SAGINAW — A 19-year-old man died Friday after his Dodge Ram pickup left the road, went down and embankment and landed upside down on Blue Mound Road.
A woman who was also in the vehicle during the collision was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital with unknown injuries, police said.
Officers responded to the accident call about 10:40 a.m. Friday, said Damon Ing, Saginaw police spokesman.
It appears as though the Dodge was traveling eastbound on Loop 820 and left the road, flipped once and landed upside down on Blue Mound Road, Ing said.
The woman's condition was not available. The incident was still under investigation late Friday, Ing said.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Death Caused by Taser
FORT WORTH — A Fort Worth man's death just moments after he was shot by a Taser stun gun has been ruled a homicide, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, was pronounced dead about noon April 18, two hours after his parents called 911 because he was causing a disturbance at their east Fort Worth home, according to police reports.
Police shot Jacobs twice with the Taser, one for 49 seconds and one for five seconds.
The medical examiner's report says Jacobs died of "sudden death during neuromuscular incapacitation due to application" of the Taser.
There were no drugs found in his system, according to the report.
When officers arrived, Jacobs would not cooperate with them, and one officer shot him with a Taser when he became combative, police have said.
After being shot with the Taser he fell down face first and later become unresponsive.
Family members have said that police used excessive force.
According to documents obtained by the Star-Telegram, a MedStar paramedic had reported that the defibrillator apparently did not work when they were attempting to revive him.
But a MedStar official said that the machine was operational and that the monitor did not register a reading, he said, because Jacobs' heart had stopped and because cellphone and radio transmissions at the scene could have interfered.
Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, was pronounced dead about noon April 18, two hours after his parents called 911 because he was causing a disturbance at their east Fort Worth home, according to police reports.
Police shot Jacobs twice with the Taser, one for 49 seconds and one for five seconds.
The medical examiner's report says Jacobs died of "sudden death during neuromuscular incapacitation due to application" of the Taser.
There were no drugs found in his system, according to the report.
When officers arrived, Jacobs would not cooperate with them, and one officer shot him with a Taser when he became combative, police have said.
After being shot with the Taser he fell down face first and later become unresponsive.
Family members have said that police used excessive force.
According to documents obtained by the Star-Telegram, a MedStar paramedic had reported that the defibrillator apparently did not work when they were attempting to revive him.
But a MedStar official said that the machine was operational and that the monitor did not register a reading, he said, because Jacobs' heart had stopped and because cellphone and radio transmissions at the scene could have interfered.
Jury Convicts Man of Sexual Assault
FORT WORTH -- A Mineral Wells man was found guilty of sexually assaulting the 12-year-old daughter of his girlfriend.
The Tarrant County jury deliberated about two hours Wednesday night before convicting Kenyon Cox of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child.
However, the jury did not return the verdict until Thursday morning because Cox’s attorney had to leave while the jury deliberated Wednesday night.
A punishment hearing for Cox began immediately after the verdict was read in Criminal District Court No. 2. If prosecutors prove that he had prior felony convictions, he faces up to life in prison on each of the four counts.
Of nine counts, jurors were asked to decide two counts of aggravated sexual assault alleged to have occurred June 8, 2007, and two counts of indecency with a child alleged to have occurred May 1, 2007 — all in White Settlement.
Prosecutors Amy Collum and Hugo Martinez told jurors there was no question that Cox repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, although she failed to tell anyone about it and denied it to Child Protective Services.
Collum reminded jurors that the girl, now 14, and her two siblings had testified that Cox beat them with a paddle, held a gun to their mother’s head, burned her private area with a torch, held a razor to the chest of the youngest girl, beat their puppy to death with a baseball bat and threatened to kill the family if the older girl reported the abuse.
“Is it any wonder that she would not tell when she was living in hell with this guy?” Collum asked. “Wouldn’t you be afraid?”
The children said they and their mother began living with Cox in 2005, shortly after their parents separated. They lived with Cox’s father in Weatherford until the older man became upset at a severe beating Cox gave the girls’ brother, the boy testified.
The family was living in a motel when Cox gave the older girl an alcoholic drink, then exposed himself and made her perform a sex act, she said.
The girl said the sex acts and fondling continued and included attempts by Cox to have sex with her in their White Settlement apartment while her mother was at work and her younger siblings were in another room.
The boy, now 12, said he didn’t see Cox abusing his sister but heard her say “ow!” from the other room. He said Cox treated her sister differently, sometimes giving her presents. The girl said Cox told her that “if you want me to do something for you, you have to do something for me.”
Defense attorney Pia Rodriguez told jurors that Cox might be “the most violent man in the world” but that it doesn’t mean he sexually assaulted the girl.
She reminded jurors that the girl had repeatedly denied being sexually abused when questioned by CPS workers.
Rodriguez contended that the girl and her brother only made the allegations after CPS officials turned them over to their father, who acknowledged disliking Cox.
Collum said Cox’s multiple escape attempts were evidence that “he knew he did it.”
Two years ago, as police and child-abuse investigators knocked on his door, Cox climbed out a bedroom window with his girlfriend’s three children, including the 12-year-old girl he was sexually assaulting.
A week later, Cox fled from a White Settlement detective who was trying to arrest him on a warrant for aggravated sexual assault based on the girl’s allegations, the detective testified.
And last year, the 32-year-old Mineral Wells man eluded police for two days after he cut off his ankle monitor after being bailed out of the Tarrant County Jail by two former inmates who used proceeds from bank robberies, authorities said.
The two men who bailed Cox out of jail, Thomas Jochum and Donald Mark Scott, are serving time for federal bank robbery convictions. Jochum was sentenced to 20 years in prison for two robberies and Scott to more than nine years for one robbery, Collum said.
The Tarrant County jury deliberated about two hours Wednesday night before convicting Kenyon Cox of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child.
However, the jury did not return the verdict until Thursday morning because Cox’s attorney had to leave while the jury deliberated Wednesday night.
A punishment hearing for Cox began immediately after the verdict was read in Criminal District Court No. 2. If prosecutors prove that he had prior felony convictions, he faces up to life in prison on each of the four counts.
Of nine counts, jurors were asked to decide two counts of aggravated sexual assault alleged to have occurred June 8, 2007, and two counts of indecency with a child alleged to have occurred May 1, 2007 — all in White Settlement.
Prosecutors Amy Collum and Hugo Martinez told jurors there was no question that Cox repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, although she failed to tell anyone about it and denied it to Child Protective Services.
Collum reminded jurors that the girl, now 14, and her two siblings had testified that Cox beat them with a paddle, held a gun to their mother’s head, burned her private area with a torch, held a razor to the chest of the youngest girl, beat their puppy to death with a baseball bat and threatened to kill the family if the older girl reported the abuse.
“Is it any wonder that she would not tell when she was living in hell with this guy?” Collum asked. “Wouldn’t you be afraid?”
The children said they and their mother began living with Cox in 2005, shortly after their parents separated. They lived with Cox’s father in Weatherford until the older man became upset at a severe beating Cox gave the girls’ brother, the boy testified.
The family was living in a motel when Cox gave the older girl an alcoholic drink, then exposed himself and made her perform a sex act, she said.
The girl said the sex acts and fondling continued and included attempts by Cox to have sex with her in their White Settlement apartment while her mother was at work and her younger siblings were in another room.
The boy, now 12, said he didn’t see Cox abusing his sister but heard her say “ow!” from the other room. He said Cox treated her sister differently, sometimes giving her presents. The girl said Cox told her that “if you want me to do something for you, you have to do something for me.”
Defense attorney Pia Rodriguez told jurors that Cox might be “the most violent man in the world” but that it doesn’t mean he sexually assaulted the girl.
She reminded jurors that the girl had repeatedly denied being sexually abused when questioned by CPS workers.
Rodriguez contended that the girl and her brother only made the allegations after CPS officials turned them over to their father, who acknowledged disliking Cox.
Collum said Cox’s multiple escape attempts were evidence that “he knew he did it.”
Two years ago, as police and child-abuse investigators knocked on his door, Cox climbed out a bedroom window with his girlfriend’s three children, including the 12-year-old girl he was sexually assaulting.
A week later, Cox fled from a White Settlement detective who was trying to arrest him on a warrant for aggravated sexual assault based on the girl’s allegations, the detective testified.
And last year, the 32-year-old Mineral Wells man eluded police for two days after he cut off his ankle monitor after being bailed out of the Tarrant County Jail by two former inmates who used proceeds from bank robberies, authorities said.
The two men who bailed Cox out of jail, Thomas Jochum and Donald Mark Scott, are serving time for federal bank robbery convictions. Jochum was sentenced to 20 years in prison for two robberies and Scott to more than nine years for one robbery, Collum said.
Bridgeport Teen to be Remembered at Game
When Bridgeport opens its football season Friday night, the pompoms and megaphones of Leslie Denison and Becca Logan will be on the sidelines, a tribute to the two teens.
Denison, 17, a cheerleader and cross-country runner at Bridgeport High School, was killed Tuesday afternoon after an awning collapsed on her and Logan as they ran by a downtown gym.
A preliminary engineer’s report indicates that structural fatigue caused the awning to collapse.
Logan, 17, also a cheerleader and cross-country runner, suffered facial cuts and was treated at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. She returned home early Wednesday.
"Becca is doing much better," her father, Brad Logan, said Wednesday. "They did surgery on her face last night. She will be fine, but it’ll take a little while."
The community has been very supportive and gifts, cards and calls have been pouring in, he said.
At the high school, students and staffers created a makeshift memorial of flowers, pictures, teddy bears and messages. "Both of the young ladies are just absolute model students — outgoing individuals in everything, National Honor Society, cheerleading, basketball, cross country; just unbelievable young ladies," Bridgeport Superintendent Eddie Bland said.
Grief counselors and clergy members were at Bridgeport schools in case students and faculty members needed to talk, Bland said.
Denison’s mother, Marcie Cox, is a second-grade teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School, Bland said.
"There’s a lot of heartache, not just on that campus, but through the rest of the district and the community," he said.
School started this week, and Friday’s football game against Breckenridge is the season opener for the Wise County school about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
Friday’s planned pep rally has been canceled, said Jaime Sturdivant, principal at Bridgeport High.
"Having a pep rally just didn’t feel right," she said.
But she said officials decided to play the game because "it’s what Leslie would have wanted them to do."
Sturdivant described Denison as an all-American girl, the one you would want your daughter to emulate and your son to date. Logan was her best friend.
"They were always together," Sturdivant said. "That’s what makes this accident really a tragedy because she has to deal with surviving and her best friend being killed."
Denison and Logan were running past Club Barbell, a private gym in the 1100 block of Halsell Street, about 4 p.m. Tuesday when the building’s awning gave way, authorities said.
Engineers’ preliminary report suggests that structural fatigue may have caused the awning to fall, said Amber Fogelman, the city’s spokeswoman. Age may have also been a factor, she said. The building has been in downtown since the 1960s. City officials are looking at other buildings downtown to make sure there are no other hazards, Fogelman said.
"It still appears to be a freak accident," Fogelman said.
