Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Houston-area law enforcement not investigating child abuse cases
Houston, Texas
At a recent news conference on child abuse, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia talked tough at the podium.
"We have no mercy for people who will victimize children," Garcia said.
But the KHOU 11 News I-Team uncovered evidence that begs the question: Are his department's actions as strong as his words?
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Laredo police officer sentenced to over 24 years in prison for drug trafficking
Laredo, Texas
A Laredo police officer on Monday was sentenced to over 24 years in prison after being convicted for drug trafficking firearms offenses, prosecutors informed.
Orlando Jesus Hale, 28, a member of Laredo Police Department (LPD), was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possessing the firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.
The law agent was sentenced to 235 months in prison for the drug trafficking offense and to a consecutive 60-month prison term for the firearms charges. Overall, Hale received a sentenced of 295 months in prison (24 years and a half).
Hale and LPD officer Pedro Martinez III conspired to escort vehicles loaded with cocaine through Laredo, Texas. The two defendants used their police radios to monitor LAPD dispatch traffic during the escort.
In addition, Hale and Martinez met with an undercover FBI agent posing as a drug dealer. Hale was carrying a gun during the meeting in which the defendants discussed details of the planned escorts.
On November 7, 2008, Hale and Martinez met with the agent in a Laredo hotel room. The two defendants agreed to escort loads of 20 kilograms each of cocaine from south to north Laredo using their personal vehicles.
On November 13, Martinez and then Hale each escorted a cocaine-loaded vehicle during the afternoon. They agreed to meet a person in san Antonio, Texas, to receive their payment on November 25.
Source
A Laredo police officer on Monday was sentenced to over 24 years in prison after being convicted for drug trafficking firearms offenses, prosecutors informed.
Orlando Jesus Hale, 28, a member of Laredo Police Department (LPD), was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possessing the firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.
The law agent was sentenced to 235 months in prison for the drug trafficking offense and to a consecutive 60-month prison term for the firearms charges. Overall, Hale received a sentenced of 295 months in prison (24 years and a half).
Hale and LPD officer Pedro Martinez III conspired to escort vehicles loaded with cocaine through Laredo, Texas. The two defendants used their police radios to monitor LAPD dispatch traffic during the escort.
In addition, Hale and Martinez met with an undercover FBI agent posing as a drug dealer. Hale was carrying a gun during the meeting in which the defendants discussed details of the planned escorts.
On November 7, 2008, Hale and Martinez met with the agent in a Laredo hotel room. The two defendants agreed to escort loads of 20 kilograms each of cocaine from south to north Laredo using their personal vehicles.
On November 13, Martinez and then Hale each escorted a cocaine-loaded vehicle during the afternoon. They agreed to meet a person in san Antonio, Texas, to receive their payment on November 25.
Source
Monday, April 11, 2011
Galveston cop accused of beating man over noise complaint
Galveston, Texas
A Galveston man claims he was assaulted by a police officer during an arrest and seeks $1 million from the city.
In a lawsuit filed March 30 in Galveston County District Court, Nicholas Cruz claims a Galveston police officer beat him just before he was taken into custody for allegedly creating loud noise on March 21, 2010.
Cruz states he was given a citation by an officer when another officer arrived on the scene 30 minutes later and threw him to the ground, the original petition says.
He alleges the officer struck him several times in the abdomen and then arrested him. He claims additional officers came and witnessed the assault.
Police arrested another man for interfering with Cruz's arrest and the homeowner for also violating the city's noise ordinance.
Source
A Galveston man claims he was assaulted by a police officer during an arrest and seeks $1 million from the city.
In a lawsuit filed March 30 in Galveston County District Court, Nicholas Cruz claims a Galveston police officer beat him just before he was taken into custody for allegedly creating loud noise on March 21, 2010.
Cruz states he was given a citation by an officer when another officer arrived on the scene 30 minutes later and threw him to the ground, the original petition says.
He alleges the officer struck him several times in the abdomen and then arrested him. He claims additional officers came and witnessed the assault.
Police arrested another man for interfering with Cruz's arrest and the homeowner for also violating the city's noise ordinance.
Source
Ex-Sulphur Springs police chief charged with sex assault of a child
McKinney, Texas
A former North Texas police chief is accused of having sexual relations with a girl between 2001 and 2004.
A Collin County grand jury has indicted 61-year-old ex-Sulphur Springs Chief of Police Donald "Donnie" Gene Lewis of Dallas.
