueroa, 23, has been charged with murder in connection with the slaying of Rafael Nunez Serrano, 22, at the victim’s southwest Houston apartment around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
An enraged Figueroa bought a pistol, did cocaine and downed some beer before heading to Serrano’s house — where he shot him in the shower, local station ABC 13 reported. Serrano was wounded but stumbled out into the apartment complex’s parking lot, prompting someone to call 911, according to the report.
As paramedics rushed him to the hospital, Serrano declared that he had been shot by his “boss,” police said. He died in surgery, ABC 13 reported.
Homicide investigators searching the area learned that Houston police officers had detained Figueroa. He was interviewed by detectives and confessed to shooting Serrano, whom he called a friend of about four years, according to police.
Figueroa had previously beaten up Serrano in a fight over the affair, ABC 13 reported.
During his court appearance, Figueroa’s bond was set at $100,000, according to the station. He’s set to return to court Monday.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/12/man-charged-with-shooting-wifes-lover-in-the-shower/
Man confessed to giving STDs to 3-year-old relative
A Texas man has confessed to raping a 3-year-old female relative, leading her to contract chlamydia and gonorrhea, court documents show. Top articles3/5Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t invited to Bernie’s campaign kickoff
Drevon Alexander Perkins, 26, of San Antonio, was arrested Tuesday after the girl’s mother noticed discharge in her diaper and took her to a hospital for observation. A doctor later confirmed she had been infected with two sexually transmitted diseases and a police investigation was launched, according to court records cited by the San Antonio Express-News.
Perkins later allegedly admitted during a polygraph test to raping the girl while he was high on drugs in January, telling investigators he attacked her at his apartment while her mother was working.
Perkins had previously been diagnosed with chlamydia and gonorrhea, court records show.
He remained in custody as of Thursday on $100,000 bond at the Bexar County Jail on a felony charge of super aggravated sexual assault of a child, jail records show. If convicted, Perkins faces a minimum of 25 years in prison, KTRK reports.
The alleged victim is Perkins’ relative, according to KSAT.
Man pleads guilty to killing wife, taking kids to dump her body
A Texas man pleaded guilty to killing his wife and then taking his kids on a road trip to dump her body, according to reports.
Jonathan Allee, 31, agreed to a plea deal Tuesday in Harris County Criminal Courthouse that would require he serve 35 years in prison for the 2016 murder, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Prosecutors allege the defendant beat and strangled his wife, 28-year-old Elizabeth Ferrell, before tossing her body in a waterway west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Her body was discovered with blunt force trauma to the head on April 23, 2016.
The prosecution team pointed to how Allee allegedly changed his story. He initially told investigators he saw his wife four days before her body was found, but then claimed he’d last seen her on April 21, 2016.
The couple’s 5-year-old daughter told police Allee took her and her baby sister on a road trip. Allee allegedly stopped the car at a point during the trip and got something from the trunk, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“God only knows how this will impact [their daughter] in the future when she figures out why he stopped on that bridge,” Ferrell’s cousin, Daphne Hesse, told the newspaper.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/05/man-pleads-guilty-to-killing-wife-taking-kids-to-dump-her-body/
Photo Credit: Jonathan Allee and Elizabeth Ferrell Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office
Woman arrested for masturbating in public; continued in cop car
A half-naked woman was arrested after being caught masturbating in public in Austin, Texas — then allegedly continued pleasuring herself while handcuffed in a police car.
Police responded to a complaint from the JW Marriott Austin Hotel about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday about a woman across the street “holding a silver object” against her privates “with her legs straight up in the air, spread open,” according to the arrest affidavit.
A hotel worker said he could hear the woman — identified by authorities as Dovie Nickels, 26 — “making moaning noises,” the affidavit reads.
The worker saw the woman masturbating on the patio for about seven or eight minutes, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
The worker said the woman told him to back off as he approached her to tell her to stop.
She then went to the Second Bar + Kitchen across the street — where the lewd behavior allegedly continued, the outlet reported.