Denison’s was the second unexpected death to affect the community this year. In April, police Sgt. Randy White, 32, was killed when his parked patrol car was rear-ended by a sport utility vehicle during a high-speed chase.
"The community was just starting to bounce back and get into a regular routine," Fogelman said.
Denison, 17, a cheerleader and cross-country runner at Bridgeport High School, was killed Tuesday afternoon after an awning collapsed on her and Logan as they ran by a downtown gym.
A preliminary engineer’s report indicates that structural fatigue caused the awning to collapse.
Logan, 17, also a cheerleader and cross-country runner, suffered facial cuts and was treated at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. She returned home early Wednesday.
"Becca is doing much better," her father, Brad Logan, said Wednesday. "They did surgery on her face last night. She will be fine, but it’ll take a little while."
The community has been very supportive and gifts, cards and calls have been pouring in, he said.
At the high school, students and staffers created a makeshift memorial of flowers, pictures, teddy bears and messages. "Both of the young ladies are just absolute model students — outgoing individuals in everything, National Honor Society, cheerleading, basketball, cross country; just unbelievable young ladies," Bridgeport Superintendent Eddie Bland said.
Grief counselors and clergy members were at Bridgeport schools in case students and faculty members needed to talk, Bland said.
Denison’s mother, Marcie Cox, is a second-grade teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School, Bland said.
"There’s a lot of heartache, not just on that campus, but through the rest of the district and the community," he said.
School started this week, and Friday’s football game against Breckenridge is the season opener for the Wise County school about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
Friday’s planned pep rally has been canceled, said Jaime Sturdivant, principal at Bridgeport High.
"Having a pep rally just didn’t feel right," she said.
But she said officials decided to play the game because "it’s what Leslie would have wanted them to do."
Sturdivant described Denison as an all-American girl, the one you would want your daughter to emulate and your son to date. Logan was her best friend.
"They were always together," Sturdivant said. "That’s what makes this accident really a tragedy because she has to deal with surviving and her best friend being killed."
Denison and Logan were running past Club Barbell, a private gym in the 1100 block of Halsell Street, about 4 p.m. Tuesday when the building’s awning gave way, authorities said.
Engineers’ preliminary report suggests that structural fatigue may have caused the awning to fall, said Amber Fogelman, the city’s spokeswoman. Age may have also been a factor, she said. The building has been in downtown since the 1960s. City officials are looking at other buildings downtown to make sure there are no other hazards, Fogelman said.
"It still appears to be a freak accident," Fogelman said.
Denison’s was the second unexpected death to affect the community this year. In April, police Sgt. Randy White, 32, was killed when his parked patrol car was rear-ended by a sport utility vehicle during a high-speed chase.
"The community was just starting to bounce back and get into a regular routine," Fogelman said.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Motorcycle Death in Fort Worth
FORT WORTH -- A man died Saturday after he struck the rear of a car and was thrown from his silver Kawasaki motorcycle.
Police said the man, who has not been identified, was going eastbound at a high rate of speed on Interstate 20 about 11:30 a.m.
Then, the motorcycle rider crossed from the outside lane to the exit lane to get off the freeway at Wichita Street. The motorcyclist may have touched or struck the front of an 18-wheeler’s cab before continuing down the exit ramp, police said.
The motorcycle struck the rear of a black Ford Focus ahead of him on the exit ramp, according to police. The collision caused the Ford’s driver to lose control and strike the guardrail, but neither the driver nor her three-year-old son were injured, police said.
Detectives would like to speak with the driver of the 18-wheeler that may have been struck by the motorcycle.
Police said the man, who has not been identified, was going eastbound at a high rate of speed on Interstate 20 about 11:30 a.m.
Then, the motorcycle rider crossed from the outside lane to the exit lane to get off the freeway at Wichita Street. The motorcyclist may have touched or struck the front of an 18-wheeler’s cab before continuing down the exit ramp, police said.
The motorcycle struck the rear of a black Ford Focus ahead of him on the exit ramp, according to police. The collision caused the Ford’s driver to lose control and strike the guardrail, but neither the driver nor her three-year-old son were injured, police said.
Detectives would like to speak with the driver of the 18-wheeler that may have been struck by the motorcycle.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Cause of Fire and Injuries Discovered
Investigators believe spontaneous combustion caused the fire Monday that consumed a pickup truck in rural northeast Johnson County, killing its driver and severely burning his teenage daughter.
Jessie Pack, 34, of Venus was driving a 1994 Ford pickup about 4 p.m. Monday on County Road 213 east of Alvarado. That's when a fire erupted in the pickup bed and spread to the cab, according to earlier reports.
Both Pack and his 14-year-old daughter, Anastaza, were taken by helicopter ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he died of his injuries.
The girl was listed in critical condition Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Johnson County fire investigators reported that the blaze appeared to have started in tightly compacted trash bags that were in the back of the truck, Lt. Tim Jones, sheriff's spokesman, said Thursday.
Some of the bags contained pet manure, Jones said. There also was at least one small propane bottle that appeared to have contributed fuel to the blaze, he said.
The combustion may have occurred as heat bore down on the contents of the pickup bed, and the flames were probably fanned as the truck traveled down the road, Jones said.
After the fire spread to the cab, the truck went off the roadway, went through a fence and struck a tree, authorities said.
Jones noted, however, that the fire was still under investigation Thursday.
Members of the Venus community have been organizing a blood drive for the girl, but details were unavailable Thursday morning.
Jessie Pack, 34, of Venus was driving a 1994 Ford pickup about 4 p.m. Monday on County Road 213 east of Alvarado. That's when a fire erupted in the pickup bed and spread to the cab, according to earlier reports.
Both Pack and his 14-year-old daughter, Anastaza, were taken by helicopter ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he died of his injuries.
The girl was listed in critical condition Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Johnson County fire investigators reported that the blaze appeared to have started in tightly compacted trash bags that were in the back of the truck, Lt. Tim Jones, sheriff's spokesman, said Thursday.
Some of the bags contained pet manure, Jones said. There also was at least one small propane bottle that appeared to have contributed fuel to the blaze, he said.
The combustion may have occurred as heat bore down on the contents of the pickup bed, and the flames were probably fanned as the truck traveled down the road, Jones said.
After the fire spread to the cab, the truck went off the roadway, went through a fence and struck a tree, authorities said.
Jones noted, however, that the fire was still under investigation Thursday.
Members of the Venus community have been organizing a blood drive for the girl, but details were unavailable Thursday morning.
Death in Accident in Austin on I35
One person was killed another was injured in a head-on collision last night in the 13200 block of southbound Interstate 35 South, police said.
About 9:50 p.m., a silver sport-utility vehicle was traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Onion Creek Parkway when it slammed head-on into a green pickup, Cpl. Scott Perry with the Austin Police Department said today.
The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, Perry said, and the driver of the pickup was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge by STARflight with critical injuries.
Perry did not know if anybody else was injured in the collision.
About 9:50 p.m., a silver sport-utility vehicle was traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Onion Creek Parkway when it slammed head-on into a green pickup, Cpl. Scott Perry with the Austin Police Department said today.
The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, Perry said, and the driver of the pickup was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge by STARflight with critical injuries.
Perry did not know if anybody else was injured in the collision.
Accusation: Boy in Wheelchair Hit
A 23-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday evening after getting into a scuffle over a soccer ball with a 13-year-old boy in a wheelchair at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
Mikka Shardai Cline of Waco faces a charge of injury to a child. She was being held Wednesday in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $1,500 bail. She could not be reached for comment.
Dallas police said that during the scuffle, Cline struck the boy's presurgical medical halo, which was screwed into his skull.
"The medical halo is plainly visible to any ordinary person," a police report said.
The boy's uncle told police he had bought his nephew a soccer ball, and about 6 p.m. the uncle retrieved it from a bush on the hospital grounds at 2200 Welborn St.
Cline and her sister also were trying to get the ball, police said. The sister told officers she had gotten it from the hospital's playground area.
The sisters were visiting a family member being treated at the hospital, hospital spokeswoman Shelley Ryan said.
"We have a park out in the front of our hospital as well as a youth fitness park," Ryan said. "We encourage them to go outside and be active and participate in sports."
Police say that after the boy's uncle handed him the ball, Cline's sister tried to get it from his lap, but was blocked by the boy's uncle.
Police say Cline then tried to grab the ball, swinging her fist twice toward the boy in the wheelchair. It was not clear, according to the police report, whether Cline was swinging at the boy or trying to knock the ball from his lap.
Her first swing missed, but her second swing struck the boy's halo, causing him pain, police say.
"Cline was reckless due to the fact that she consciously disregarded the risk to a child in a halo in which an ordinary person would not [have] swung her fist near a person with a halo," the police report said.
Dallas officers responded when notified by hospital security about the disturbance.
"The most important thing is ensuring that families and our children that are here are safe, and they are restored back to health as quickly as possible," Ryan said. "Obviously we're doing everything in our power to make sure that that happens for all of the thousands of kids that we treat here."
Mikka Shardai Cline of Waco faces a charge of injury to a child. She was being held Wednesday in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $1,500 bail. She could not be reached for comment.
Dallas police said that during the scuffle, Cline struck the boy's presurgical medical halo, which was screwed into his skull.
"The medical halo is plainly visible to any ordinary person," a police report said.
The boy's uncle told police he had bought his nephew a soccer ball, and about 6 p.m. the uncle retrieved it from a bush on the hospital grounds at 2200 Welborn St.
Cline and her sister also were trying to get the ball, police said. The sister told officers she had gotten it from the hospital's playground area.
The sisters were visiting a family member being treated at the hospital, hospital spokeswoman Shelley Ryan said.
"We have a park out in the front of our hospital as well as a youth fitness park," Ryan said. "We encourage them to go outside and be active and participate in sports."
Police say that after the boy's uncle handed him the ball, Cline's sister tried to get it from his lap, but was blocked by the boy's uncle.
Police say Cline then tried to grab the ball, swinging her fist twice toward the boy in the wheelchair. It was not clear, according to the police report, whether Cline was swinging at the boy or trying to knock the ball from his lap.
Her first swing missed, but her second swing struck the boy's halo, causing him pain, police say.
"Cline was reckless due to the fact that she consciously disregarded the risk to a child in a halo in which an ordinary person would not [have] swung her fist near a person with a halo," the police report said.
Dallas officers responded when notified by hospital security about the disturbance.
"The most important thing is ensuring that families and our children that are here are safe, and they are restored back to health as quickly as possible," Ryan said. "Obviously we're doing everything in our power to make sure that that happens for all of the thousands of kids that we treat here."
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Man Dies in Johnson County when Truck Catches Fire
JOHNSON COUNTY -- A 34-year-old man died and his 14-year-old daughter was hospitalized on Monday after his pickup truck caught fire, according to authorities.
Jessie Pack was driving his 1994 Ford pickup on County Road 213 about 4 p.m. when a fire erupted in the pickup bed and spread to the cab, a news release from the Sheriff’s Department said.
After the fire spread to the cab, the truck went off the roadway, went through a fence and struck a tree, authorities said.