Lewis is in jail with a bond set at $250,000. Electronic jail records did not list an attorney for Lewis, who was arrested Thursday on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, eight counts of indecency with a child/sexual contact and five counts of sexual assault of a child. If convicted, Lewis faces up to life in prison.
Plano police have declined to release details of the active case. Lewis was indicted last week.
Lewis served as a Sulphur Springs officer for more than 25 years. He retired in mid-2001.
Source
A former North Texas police chief is accused of having sexual relations with a girl between 2001 and 2004.
A Collin County grand jury has indicted 61-year-old ex-Sulphur Springs Chief of Police Donald "Donnie" Gene Lewis of Dallas.
Lewis is in jail with a bond set at $250,000. Electronic jail records did not list an attorney for Lewis, who was arrested Thursday on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, eight counts of indecency with a child/sexual contact and five counts of sexual assault of a child. If convicted, Lewis faces up to life in prison.
Plano police have declined to release details of the active case. Lewis was indicted last week.
Lewis served as a Sulphur Springs officer for more than 25 years. He retired in mid-2001.
Source
San Antonio Police Officer found guilty on DWI charge
A 34-year-old former San Antonio police officer has been convicted on a charge of DWI.
It took a six-member jury nine hours to reach its verdict. Winder Morales was arrested in 2009 after crashing his car.
His blood-alcohol level was .08, right at the legal limit.
Morales face up to two years in jail or up to two years probation. A judge will sentence Morales in six weeks after a pre-sentencing investigation.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education has an open investigation on Morales. He could lose his license to serve as a peace officer in the state of Texas.
Source
Sunday, April 10, 2011
McKinney Police Officer Sued for breaking teenagers arm
McKinney, Texas
The city of McKinney and a McKinney police officer are facing a lawsuit after the police officer allegedly broke a high school student's arm.
Clifford Griffing filed suit against Officer Cody McGrew, Officer John Doe and the city of McKinney on March 28 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.
In April 2009, Clifford Griffing, a student at McKinney Boyd High School, was ill with stomach problems. Shortly after lunch time, Griffing felt that he could not physically attend the rest of his classes for the day.
He left the nurses office and was walking toward an exit door when he states an officer yelled "You got to get back in the school!"
After asking several questions, the officer wrote Griffing a truancy ticket. When he received the ticket, he turned and continued to walk through the exit doors.
According to the lawsuit, the officer yelled at Griffing and grabbed one of his arms and Officer McGrew grabbed the other. The suit states the officers twisted his arms and pushed him to the ground.
Griffing alleges he fell on his left arm and yelled to the officers that his arm was broken. The officers allegedly ignored Griffing and twisted his arms behind his back, causing a compound fracture with the bone protruding through the skin.
Source
The city of McKinney and a McKinney police officer are facing a lawsuit after the police officer allegedly broke a high school student's arm.
Clifford Griffing filed suit against Officer Cody McGrew, Officer John Doe and the city of McKinney on March 28 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.
In April 2009, Clifford Griffing, a student at McKinney Boyd High School, was ill with stomach problems. Shortly after lunch time, Griffing felt that he could not physically attend the rest of his classes for the day.
He left the nurses office and was walking toward an exit door when he states an officer yelled "You got to get back in the school!"
After asking several questions, the officer wrote Griffing a truancy ticket. When he received the ticket, he turned and continued to walk through the exit doors.
According to the lawsuit, the officer yelled at Griffing and grabbed one of his arms and Officer McGrew grabbed the other. The suit states the officers twisted his arms and pushed him to the ground.
Griffing alleges he fell on his left arm and yelled to the officers that his arm was broken. The officers allegedly ignored Griffing and twisted his arms behind his back, causing a compound fracture with the bone protruding through the skin.
Source
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Rosebud Police Chief Convicted Of Evidence Tampering
Down in Rosebud, Police Chief Jeremiah Shults is free on bond, awaiting a sentencing hearing after a Falls County jury found him guilty on one of two counts of evidence tampering.
According to the indictment from October 2010, Shults was accused of concealing alcoholic beverage containers at the scene of an accident and altering the driver’s seat of a vehicle.
After about six hours of deliberation that stretched into the night Thursday, jurors convicted Shults on the evidence tampering count stemming from the removal of beer cans from the vehicle involved in the accident, but acquitted him on the count stemming from allegations he moved a seat in the vehicle.
Shults has decided to let the judge decide his punishment. A hearing will be held after a pre-sentence investigation by the county’s Adult Probation Department.
The offense carries a possible penalty of two to 10 years in prison.
Source
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