When police arrived at the bar, the woman stopped moving her arms under the table and placed them on top of it — but the officers “observed that Nickels was not wearing any pants,” the affidavit said.
After being arrested, Nickels allegedly continued to pleasure herself — even while handcuffed in the back of the squad car, police said.
The cops went across the street to investigate the original complaint and learned from a hotel employee that the woman had been spotted earlier at the Marriott’s street-level patio, the affidavit said.
Nickels was charged with indecent exposure and sent to the Travis County Jail with bail set at $3,000.
Woman poses as non-existent autistic twin sister, tries to sexually assault caregiver
There’s crazy, and then there’s posing as your autistic twin sister who doesn’t exist crazy.
Cops say that’s exactly what Rachel Childs, of Pearland, Texas, did earlier this month in an attempt to sexually assault a private caregiver.
According to local police, the 29-year-old solicited the individual “under the pretense of caring Ms. Childs’ twin sister” who was described as having autism.
The unidentified worker was asked to arrive at the 29-year-old’s home “at a specific time” but told that she — Childs — would not be present.
Cops say the caregiver was given further instructions to “take the autistic twin sister to her home and then return her the next morning.” Childs allegedly claimed she would arrive a short time later.
“During the stay at the caregiver’s home, the ‘sister’ engaged in sexually oriented conduct toward the caregiver who became suspicious as her behavior did not reflect that of someone who was autistic,” said Pearland Police in a statement Thursday. “As a result, the caregiver investigated and determined that Ms. Childs was an only child and contacted the Pearland Police Department.”
Cops launched an investigation and quickly found out that Childs — who isn’t autistic — was trying to pull of an elaborate hoax “for sexual gratification” and was actually the “sister” that the caregiver was hired to take care of. She turned herself in after the Jan. 3 incident, but now cops are worried she may have tricked others.
“The Pearland Police Department believe there might be additional persons whom were similarly deceived by Ms. Childs,” officials said.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact Pearland detectives.
Fast-food worker laced child’s burger with ecstasy
She took “happy” meals to a whole new level.
A fast-food worker in Texas was busted for lacing a 4-year-old’s hamburger with ecstasy that the poor boy thought was candy, according to reports.
The kid’s older sister found the pill between the buns of the Sonic Drive-In kids meal burger Thursday night in Taylor and told their parents, according to ABC 13.
“When she opened the wrapping, she noticed a pill. Being an 11-year-old, she asked her parents if this was candy,” Taylor Chief of Police Henry Fluck said, according to the local station.
Their parents took the meal to the police station, where a lab test revealed that it tested positive for MDMA, the drug’s active compound, according to the station.
Tanisha Dancer, 30 — who was allegedly caught with three more pills — was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and endangering a child, according to the report.
She was booked at the Williamson County Jail and has since been fired, according to FOX 8.
Restaurant employees Jonathan Roberson, 35, and Jose Molina, 22, were charged with possession of marijuana.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/12/10/fast-food-worker-laced-childs-burger-with-ecstasy-cops/
Teacher commits suicide in classroom during school hours
A Texas middle school teacher committed suicide in his classroom Monday while school was in session, officials said.
A staff member at Wessendorff Middle School in Rosenberg found fine arts teacher Jordan Halane unconscious. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died, ABC reported.
The school district believes it was the teacher’s intent to harm himself, though they did not provide any details on his cause of death.
The district said students were not in danger and no weapons were found on the campus. They noted that Halane’s classroom was in a portion of the campus not directly accessible to students.
Following the tragic discovery, students were placed on hold in their classrooms. The school notified parents of the supposed suicide before notifying students.
“Our focus is always on the safety and well-being of our students. We felt that you should be aware of the situation in case your child comes home with questions or concerns,” the school’s principal, Sonya Sanzo, said in an email to parents.
The school said counselors would be available to speak with students or teachers throughout the week.
According to Halane’s Facebook page, he was married in 2016.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/11/07/teacher-commits-suicide-in-classroom-during-school-hours-officials/