Both Pack and his daughter were able to get out of the truck, but not before the fire caused them to injured severely, authorities said.
Both Pack and his daughter were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital by helicopter ambulance.
Pack died early Tuesday from injuries sustained during the fire. His daughter was listed in critical condition at the Parkland burn unit, the release said.
Department of Public Safety troopers are not sure what caused the fire, and are continuing to investigate the incident, Trooper Richard Zaborowski said.
County Road 213 is a north-south roadway east of Alvarado.
Jessie Pack was driving his 1994 Ford pickup on County Road 213 about 4 p.m. when a fire erupted in the pickup bed and spread to the cab, a news release from the Sheriff’s Department said.
After the fire spread to the cab, the truck went off the roadway, went through a fence and struck a tree, authorities said.
Both Pack and his daughter were able to get out of the truck, but not before the fire caused them to injured severely, authorities said.
Both Pack and his daughter were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital by helicopter ambulance.
Pack died early Tuesday from injuries sustained during the fire. His daughter was listed in critical condition at the Parkland burn unit, the release said.
Department of Public Safety troopers are not sure what caused the fire, and are continuing to investigate the incident, Trooper Richard Zaborowski said.
County Road 213 is a north-south roadway east of Alvarado.
Strange Accident in Grand Prairie
GRAND PRAIRIE — Drenched in blood, Vincent Paul Riojas burst through the front door of his family’s east Grand Prairie home Saturday night.
Without explanation, he rushed out again, his mother later told Grand Prairie police.
Outside, next to the house, Riojas’ mother saw his 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It had been damaged, she told officers.
And inside, she could see a bloody man hunched over in the back seat.
"As far as she knew, her son had been involved in an altercation," Grand Prairie traffic Sgt. Eric Hansen said Monday. "After she saw the man in the back seat, she called 911. She thought the friend had been injured also."
On the way to the house, responding officers noticed a mangled blue mountain bike in front of an auto body shop in the 3400 block of East Main Street, Hansen said.
When the officers arrived at the Riojas’ home in the 400 block of Northeast 38th Street, they saw that the driver’s side of the Cavalier was crumpled and that the windshield was smashed.
Riojas’ home is less than a mile from where the mangled bike was found.
"They were able to put it together pretty fast that the vehicle had been involved in the wreck with the bike," Hansen said.
The man in the back seat was Ronnie Monroe Keller, 59, who lived in the neighborhood and rode his bike every day. He had been hit head-on by the Cavalier, police said Monday. Keller was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Police arrested Riojas, 27, who was found hiding under a parked vehicle in the area.
What happened
Police believe that Riojas was drunk as he drove home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He was eastbound in the 3400 block of East Main Street and veered into the westbound lane, where Keller was riding, on a part of Main Street that veers to the left and narrows from a four-lane street to a single lane before coming to a dead end.
Investigators think the impact sent Keller’s body into the Cavalier’s windshield. Dents on the roof suggest that he tumbled over it and into the back window, where his body partially lodged.
How Keller got from the back window into the back seat is unclear, Hansen said.
"We’re not sure if [Riojas] just pulled Keller through the window or pulled him out and put him in the back seat," Hansen said. Riojas "was covered in blood, so obviously he came into physical contact with the victim."
Because Keller had been removed from the window, officers couldn’t tell which part of his body went through it.
Police are awaiting blood-test results on Riojas.
Security video from a nearby auto repair shop shows the Cavalier hitting the bicyclist at 9:04 p.m. Saturday. Police received the call from Riojas’ mother at 9:20 p.m.
Keller was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
"It is our belief, with the seriousness of the injuries, emergency crews would have had a greater chance of saving him had [Riojas] called for help when the wreck happened," Hansen said.
Kristen Cranford, who lived with Keller, her uncle, just blocks from where the wreck occurred, said: "He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. My uncle was a real person."
Riojas remained in the Grand Prairie Jail Monday with bail set at $150,000. He faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, resisting arrest, and failure to stop and render aid. He was also wanted on an unrelated felony warrant.
Riojas was convicted of multiple drug charges in 2006 in Dallas County and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in November 2007 under supervision until Aug. 2, 2010, records show.
Without explanation, he rushed out again, his mother later told Grand Prairie police.
Outside, next to the house, Riojas’ mother saw his 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It had been damaged, she told officers.
And inside, she could see a bloody man hunched over in the back seat.
"As far as she knew, her son had been involved in an altercation," Grand Prairie traffic Sgt. Eric Hansen said Monday. "After she saw the man in the back seat, she called 911. She thought the friend had been injured also."
On the way to the house, responding officers noticed a mangled blue mountain bike in front of an auto body shop in the 3400 block of East Main Street, Hansen said.
When the officers arrived at the Riojas’ home in the 400 block of Northeast 38th Street, they saw that the driver’s side of the Cavalier was crumpled and that the windshield was smashed.
Riojas’ home is less than a mile from where the mangled bike was found.
"They were able to put it together pretty fast that the vehicle had been involved in the wreck with the bike," Hansen said.
The man in the back seat was Ronnie Monroe Keller, 59, who lived in the neighborhood and rode his bike every day. He had been hit head-on by the Cavalier, police said Monday. Keller was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Police arrested Riojas, 27, who was found hiding under a parked vehicle in the area.
What happened
Police believe that Riojas was drunk as he drove home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He was eastbound in the 3400 block of East Main Street and veered into the westbound lane, where Keller was riding, on a part of Main Street that veers to the left and narrows from a four-lane street to a single lane before coming to a dead end.
Investigators think the impact sent Keller’s body into the Cavalier’s windshield. Dents on the roof suggest that he tumbled over it and into the back window, where his body partially lodged.
How Keller got from the back window into the back seat is unclear, Hansen said.
"We’re not sure if [Riojas] just pulled Keller through the window or pulled him out and put him in the back seat," Hansen said. Riojas "was covered in blood, so obviously he came into physical contact with the victim."
Because Keller had been removed from the window, officers couldn’t tell which part of his body went through it.
Police are awaiting blood-test results on Riojas.
Security video from a nearby auto repair shop shows the Cavalier hitting the bicyclist at 9:04 p.m. Saturday. Police received the call from Riojas’ mother at 9:20 p.m.
Keller was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
"It is our belief, with the seriousness of the injuries, emergency crews would have had a greater chance of saving him had [Riojas] called for help when the wreck happened," Hansen said.
Kristen Cranford, who lived with Keller, her uncle, just blocks from where the wreck occurred, said: "He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. My uncle was a real person."
Riojas remained in the Grand Prairie Jail Monday with bail set at $150,000. He faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, resisting arrest, and failure to stop and render aid. He was also wanted on an unrelated felony warrant.
Riojas was convicted of multiple drug charges in 2006 in Dallas County and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in November 2007 under supervision until Aug. 2, 2010, records show.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Man Drowns at Johnson County Gas Well Site
JOHNSON COUNTY -- A 25-year-old man drowned Friday while he was helping relocate a pump at a water storage pond near County Road 920.
Authorities responded to the drowning call about 12:30 p.m., a news release from the Johnson County sheriff's department said.
Workers near a gas-well site were swimming in the water storage pond with a water pump in an attempt to move it, but decided they would have to move the pump another way. The man was swimming with two other workers when he started gasping for air and sinking, a news release said. The pond is about 15-feet deep with an acre of surface area. The employees and their supervisor started searching for the man and called emergency workers, the release said.
The man, who has not been identified, was found about 45 minutes after disappearing underwater, the release said.
Authorities responded to the drowning call about 12:30 p.m., a news release from the Johnson County sheriff's department said.
Workers near a gas-well site were swimming in the water storage pond with a water pump in an attempt to move it, but decided they would have to move the pump another way. The man was swimming with two other workers when he started gasping for air and sinking, a news release said. The pond is about 15-feet deep with an acre of surface area. The employees and their supervisor started searching for the man and called emergency workers, the release said.
The man, who has not been identified, was found about 45 minutes after disappearing underwater, the release said.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Teen Killed Near Gainesville
For unknown reasons, a pedestrian was lying in the center of the west bound lane of FM 922 Monday evening and was run over by three separate vehicles. The deceased was identified as 19-year-old Devon James McKinnon.
Sergeant Ray Sappington of the Texas Highway Patrol in Cooke County said the incident took place Aug. 10 at about 10 p.m. on FM 922. The location on FM 922 was 2.2 miles East of 372 and the same distance from Mountain Springs.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton said that basically, McKinnon was laying down in the driver’s lane on FM 922.
Compton said that one car ran over McKinnon because it couldn’t miss him. The driver of the car turned around to try to stop ongoing traffic from running over McKinnon again.
A second vehicle and then a third vehicle also ran over McKinnon.
McKinnon was wearing a black shirt, dark pants and was in a very rural area where there were no lights.
Sappington said that anti-seizure medication was found next to McKinnon’s body.
Sappington said McKinnon had a Valley View address but lived in the Mountain Springs area.
Cooke County Justice of the Peace Jason Brinkley has ordered an autopsy.
Sergeant Ray Sappington of the Texas Highway Patrol in Cooke County said the incident took place Aug. 10 at about 10 p.m. on FM 922. The location on FM 922 was 2.2 miles East of 372 and the same distance from Mountain Springs.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton said that basically, McKinnon was laying down in the driver’s lane on FM 922.
Compton said that one car ran over McKinnon because it couldn’t miss him. The driver of the car turned around to try to stop ongoing traffic from running over McKinnon again.
A second vehicle and then a third vehicle also ran over McKinnon.
McKinnon was wearing a black shirt, dark pants and was in a very rural area where there were no lights.
Sappington said that anti-seizure medication was found next to McKinnon’s body.
Sappington said McKinnon had a Valley View address but lived in the Mountain Springs area.
Cooke County Justice of the Peace Jason Brinkley has ordered an autopsy.
Firefighter Injured due to Exploding Ammunition
MORGAN'S POINT RESORT, Texas -- A Central Texas firefighter escaped serious injury when he was struck by ammunition that exploded during a house fire.
Investigators searched for the cause of Thursday's fire at Morgan's Point Resort, in Bell County.
Morgan's Point Resort Fire Chief Bill Richards says one woman from the home was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
Richards told KWTX-TV that ammunition stored inside the structure started to discharge during the blaze. Richards says a firefighter, wearing heavy gear, was hit in the chest by a bullet, but avoided serious injury.
Morgan's Point Resort is a town of about 4,000, located along Belton Lake.
Investigators searched for the cause of Thursday's fire at Morgan's Point Resort, in Bell County.
Morgan's Point Resort Fire Chief Bill Richards says one woman from the home was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
Richards told KWTX-TV that ammunition stored inside the structure started to discharge during the blaze. Richards says a firefighter, wearing heavy gear, was hit in the chest by a bullet, but avoided serious injury.
Morgan's Point Resort is a town of about 4,000, located along Belton Lake.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Murder Charges for DWI Haltom City Car Wreck
HALTOM CITY -- A Haltom City woman with two previous driving while intoxication convictions was arraigned on a charge of murder Wednesday morning in the traffic death of a motorcyclist, police said.
Tammy Sue Stegall, 50, was in the Haltom City Jail with bail set at $500,000.
Initially, Stegall was in jail on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter, but the charge was changed to murder because of her two DWI convictions in Tarrant County, police said.
One of those convictions was in Haltom City following another accident in 2008, authorities said.
Police identified the victim as Billy Stroud, 56, of Bedford. According to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s Web site, Stroud died about 2 p.m. Tuesday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Police arrested Stegall at the scene of the accident Tuesday morning.
The accident was reported about 10:40 a.m. in the 5800 block of Belknap Street near Denton Highway.
The woman was driving a Nissan Maxima that rear-ended the motorcycle on Belknap Street, police said.
“They were both traveling westbound when she came up behind him and hit the motorcycle,” Haltom City police Sgt. Eric Peters said today. “She pushed the motorcycle for some distance.”
When officers arrived, Stroud was found lying in the roadway, police said.
Stegall was in her car parked on the side of the street as officers arrived, Peters said.
Tammy Sue Stegall, 50, was in the Haltom City Jail with bail set at $500,000.
Initially, Stegall was in jail on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter, but the charge was changed to murder because of her two DWI convictions in Tarrant County, police said.
One of those convictions was in Haltom City following another accident in 2008, authorities said.
Police identified the victim as Billy Stroud, 56, of Bedford. According to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s Web site, Stroud died about 2 p.m. Tuesday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Police arrested Stegall at the scene of the accident Tuesday morning.
The accident was reported about 10:40 a.m. in the 5800 block of Belknap Street near Denton Highway.
The woman was driving a Nissan Maxima that rear-ended the motorcycle on Belknap Street, police said.
“They were both traveling westbound when she came up behind him and hit the motorcycle,” Haltom City police Sgt. Eric Peters said today. “She pushed the motorcycle for some distance.”
When officers arrived, Stroud was found lying in the roadway, police said.
Stegall was in her car parked on the side of the street as officers arrived, Peters said.
Woman Killed on Houston Freeway
A Houston police officer was trying to coax a distraught woman toward his patrol car this morning when she dashed into Eastex Freeway traffic and was killed, authorities said.
The incident happened around 6 a.m. on U.S. 59 just south of Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The woman, who has not been identified, was hit by a pickup and died about 6 a.m. in the 14000 block of the Eastex Freeway near Lee Road, investigators said.
Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said that a Houston police officer saw the woman walking in the freeway's southbound lanes and tried to coax her into his squad car. But the woman refused.
She ran across the freeway, climbed over a concrete guardrail and then crossed the HOV lanes. She was in the northbound inside lane when a white four-door pickup, possibly a Ford, hit her. The driver didn't stop.
Witnesses told investigators that they had seen her running in front of oncoming vehicles several times before she was hit.
The incident happened around 6 a.m. on U.S. 59 just south of Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The woman, who has not been identified, was hit by a pickup and died about 6 a.m. in the 14000 block of the Eastex Freeway near Lee Road, investigators said.
Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said that a Houston police officer saw the woman walking in the freeway's southbound lanes and tried to coax her into his squad car. But the woman refused.
She ran across the freeway, climbed over a concrete guardrail and then crossed the HOV lanes. She was in the northbound inside lane when a white four-door pickup, possibly a Ford, hit her. The driver didn't stop.
Witnesses told investigators that they had seen her running in front of oncoming vehicles several times before she was hit.
Houston Police Office Injured in Car Crash
Houston Personal Injury Lawyers
Four on-duty undercover Houston police officers got some bumps and bruises after their unmarked van was involved in crash with a pickup last night.
Investigators said the wreck occurred about 7 p.m. at Torreon and Reid.
The officers were taken to Memorial Hermann hospital with non-life threatening minor injuries.
The pickup driver and a five-year boy riding in his truck appeared unhurt and were taken to St. Luke's Hospital as precaution, police said.
Investigators said the officers were eastbound on Reid when they stopped at stop sign at Torreon.
As they pulled away from the stop sign, they collided with a Ford 150 pickup, which was traveling southbound on Torreon. The pickup driver did not have a stop sign.
Houston police are investigating the case.
Four on-duty undercover Houston police officers got some bumps and bruises after their unmarked van was involved in crash with a pickup last night.
Investigators said the wreck occurred about 7 p.m. at Torreon and Reid.
The officers were taken to Memorial Hermann hospital with non-life threatening minor injuries.
The pickup driver and a five-year boy riding in his truck appeared unhurt and were taken to St. Luke's Hospital as precaution, police said.
Investigators said the officers were eastbound on Reid when they stopped at stop sign at Torreon.
As they pulled away from the stop sign, they collided with a Ford 150 pickup, which was traveling southbound on Torreon. The pickup driver did not have a stop sign.
Houston police are investigating the case.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Man Killed in Motorcycle Accident
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- A motorcyclist was killed Tuesday afternoon in a traffic accident on Iron Horse Boulevard, police said.
The 30-year-old Watauga man, who authorities did not identify pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was the only one on the motorcycle at the time of the accident, police said.
The accident happened about 12:40 p.m. in the 6600 block of Iron Horse Boulevard.
An 18-wheeler was stopped at the scene, but police have not determined details of the accident.
The motorcycle and the 18-wheeler were on Iron Horse Boulevard, police said.
Police have closed the westbound lanes of Iron Horse Boulevard near Rufe Snow Drive as authorities investigated the fatal accident.
Authorities could not estimate how long the street would be closed.
The 30-year-old Watauga man, who authorities did not identify pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was the only one on the motorcycle at the time of the accident, police said.
The accident happened about 12:40 p.m. in the 6600 block of Iron Horse Boulevard.
An 18-wheeler was stopped at the scene, but police have not determined details of the accident.
The motorcycle and the 18-wheeler were on Iron Horse Boulevard, police said.
Police have closed the westbound lanes of Iron Horse Boulevard near Rufe Snow Drive as authorities investigated the fatal accident.
Authorities could not estimate how long the street would be closed.
Haltom City Car Wreck Stops Traffic - Motorcycle Injury
HALTOM CITY -- A motorcycle and a car collision this morning has forced police to close part of Belknap Street near Denton Highway, authorities said.
The motorcyclist was seriously injured in the crash that happened about 10:40 a.m. in the 5800 block of Belknap Street, police said. The condition of the motorcyclist was not available.
The driver of the car was being treated at the scene, police said.
According to preliminary police reports, the car and motorcycle were westbound on Belknap Street when they collided.
Police said that the westbound lanes of Belknap Street near Denton Highway are expected to be closed for about an hour.
The motorcyclist was seriously injured in the crash that happened about 10:40 a.m. in the 5800 block of Belknap Street, police said. The condition of the motorcyclist was not available.
The driver of the car was being treated at the scene, police said.
According to preliminary police reports, the car and motorcycle were westbound on Belknap Street when they collided.
Police said that the westbound lanes of Belknap Street near Denton Highway are expected to be closed for about an hour.
Bull on Highway Leads to Injuries - Death to Bull
A bull got loose twice over the weekend in Southwest Fort Worth, but a collision with a small car resulted in its death, and injuries to the driver of the car, authorities said.
The crash happened shortly after midnight Monday on SW Loop 820, near the intersection with Hemphill Street, police said.
The man who drove the car was taken to a hospital, said Lara Kohl, MedStar spokeswoman. His medical condition was unavailable Monday.
The brown-and-white bull was successfully returned to its owner Saturday, said Fort Worth Police Sgt. S. Hawkins. But on Sunday, she added, it was spotted up on the loop.
"The first day it rammed a vehicle," she said. "Then here he was out there again, and this time he was on the freeway.
"He was all over the place."
People called police to report one of the longhorns had gotten loose at the Star-Telegram's south plant at the intersection of the loop and Hemphill Street.
The newspaper keeps three head of cattle at the plant, including Rusty the Longhorn, but they never got out, said Donnie LeGrand, a newspaper manager who handles Rusty.
LeGrand said a sheriff's deputy told him that the bull escaped from a flea market area east of the plant, but Sgt. Hawkins said she did not know where the bull began its frantic bolt to freedom
On Sunday, however, it was seen charging from Hemphill Street for about a mile to McCart Avenue, possibly further, and then back to Hemphill, according to police reports.
Several officers kept after the bull while others tried to keep traffic out of the area, Hawkins said.
"He wasn't cooperating," she said. "He was pretty ornery."
The animal lived for a short time after the crash, but it died at the scene. The owner was located again; a wrecker crew loaded it into the owner's truck, Hawkins said
Police did not give the owner a citation, Hawkins said.
"That's going to be a civil (court) issue between the owner and the man who was injured," Hawkins said.
The crash happened shortly after midnight Monday on SW Loop 820, near the intersection with Hemphill Street, police said.
The man who drove the car was taken to a hospital, said Lara Kohl, MedStar spokeswoman. His medical condition was unavailable Monday.
The brown-and-white bull was successfully returned to its owner Saturday, said Fort Worth Police Sgt. S. Hawkins. But on Sunday, she added, it was spotted up on the loop.
"The first day it rammed a vehicle," she said. "Then here he was out there again, and this time he was on the freeway.
"He was all over the place."
People called police to report one of the longhorns had gotten loose at the Star-Telegram's south plant at the intersection of the loop and Hemphill Street.
The newspaper keeps three head of cattle at the plant, including Rusty the Longhorn, but they never got out, said Donnie LeGrand, a newspaper manager who handles Rusty.
LeGrand said a sheriff's deputy told him that the bull escaped from a flea market area east of the plant, but Sgt. Hawkins said she did not know where the bull began its frantic bolt to freedom
On Sunday, however, it was seen charging from Hemphill Street for about a mile to McCart Avenue, possibly further, and then back to Hemphill, according to police reports.
Several officers kept after the bull while others tried to keep traffic out of the area, Hawkins said.
"He wasn't cooperating," she said. "He was pretty ornery."
The animal lived for a short time after the crash, but it died at the scene. The owner was located again; a wrecker crew loaded it into the owner's truck, Hawkins said
Police did not give the owner a citation, Hawkins said.
"That's going to be a civil (court) issue between the owner and the man who was injured," Hawkins said.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Deadly Car Wreck in Austin
Authorities have identified one of the men who was killed in a wreck underneath the Colorado River Bridge off of Texas 71 about 12:30 a.m. Saturday near Smithville.
Jose Sanchez, 17, a day laborer from Austin, was one of two people killed in the one-vehicle wreck, officials said today.
Authorities have not notified the family of the other person who died in the wreck, and have not released his identification.
Four other people were injured when the Chevy Tahoe they were riding in rolled over, went airborne and ejected them from the vehicle.
The four men injured are: Rodolfo Ramirez, 21, who was driving was taken to Smithville Regional Hospital; Carlos Flores, 25, also taken to Smithville Regional Hospital; Noel Perez, 18, who was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with critical injuries and Jose Balleza, 29, was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with serious injuries.
Officials said all six men were day laborers from Austin.
DPS trooper Darryl Tidwell said the 2001 Tahoe was traveling west on 71 and drifted into a ditch. Then, he said, the car went airborne, rolled several times and struck several trees before it came to rest.
Jose Sanchez, 17, a day laborer from Austin, was one of two people killed in the one-vehicle wreck, officials said today.
Authorities have not notified the family of the other person who died in the wreck, and have not released his identification.
Four other people were injured when the Chevy Tahoe they were riding in rolled over, went airborne and ejected them from the vehicle.
The four men injured are: Rodolfo Ramirez, 21, who was driving was taken to Smithville Regional Hospital; Carlos Flores, 25, also taken to Smithville Regional Hospital; Noel Perez, 18, who was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with critical injuries and Jose Balleza, 29, was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with serious injuries.
Officials said all six men were day laborers from Austin.
DPS trooper Darryl Tidwell said the 2001 Tahoe was traveling west on 71 and drifted into a ditch. Then, he said, the car went airborne, rolled several times and struck several trees before it came to rest.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Parker County 12 year old Killed during Pool Construction
Parker County Sheriff’s investigators are investigating the death of a 12-year-old boy on Friday afternoon, July 24.
Sheriff Larry Fowler said the incident occurred in the 100 block of Coronado Bend in Azle shortly after 1 p.m. in Covered Bridge Estates.
The victim was reportedly playing with his 8-year-old brother on a construction site, where an American Gunite Co. crew was installing an in-ground residential pool.
Sheriff’s investigators interviewed the 8-year-old, who told them he climbed into the bed of the truck to play in the sand and the victim climbed in after him. He said they had been playing for a few minutes before the victim was buried under the sand.
Workers said they noticed the hose used to pump the sand mixture to the site had clogged and shut the mixer off before they went to investigate. One worker found the 8-year-old buried to his waist in the bed of the truck and asked what he was doing and where his brother was at. The boy pointed to the back of the truck where his brother was.
Workers said they immediately grabbed shovels to dig the boys out and called 9-1-1. They performed CPR on the victim until paramedics arrived on scene. The siblings were taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth by ground ambulance. The 12-year old was later pronounced dead. The 8-year-old suffered a broken leg.
Sheriff Larry Fowler said the incident occurred in the 100 block of Coronado Bend in Azle shortly after 1 p.m. in Covered Bridge Estates.
The victim was reportedly playing with his 8-year-old brother on a construction site, where an American Gunite Co. crew was installing an in-ground residential pool.
Sheriff’s investigators interviewed the 8-year-old, who told them he climbed into the bed of the truck to play in the sand and the victim climbed in after him. He said they had been playing for a few minutes before the victim was buried under the sand.
Workers said they noticed the hose used to pump the sand mixture to the site had clogged and shut the mixer off before they went to investigate. One worker found the 8-year-old buried to his waist in the bed of the truck and asked what he was doing and where his brother was at. The boy pointed to the back of the truck where his brother was.
Workers said they immediately grabbed shovels to dig the boys out and called 9-1-1. They performed CPR on the victim until paramedics arrived on scene. The siblings were taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth by ground ambulance. The 12-year old was later pronounced dead. The 8-year-old suffered a broken leg.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Graduate from Fire Academy Killed
Death in Comanche County
Kyle Christopher Hall, 22, of Fort Worth, was killed in a boating accident on Lake Proctor Saturday.
Christopher drowned after he fell out of a boat and was hit by a wake board pulled by the boat, according to a report from the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office.
De Leon and Promontory Fire Departments, along with Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens and sheriff’s deputies searched for Hall until 11 p.m. Saturday.
At approximately 9 a.m. Sunday morning, game wardens assisted by sonar technology located Hall’s body, according to an official report.
Hall’s funeral is scheduled to take place at First Baptist Church Benbrook at 2 p.m. today.
Hall was reportedly friends with Joseph Shane Richardson’s. Richardson, 19, of Weatherford, was killed in a boating accident while knee boarding near Tin Top in June 2006.
Hall and Richardson both attended the Weatherford College Regional Fire Academy.
Richardson Graduated in 2006 and Hall graduated a year later in the same class with Richardson’s bother.
Steve Malley, WC Fire Science Program director, helped train all three.
On Tuesday, he described the deaths as “unbelievably tragic.”
Kyle Christopher Hall, 22, of Fort Worth, was killed in a boating accident on Lake Proctor Saturday.
Christopher drowned after he fell out of a boat and was hit by a wake board pulled by the boat, according to a report from the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office.
De Leon and Promontory Fire Departments, along with Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens and sheriff’s deputies searched for Hall until 11 p.m. Saturday.
At approximately 9 a.m. Sunday morning, game wardens assisted by sonar technology located Hall’s body, according to an official report.
Hall’s funeral is scheduled to take place at First Baptist Church Benbrook at 2 p.m. today.
Hall was reportedly friends with Joseph Shane Richardson’s. Richardson, 19, of Weatherford, was killed in a boating accident while knee boarding near Tin Top in June 2006.
Hall and Richardson both attended the Weatherford College Regional Fire Academy.
Richardson Graduated in 2006 and Hall graduated a year later in the same class with Richardson’s bother.
Steve Malley, WC Fire Science Program director, helped train all three.
On Tuesday, he described the deaths as “unbelievably tragic.”
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Car Crash Wreck Collision Closes Road
Car Wreck
People are evacuated and traffic is at a standstill after a Spring Volunteer Fire Department truck and van collided in far northwest Harris County this afternoon, sending three people to the hospital.
The wreck occurred about 12:30 p.m. in the 3600 block of FM 2920, said Chief Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office.
The van's driver is trapped inside his cab and workers are trying to get him out.
The fire truck, which was headed eastbound on FM 2920 in response to a motorcycle wreck, overturned.
No information was immediately available about possible injuries, Herman said. Two firefighters and the van's driver were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Deputies have closed FM 2920 in both directions near the crash site as workers clear the area.
An unknown substance spilled from the van in the crash and crews were cleaning it up.
People in the immediate area were evacuated as a precaution because of possible danger from the chemical.
The pumper truck was on an emergency call with its siren blaring and lights flashing when the crash happened, Herman said. He said he doesn't what caused the wreck or where or why the firefighters had been dispatched.
People are evacuated and traffic is at a standstill after a Spring Volunteer Fire Department truck and van collided in far northwest Harris County this afternoon, sending three people to the hospital.
The wreck occurred about 12:30 p.m. in the 3600 block of FM 2920, said Chief Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office.
The van's driver is trapped inside his cab and workers are trying to get him out.
The fire truck, which was headed eastbound on FM 2920 in response to a motorcycle wreck, overturned.
No information was immediately available about possible injuries, Herman said. Two firefighters and the van's driver were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Deputies have closed FM 2920 in both directions near the crash site as workers clear the area.
An unknown substance spilled from the van in the crash and crews were cleaning it up.
People in the immediate area were evacuated as a precaution because of possible danger from the chemical.
The pumper truck was on an emergency call with its siren blaring and lights flashing when the crash happened, Herman said. He said he doesn't what caused the wreck or where or why the firefighters had been dispatched.
Motorcycle Accident Wrongfuld Death Personal Injury
Two men riding a motorcycle have been killed in a crash in the Montrose area.
The wreck occurred in the 500 block of Fairview about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The Harris County Medical Examiner's had not positively identified the men by this afternoon.
One of the victims, 45, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The other man was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center, where he also was pronounced dead.
Investigators said witnesses told them that the two men were riding a blue and gray Suzuki motorcycle eastbound on Fairview at a high rate of speed.
The driver swerved to avoid a red 2001 Dodge pickup that was traveling westbound on Fairview and that turned into a parking lot.
The motorcyclist lost control and slammed into the pavement. Both men were thrown from the motorcycle.
No other injuries were reported.
Houston police are investigating the case.
The wreck occurred in the 500 block of Fairview about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The Harris County Medical Examiner's had not positively identified the men by this afternoon.
One of the victims, 45, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The other man was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center, where he also was pronounced dead.
Investigators said witnesses told them that the two men were riding a blue and gray Suzuki motorcycle eastbound on Fairview at a high rate of speed.
The driver swerved to avoid a red 2001 Dodge pickup that was traveling westbound on Fairview and that turned into a parking lot.
The motorcyclist lost control and slammed into the pavement. Both men were thrown from the motorcycle.
No other injuries were reported.
Houston police are investigating the case.
Metal Plate Kills Man Euless Death
EULESS -- An Arlington man was killed Tuesday night when a heavy steel plate that he was cleaning fell on him at a manufacturing plant, police said Wednesday.
No other injuries were reported.
Royce Bunkley, 53, was pronounced dead Tuesday night at Camtech Precision Manufacturing in the 1400 block of Westpark Way, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. Bunkley died shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday.
According to police reports, Bunkley was underneath the suspended 5,000-pound steel plate, cleaning it. At some point, the 13-foot long and 8-foot-wide plate fell on him, police said Wednesday.
Police had not determined what caused the plate to drop.
OSHA officials were scheduled to be on the scene today to investigate the accident, police said.
The Euless company was cited in 2007 for four safety violations, one of them classified as serious. The issues were resolved later that year, according to records of the Occupational and Safety Health Administration.
The Euless plant makes aircraft engines and engine parts, records show.
No other injuries were reported.
Royce Bunkley, 53, was pronounced dead Tuesday night at Camtech Precision Manufacturing in the 1400 block of Westpark Way, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. Bunkley died shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday.
According to police reports, Bunkley was underneath the suspended 5,000-pound steel plate, cleaning it. At some point, the 13-foot long and 8-foot-wide plate fell on him, police said Wednesday.
Police had not determined what caused the plate to drop.
OSHA officials were scheduled to be on the scene today to investigate the accident, police said.
The Euless company was cited in 2007 for four safety violations, one of them classified as serious. The issues were resolved later that year, according to records of the Occupational and Safety Health Administration.
The Euless plant makes aircraft engines and engine parts, records show.
Man Dies in Fall from Freeway
FORT WORTH — A 32-year-old man who had been reported missing to Hurst police Monday died early this morning after falling from a Fort Worth bridge onto a freeway ramp below, police officials said.
Police are investigating the death as a possible suicide but are awaiting a ruling by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office.
Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman, said officers were called to the freeway ramp that leads from northbound I-35W to eastbound I-30 shortly after 1 a.m.. A motorist told police that he had witnessed the man in mid-fall and that he and several other motorists had to swerve to avoid hitting the man’s body.
Sgt. Craig Teague said a relative had reported the man missing Monday night after he failed to return home.
Police are investigating the death as a possible suicide but are awaiting a ruling by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office.
Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman, said officers were called to the freeway ramp that leads from northbound I-35W to eastbound I-30 shortly after 1 a.m.. A motorist told police that he had witnessed the man in mid-fall and that he and several other motorists had to swerve to avoid hitting the man’s body.
Sgt. Craig Teague said a relative had reported the man missing Monday night after he failed to return home.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Driver Inattention Cause of Deadly Gainesville, I35, Crashes
Stephens, Anderson & Cummings, LLP
Thousands of vehicles are driven along Interstate 35 south of Gainesville, and the majority of their drivers heed several signs warning of a temporary construction zone at a bridge spanning Elm Creek, officials said.
But that didn't happen twice within the past 30 days, and both times, people died.
The most recent fatal wreck was around noon Monday about two miles southwest of Gainesville, when a tractor-trailer driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas hit the rear car in a northbound traffic jam, officials said.
The fiery crash killed Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
The tractor-trailer was operated by Bradco Supply, a building material distribution company with offices throughout the country. An official with the company’s Irving office referred all questions to their corporate headquarters in New Jersey. A message left there late in the afternoon on Tuesday was not returned.
A similar wreck happened July 5 about six miles south of Gainesville, when a tractor-trailer driven by Randy Crume of Harrah, Okla., came upon the slowed traffic and slammed into a sports utility vehicle. Fatally injured were Gervious Hinkle and his 13-year-old grandson, Casey.
But although both wrecks involved big rigs, the trucking industry was not the problem, said Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Mark Tackett, who responded to both emergencies.
"We probably have had tens of thousands of trucks go through there during a period of bad construction and there has been only two wrecks," Tackett said. "It's not the commercial traffic.
"It's the individual driver."
Investigations continued Tuesday in both wrecks, and neither truck driver had yet to be charged, Tackett said.
Investigators, he said, first must examine a wide range of issues, including mechanical workings on the trucks, toxicology reports on the drivers and how long they had been on the road before the wrecks.
The construction project, which began May 26, is repairing a 70-year-old bridge over Elm Creek, said Adele Lewis, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation in Wichita Falls.
But highway officials saw early in the project that more was needed to ease highway congestion leading to the bridge project.
To that end, TxDOT parked portable electronic signs mounted on trailers to warn motorists about the construction ahead.
The first portable electronic sign is at Mile Marker 488, about seven miles south of Gainesville, and just north of the community of Valley View, Tackett said.
After that there are similar signs spaced about a mile apart at Mile Markers 490, 491, 493 and 495.
Also, there are two electronic signs at Mile Marker 494; one is portable and the other is a large permanent electronic sign that reports various information, including the Amber Alerts, Tackett said.
He said traffic is narrowed down to one lane for about a mile, starting 3/4 of mile before the bridge construction at Elm Creek.
It continues across the bridge, which is about a quarter mile long and then opens back up to two lanes on the north side of the bridge, he said.
At Mile Marker 495, there is a digital sign that reports radar-detected speed of oncoming traffic. There are also fixed non-electronic construction signs, Tackett said.
"If they're driving a tractor-trailer, as soon as they see that first sign they need to be slowing down," Tackett said. "Most do exactly what they're supposed to do.
"It's not motorists being caught off guard by this. It's one guy, every time, not paying attention and slamming into everybody else."
Neighbors of the Brandons remained stunned Tuesday in the couple’s Bedford neighborhood.
“I’m still upset,” neighbor Helen Smith said Tuesday who has known the couple for several years. “We’ll probably just go to their church.”
Anthony, 48, and Kimberly, 47, had three daughters and the family was members of Harwood Terrace Baptist Church in Bedford. Church officials did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
One of the daughters, Alicia Brandon, just graduated from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst just a few weeks ago, a school district official said Tuesday.
Also hurt in the wreck Monday was Carol Whaley, 63, of Yalaha, Fla., who was transported by helicopter ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. His wife, Linda Whaley, 61, was taken to North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville. The couple was treated and released shortly after the accident, officials said.
The contractor on the $200,000 project, KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark., missed its 45-day deadline on Monday, Lewis said. She added that the work is 50 percent complete but the company has said the work will be finished by the end of August.
Nevertheless, TxDOT is preparing to charge "liquidated damages," in which the department starts to dock the contractor for its contracted compensation, Lewis said.
Thousands of vehicles are driven along Interstate 35 south of Gainesville, and the majority of their drivers heed several signs warning of a temporary construction zone at a bridge spanning Elm Creek, officials said.
But that didn't happen twice within the past 30 days, and both times, people died.
The most recent fatal wreck was around noon Monday about two miles southwest of Gainesville, when a tractor-trailer driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas hit the rear car in a northbound traffic jam, officials said.
The fiery crash killed Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
The tractor-trailer was operated by Bradco Supply, a building material distribution company with offices throughout the country. An official with the company’s Irving office referred all questions to their corporate headquarters in New Jersey. A message left there late in the afternoon on Tuesday was not returned.
A similar wreck happened July 5 about six miles south of Gainesville, when a tractor-trailer driven by Randy Crume of Harrah, Okla., came upon the slowed traffic and slammed into a sports utility vehicle. Fatally injured were Gervious Hinkle and his 13-year-old grandson, Casey.
But although both wrecks involved big rigs, the trucking industry was not the problem, said Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Mark Tackett, who responded to both emergencies.
"We probably have had tens of thousands of trucks go through there during a period of bad construction and there has been only two wrecks," Tackett said. "It's not the commercial traffic.
"It's the individual driver."
Investigations continued Tuesday in both wrecks, and neither truck driver had yet to be charged, Tackett said.
Investigators, he said, first must examine a wide range of issues, including mechanical workings on the trucks, toxicology reports on the drivers and how long they had been on the road before the wrecks.
The construction project, which began May 26, is repairing a 70-year-old bridge over Elm Creek, said Adele Lewis, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation in Wichita Falls.
But highway officials saw early in the project that more was needed to ease highway congestion leading to the bridge project.
To that end, TxDOT parked portable electronic signs mounted on trailers to warn motorists about the construction ahead.
The first portable electronic sign is at Mile Marker 488, about seven miles south of Gainesville, and just north of the community of Valley View, Tackett said.
After that there are similar signs spaced about a mile apart at Mile Markers 490, 491, 493 and 495.
Also, there are two electronic signs at Mile Marker 494; one is portable and the other is a large permanent electronic sign that reports various information, including the Amber Alerts, Tackett said.
He said traffic is narrowed down to one lane for about a mile, starting 3/4 of mile before the bridge construction at Elm Creek.
It continues across the bridge, which is about a quarter mile long and then opens back up to two lanes on the north side of the bridge, he said.
At Mile Marker 495, there is a digital sign that reports radar-detected speed of oncoming traffic. There are also fixed non-electronic construction signs, Tackett said.
"If they're driving a tractor-trailer, as soon as they see that first sign they need to be slowing down," Tackett said. "Most do exactly what they're supposed to do.
"It's not motorists being caught off guard by this. It's one guy, every time, not paying attention and slamming into everybody else."
Neighbors of the Brandons remained stunned Tuesday in the couple’s Bedford neighborhood.
“I’m still upset,” neighbor Helen Smith said Tuesday who has known the couple for several years. “We’ll probably just go to their church.”
Anthony, 48, and Kimberly, 47, had three daughters and the family was members of Harwood Terrace Baptist Church in Bedford. Church officials did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
One of the daughters, Alicia Brandon, just graduated from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst just a few weeks ago, a school district official said Tuesday.
Also hurt in the wreck Monday was Carol Whaley, 63, of Yalaha, Fla., who was transported by helicopter ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. His wife, Linda Whaley, 61, was taken to North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville. The couple was treated and released shortly after the accident, officials said.
The contractor on the $200,000 project, KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark., missed its 45-day deadline on Monday, Lewis said. She added that the work is 50 percent complete but the company has said the work will be finished by the end of August.
Nevertheless, TxDOT is preparing to charge "liquidated damages," in which the department starts to dock the contractor for its contracted compensation, Lewis said.
Motorcycle and Van Collide
Amarillo police and troopers with the Department of Public Safety investigated a two-vehicle collision Monday afternoon at the Interstate 40 access road and Eastern Street. The crash sent one person to the hospital. State Troopers were in pursuit of a motorcyclist eastbound on I-40 at a high rate of speed when he exited the highway at Eastern, officials said. He then ran a stop light and collided with a Ford van, officials said. Amarillo Police Officer N. Jensen looks over the wreckage at the scene Monday.
Motorcyclist Injured on Collision with Lawnmower
A motorcyclist was injured late Sunday night when his bike struck a lawnmower that fell from the back of a stolen truck during a police chase.
Authorities were chasing a Ford Ranger in the northbound lanes of Interstate 27 around midnight. The truck had been reported stolen and a Randall County sheriff's deputy gave chase, department spokesman Danny Alexander said.
Numerous lawnmowers were in back of the truck at the time, and deputies called off the chase when high speeds became too dangerous, Alexander said.
"He started swerving his pickup truck to get (the lawnmower) to come loose," Alexander said, adding that it missed the deputy.
One of the mowers became dislodged during the chase near the 26th Avenue overpass and fell into the path of the oncoming motorcycle, Amarillo police spokesman Cpl. Jerry Neufeld said.
The truck was spotted minutes later when it crashed into a home in the 300 block of East 32nd Avenue. The driver ditched the vehicle and has not been found, Alexander said.
The motorcyclist's injuries and condition were not immediately known Monday, nor was it clear if anyone was arrested.
Authorities were chasing a Ford Ranger in the northbound lanes of Interstate 27 around midnight. The truck had been reported stolen and a Randall County sheriff's deputy gave chase, department spokesman Danny Alexander said.
Numerous lawnmowers were in back of the truck at the time, and deputies called off the chase when high speeds became too dangerous, Alexander said.
"He started swerving his pickup truck to get (the lawnmower) to come loose," Alexander said, adding that it missed the deputy.
One of the mowers became dislodged during the chase near the 26th Avenue overpass and fell into the path of the oncoming motorcycle, Amarillo police spokesman Cpl. Jerry Neufeld said.
The truck was spotted minutes later when it crashed into a home in the 300 block of East 32nd Avenue. The driver ditched the vehicle and has not been found, Alexander said.
The motorcyclist's injuries and condition were not immediately known Monday, nor was it clear if anyone was arrested.
Gainesville Wreck I35 Kills Three - Updated
GAINESVILLE, Texas – A tractor-trailer slammed into backed-up traffic on Interstate 35 near the Texas-Oklahoma border Monday, killing three people and leaving the northbound lanes of the heavily traveled highway closed for most of the afternoon.
The crash happened on a section of I-35 where two lanes narrow into one because of maintenance work being done on a bridge. It's about two miles southwest of Gainesville.
The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the three people killed as Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
Trooper Mark Tackett said an 18-wheeler driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas, apparently never slowed before slamming into the rear car of the jam.
That car, driven by Anthony Brandon with wife, Kimberly, as passenger, exploded on impact, killing both.
Tackett said the truck then slammed into another car, injuring Carol Whaley, 63, and his wife, Linda Whaley, 61, of Yalaha, Fla.
Tackett said the 18-wheeler then rammed the car driven by Hoosier into the rear of another 18-wheeler, killing him. The driver of the second truck was not injured.
Tackett said Crayton was taken to a Gainesville hospital for blood testing and questioning. No charges were filed.
Meanwhile, northbound traffic on I-35 was being diverted in the Gainesville area.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton expressed frustration at the hazard posed by the maintenance work at the bridge, noting an accident over the Fourth of July holiday killed two people.
"This makes five people who are dead in the past 30 days because of all the construction on this bridge," Compton said.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded that $200,000 contract to KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark. TexDOT Wichita Falls District spokeswoman Adele Lewis says KKM is far behind on the project.
Phone calls to KKM met with busy signals.
The crash happened on a section of I-35 where two lanes narrow into one because of maintenance work being done on a bridge. It's about two miles southwest of Gainesville.
The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the three people killed as Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
Trooper Mark Tackett said an 18-wheeler driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas, apparently never slowed before slamming into the rear car of the jam.
That car, driven by Anthony Brandon with wife, Kimberly, as passenger, exploded on impact, killing both.
Tackett said the truck then slammed into another car, injuring Carol Whaley, 63, and his wife, Linda Whaley, 61, of Yalaha, Fla.
Tackett said the 18-wheeler then rammed the car driven by Hoosier into the rear of another 18-wheeler, killing him. The driver of the second truck was not injured.
Tackett said Crayton was taken to a Gainesville hospital for blood testing and questioning. No charges were filed.
Meanwhile, northbound traffic on I-35 was being diverted in the Gainesville area.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton expressed frustration at the hazard posed by the maintenance work at the bridge, noting an accident over the Fourth of July holiday killed two people.
"This makes five people who are dead in the past 30 days because of all the construction on this bridge," Compton said.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded that $200,000 contract to KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark. TexDOT Wichita Falls District spokeswoman Adele Lewis says KKM is far behind on the project.
Phone calls to KKM met with busy signals.
Trucker to Blame for Wreck that Killed 10
OKLAHOMA CITY – The inattention of a tractor-trailer driver led to a wreck on the Will Rogers Turnpike that killed 10 people June 26, including a Frisco family, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in a report released Monday.
The inquiry showed no attempt by 76-year-old Donald L. Creed of Willard, Mo., to brake or take evasive action, no apparent problems with his brakes or steering and "strong evidence" that cruise control was in use, set at about 70 mph.
Authorities have said Creed's rig slammed into a line of cars that were stopped because of an earlier crash.
The OHP report said that when investigators tried to determine what Creed's physical condition had been before the collision, he declined to be interviewed "upon the advice of his attorney."
OHP Capt. Chris West said the report and other materials would be given to Ottawa County District Attorney Eddie Wyant, who will decide whether any charges should be filed.
Among those killed in the crash were Shelby Hayes, 35, her husband, Randall Hayes, 38, their son, Ethan Hayes, 7, and Shelby Hayes' mother, Cynthia Olson, 55.
The inquiry showed no attempt by 76-year-old Donald L. Creed of Willard, Mo., to brake or take evasive action, no apparent problems with his brakes or steering and "strong evidence" that cruise control was in use, set at about 70 mph.
Authorities have said Creed's rig slammed into a line of cars that were stopped because of an earlier crash.
The OHP report said that when investigators tried to determine what Creed's physical condition had been before the collision, he declined to be interviewed "upon the advice of his attorney."
OHP Capt. Chris West said the report and other materials would be given to Ottawa County District Attorney Eddie Wyant, who will decide whether any charges should be filed.
Among those killed in the crash were Shelby Hayes, 35, her husband, Randall Hayes, 38, their son, Ethan Hayes, 7, and Shelby Hayes' mother, Cynthia Olson, 55.
Wreck Kills Three Near Gainesville on I35 Semi Wreck
hit by a large, heavy truck on Interstate 35 just south of Gainesville at exit 494 this morning.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton confirms at least three people are dead and one had been medivac’d to possibly a hospital in Fort Worh.
Compton said the vehicles were backed up on I-35 because of the continuing construction at the Elm Creek bridge when a “big heavy truck hit some cars.”
Traffic has been re-routed off I-35 to FM 922, to U.S. 377 to FM 902 to Grand Ave., to I-35.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton confirms at least three people are dead and one had been medivac’d to possibly a hospital in Fort Worh.
Compton said the vehicles were backed up on I-35 because of the continuing construction at the Elm Creek bridge when a “big heavy truck hit some cars.”
Traffic has been re-routed off I-35 to FM 922, to U.S. 377 to FM 902 to Grand Ave., to I-35.
Houston Rollover Wreck Kills One
A man was killed in a single-car rollover crash last weekend when he was pinned beneath a sport utility vehicle on Interstate 45 in north Houston.
Police said the 23-year-old man, who has not been identified, died in the wreck about 3 a.m. Sunday in the 2600 block of the North Freeway.
The driver and four other passengers were taken to Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Police said the people were in a black Lincoln Navigator that was traveling northbound on the freeway when the driver lost control and slammed into a concrete barrier.
The SUV flipped over and landed on the victim.
Police said the 23-year-old man, who has not been identified, died in the wreck about 3 a.m. Sunday in the 2600 block of the North Freeway.
The driver and four other passengers were taken to Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Police said the people were in a black Lincoln Navigator that was traveling northbound on the freeway when the driver lost control and slammed into a concrete barrier.
The SUV flipped over and landed on the victim.
Fatal Houston Wreck Leads to DWI Charges
Stephens, Anderson & Cummings LLP
A man has been charged with drunk driving after he hit a woman who was walking across the street in southeast Houston.
Another car then hit the woman, who later died.
John Henry Alexander, 63, is charged with driving while intoxicated after he ran into the woman in the 11600 block of Cullen about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, police said.
Police said that Alexander was driving as red Cadillac Eldorado southbound on Cullen when he struck the woman.
As Alexander pulled over, another car hit her. That driver fled and has not been found.
The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where she died.
A man has been charged with drunk driving after he hit a woman who was walking across the street in southeast Houston.
Another car then hit the woman, who later died.
John Henry Alexander, 63, is charged with driving while intoxicated after he ran into the woman in the 11600 block of Cullen about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, police said.
Police said that Alexander was driving as red Cadillac Eldorado southbound on Cullen when he struck the woman.
As Alexander pulled over, another car hit her. That driver fled and has not been found.
The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where she died.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Wreck Near Gainesville Kills Bedford Couple
18 Wheeler Accident near Oklahoma Kills 3
GAINESVILLE, Texas -- A tractor-trailer slammed into backed-up traffic on Interstate 35 near the Texas-Oklahoma border Monday, killing three people and leaving the northbound lanes of the heavily traveled highway closed for most of the afternoon.
The crash happened on a section of I-35 where two lanes narrow into one because of maintenance work being done on a bridge. It's about two miles southwest of Gainesville and about 13 miles south of the Oklahoma border.
The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the three people killed as Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
Trooper Mark Tackett said an 18-wheeler driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas, apparently never slowed before slamming into the rear car of the jam. That car, driven by Anthony Brandon with wife, Kimberly, as passenger, exploded on impact, killing both. No ages for the Brandons were available.
Tackett said the truck then slammed into another car, injuring Carol Whaley, 63, and his wife, Linda Whaley, 61, of Yalaha, Fla.
Tackett said the 18-wheeler then rammed the car driven by Hoosier into the rear of another 18-wheeler, killing him. The driver of the second truck was not injured.
Tackett said Crayton was taken to a Gainesville hospital for blood testing and questioning. No charges were filed.
Meanwhile, northbound traffic on I-35 was being diverted in the Gainesville area.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton expressed frustration at the hazard posed by the maintenance work at the bridge, noting an accident over the Fourth of July holiday killed two people.
"You've got two people burned up and one person killed. This makes five people who are dead in the past 30 days because of all the construction on this bridge," Compton said.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded that $200,000 contract to KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark. TexDOT Wichita Falls District spokeswoman Adele Lewis says KKM is far behind on the project.
"They have a 45-day contract. Their 45 days ends either today or tomorrow," she said. Failure to meet the deadline means "liquidated damages," in which TexDOT starts to dock the contractor for its contracted compensation, she said.
"We fully intend to hit them with liquidated damages," she said.
Phone calls to KKM were met with busy signals.
GAINESVILLE, Texas -- A tractor-trailer slammed into backed-up traffic on Interstate 35 near the Texas-Oklahoma border Monday, killing three people and leaving the northbound lanes of the heavily traveled highway closed for most of the afternoon.
The crash happened on a section of I-35 where two lanes narrow into one because of maintenance work being done on a bridge. It's about two miles southwest of Gainesville and about 13 miles south of the Oklahoma border.
The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the three people killed as Anthony and Kimberly Brandon of Bedford and Darryl Hoosier, 55, of Lafayette, La.
Trooper Mark Tackett said an 18-wheeler driven by James Crayton, 59, of Dallas, apparently never slowed before slamming into the rear car of the jam. That car, driven by Anthony Brandon with wife, Kimberly, as passenger, exploded on impact, killing both. No ages for the Brandons were available.
Tackett said the truck then slammed into another car, injuring Carol Whaley, 63, and his wife, Linda Whaley, 61, of Yalaha, Fla.
Tackett said the 18-wheeler then rammed the car driven by Hoosier into the rear of another 18-wheeler, killing him. The driver of the second truck was not injured.
Tackett said Crayton was taken to a Gainesville hospital for blood testing and questioning. No charges were filed.
Meanwhile, northbound traffic on I-35 was being diverted in the Gainesville area.
Cooke County Sheriff Mike Compton expressed frustration at the hazard posed by the maintenance work at the bridge, noting an accident over the Fourth of July holiday killed two people.
"You've got two people burned up and one person killed. This makes five people who are dead in the past 30 days because of all the construction on this bridge," Compton said.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded that $200,000 contract to KKM Construction of Texarkana, Ark. TexDOT Wichita Falls District spokeswoman Adele Lewis says KKM is far behind on the project.
"They have a 45-day contract. Their 45 days ends either today or tomorrow," she said. Failure to meet the deadline means "liquidated damages," in which TexDOT starts to dock the contractor for its contracted compensation, she said.
"We fully intend to hit them with liquidated damages," she said.
Phone calls to KKM were met with busy signals.
Continental Airlines Turbulence Causes Injuries on Houston-Bound Flight
MIAMI (AP) -- A Continental Airlines jet carrying 179 people from Brazil to Texas hit severe turbulence over the Atlantic early Monday, injuring at least 26 - including four seriously - and forcing an emergency landing in Miami, officials said.
One passenger said he felt Continental Flight 128 drop without warning while flight attendants were in the aisles, throwing some of them against the roof.
Houston-based Continental said there were 168 people and 11 crew on the Boeing 767. The airline released a statement that said the fasten seat belt sign was illuminated at the time and that about 28 passengers were treated in Miami.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Elkin Sierra said four people were seriously injured aboard the Boeing 767 and another 22 were in stable condition with bumps and bruises. A total of 13 people were taken to hospitals.
The plane was on a night flight from Rio de Janeiro to Houston. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the turbulence struck about halfway between Puerto Rico and Grand Turk island, north of the Dominican Republic.
The plane reported hitting severe turbulence at 4:30 a.m. and landed safely at 5:30 a.m, at Miami International Airport Bergen said.
Passenger Fabio Ottolini of Houston said it was about 6 hours into the flight when he felt the aircraft suddenly drop.
"People didn't have time to do anything," he said.
Ottolini said flight attendents were serving items in the aisles when the turbulence hit. He said some flight attendenats were thrown against the roof of the cabin and may have been among those injured.
Rio was also the departure airport for Air France Flight 447 that crashed in the mid-Atlantic, more than 900 miles off Brazil's northeastern coast, in thunderstorms on June 1, killing all 228 people on board.
The FAA's Bergen cautioned against drawing any parallels and said the cause and severity of the turbulence in the Continental case was still being investigated. "I wouldn't draw any conclusions and comparisons," Bergen said.
Airport officials say some passengers were going on to Houston on various Continental flights about midday. He did not know when the remaining passengers would be expected to arrive in Houston.
One passenger said he felt Continental Flight 128 drop without warning while flight attendants were in the aisles, throwing some of them against the roof.
Houston-based Continental said there were 168 people and 11 crew on the Boeing 767. The airline released a statement that said the fasten seat belt sign was illuminated at the time and that about 28 passengers were treated in Miami.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Elkin Sierra said four people were seriously injured aboard the Boeing 767 and another 22 were in stable condition with bumps and bruises. A total of 13 people were taken to hospitals.
The plane was on a night flight from Rio de Janeiro to Houston. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the turbulence struck about halfway between Puerto Rico and Grand Turk island, north of the Dominican Republic.
The plane reported hitting severe turbulence at 4:30 a.m. and landed safely at 5:30 a.m, at Miami International Airport Bergen said.
Passenger Fabio Ottolini of Houston said it was about 6 hours into the flight when he felt the aircraft suddenly drop.
"People didn't have time to do anything," he said.
Ottolini said flight attendents were serving items in the aisles when the turbulence hit. He said some flight attendenats were thrown against the roof of the cabin and may have been among those injured.
Rio was also the departure airport for Air France Flight 447 that crashed in the mid-Atlantic, more than 900 miles off Brazil's northeastern coast, in thunderstorms on June 1, killing all 228 people on board.
The FAA's Bergen cautioned against drawing any parallels and said the cause and severity of the turbulence in the Continental case was still being investigated. "I wouldn't draw any conclusions and comparisons," Bergen said.
Airport officials say some passengers were going on to Houston on various Continental flights about midday. He did not know when the remaining passengers would be expected to arrive in Houston.
3 Injured in East Texas Gilmer Car Wreck SUV
GILMER — Three people were treated and released from East Texas hospitals after an SUV crashed into a church in Gilmer just as morning services were about to start.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kenneth Nolley told the Tyler Courier Times Telegraph that the driver of the SUV crashed into and through the auditorium of the rural Zion Hill Baptist Church Sunday morning. Nolley said 66-year-old Esther Lynn Hale, of Gilmer, indicated she hit the gas instead of the brake. She was not injured.
A hospital admitting coordinator said two girls had been treated and released from East Texas Medical Center in Gilmer.
A nursing supervisor at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview said a man had been released from its emergency room.
Gilmer is 35 miles northeast of Tyler.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kenneth Nolley told the Tyler Courier Times Telegraph that the driver of the SUV crashed into and through the auditorium of the rural Zion Hill Baptist Church Sunday morning. Nolley said 66-year-old Esther Lynn Hale, of Gilmer, indicated she hit the gas instead of the brake. She was not injured.
A hospital admitting coordinator said two girls had been treated and released from East Texas Medical Center in Gilmer.
A nursing supervisor at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview said a man had been released from its emergency room.
Gilmer is 35 miles northeast of Tyler.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Two Killed in Separate Fort Worth Car Wrecks
A Fort Worth man and an unidentified woman were killed in separate traffic accidents in Tarrant County on Saturday night and early Sunday.
Authorities could not be reached Sunday for details of the accidents in Fort Worth and unincorporated Tarrant County.
The woman was killed Saturday night in the 2500 block of Northeast Loop 820 in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. No identification for her was found at the crash scene, a medical examiner’s official said Sunday.
In the Sunday accident, Bradley Beaver, 42, of Fort Worth, was found dead in his vehicle in the 9700 block of Eagle Mountain Dam Road in unincorporated Tarrant County, the medical examiner’s office reported on its Web site. He was pronounced dead shortly before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the victim of a traffic accident, according to the medical examiner.
Authorities could not be reached Sunday for details of the accidents in Fort Worth and unincorporated Tarrant County.
The woman was killed Saturday night in the 2500 block of Northeast Loop 820 in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. No identification for her was found at the crash scene, a medical examiner’s official said Sunday.
In the Sunday accident, Bradley Beaver, 42, of Fort Worth, was found dead in his vehicle in the 9700 block of Eagle Mountain Dam Road in unincorporated Tarrant County, the medical examiner’s office reported on its Web site. He was pronounced dead shortly before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the victim of a traffic accident, according to the medical examiner.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Seventeen Year Old Killed in Hays County Car Wreck
Seventeen-year-old Zachary Maresch had worked for months with his father, Tim, to restore the silver and blue Chevrolet Corvette he bought on Craigslist.
Zachary's close friends were skeptical of the buy, said Dalton Wharton, 17.
"We all thought it was going to be a piece of junk," he said. But the classic car surprised them all. "It actually ran really well," Dalton said.
Occasionally, Zachary would take his close friends out for a ride in the car. He was still smoothing out some minor imperfections.
But on Wednesday morning, Zachary was driving north on Oak Grove Road in Hays County and lost control of the Corvette. He ran off the road and struck two trees. A passenger in the car was injured. Zachary was killed in the crash.
The passenger, 21-year-old Adam Christopherson, was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge. He was treated and later released, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Zachary was weeks away from beginning his senior year at Hays High School, said Hays school district spokeswoman Julie Jerome.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our students. The hearts of Hays High School students and faculty go out to Zachary's family during this dark time," Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said in an e-mail.
Zachary had already been accepted to the University of North Dakota and had visited the school's campus just weeks before his death. He planned to be a pilot. "He wanted to fly," Dalton said.
Friends remembered him as quiet but funny — a "closet clown," Dalton said.
"He had the ability to make anybody laugh. He was easily the funniest guy I knew," said Corey Robinson, 17, an incoming senior at Hays High. Zachary was the first friend Corey made when he moved to Texas two years ago.
"He was an amazing friend and somebody who was always able to bring my spirits up," Corey said.
Maria Fraser, who taught Zachary's confirmation class two years earlier at Santa Cruz Catholic Church, remembered him as "very strong" and part of a close group of friends.
"He was very close to his family," Fraser said. "They are such compassionate, kind people."
Zachary is survived by his parents, Tim and Lucy Maresch, and sister Ashlie, along with his grandparents, Alan and Jean Maresch and Linda Belmares.
A visitation and rosary for Zachary will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Harrell Funeral Home in Kyle.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Santa Cruz Catholic Church.
Zachary's close friends were skeptical of the buy, said Dalton Wharton, 17.
"We all thought it was going to be a piece of junk," he said. But the classic car surprised them all. "It actually ran really well," Dalton said.
Occasionally, Zachary would take his close friends out for a ride in the car. He was still smoothing out some minor imperfections.
But on Wednesday morning, Zachary was driving north on Oak Grove Road in Hays County and lost control of the Corvette. He ran off the road and struck two trees. A passenger in the car was injured. Zachary was killed in the crash.
The passenger, 21-year-old Adam Christopherson, was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge. He was treated and later released, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Zachary was weeks away from beginning his senior year at Hays High School, said Hays school district spokeswoman Julie Jerome.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our students. The hearts of Hays High School students and faculty go out to Zachary's family during this dark time," Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said in an e-mail.
Zachary had already been accepted to the University of North Dakota and had visited the school's campus just weeks before his death. He planned to be a pilot. "He wanted to fly," Dalton said.
Friends remembered him as quiet but funny — a "closet clown," Dalton said.
"He had the ability to make anybody laugh. He was easily the funniest guy I knew," said Corey Robinson, 17, an incoming senior at Hays High. Zachary was the first friend Corey made when he moved to Texas two years ago.
"He was an amazing friend and somebody who was always able to bring my spirits up," Corey said.
Maria Fraser, who taught Zachary's confirmation class two years earlier at Santa Cruz Catholic Church, remembered him as "very strong" and part of a close group of friends.
"He was very close to his family," Fraser said. "They are such compassionate, kind people."
Zachary is survived by his parents, Tim and Lucy Maresch, and sister Ashlie, along with his grandparents, Alan and Jean Maresch and Linda Belmares.
A visitation and rosary for Zachary will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Harrell Funeral Home in Kyle.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Santa Cruz Catholic Church.
Houston Motorcycle Crash Leaves one Dead
Police are investigating a fatal wreck Friday night in southeast Houston.
According to initial reports, a motorcycle crashed, killing at least one person about 10 p.m. along the 2600 block of Genoa Red Bluff near Anthony, officials said.
Further details were not immediately available.
According to initial reports, a motorcycle crashed, killing at least one person about 10 p.m. along the 2600 block of Genoa Red Bluff near Anthony, officials said.
Further details were not immediately available.
Former TCU Player Involved in Ponzi Scheme?
Texas Ponzi Scheme Lawyers
Eldon "E.A." Gresham, a former standout football player for Texas Christian University, is accused by a federal agency of bamboozling dozens of people out of more than $15 million in a Ponzi scheme that relied on investors’ Christian faith and his long-standing friendships, according to court documents and information from a federal regulatory agency.
The case against Gresham was initiated after someone in Texas complained to authorities, said an attorney familiar with the case. A government lawsuit against Gresham was unsealed in July.
The Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service assisted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its investigation of Gresham, who is accused of luring investors by telling them that the "Lord had blessed him" with a successful foreign currency trading business. A spokesman for the inspection service said that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas had also opened a case on him. He referred questions to that office.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said she could not confirm an investigation. Gresham has not been criminally charged, according to federal court documents.
Messages left for Gresham, who lives in Peachtree City, Ga., were not returned. Court records do not list an attorney representing him.
It isn’t clear whether any of Gresham’s investors were fellow TCU alumni. Gresham graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in English and history, according to the university. He played football for the Horned Frogs beginning in the mid-1960s and won an all-conference selection at the center position in 1967.
Richard A. Rice Jr. an Atlanta attorney representing Gresham’s son, Kirk, said that he did not know whether any of the investors were connected to the university but said at least one is from Texas. Gresham’s son is a relief defendant, meaning the government accuses him of receiving money from the alleged scheme but does not accuse him of participating in it, Rice said.
"I’m assuming there’s at least one [investor in Texas] because the investigation initially resulted after an initial complainant came from Texas," Rice said.
Gresham began trading foreign currency, known as forex, in 2002, according to the commission’s lawsuit.
It lays out these allegations:
From about January 2004 until July, Gresham targeted people of the Christian faith to provide funds to trade in forex and told them he had never had a "single losing month."
"Gresham told prospective customers that he was offering his program to a limited number of fellow Christians for a limited time," the lawsuit says. He promised returns of 5 to 10 percent — per average month — and told one woman he could triple her investment in a year.
Gresham told investors, who eventually numbered more than 75, that his investing formula would make money whether the market was "up, down or sideways" and that he was successful because of God.
Gresham solicited some people to invest by opening and "supposedly funding" an account for them based on their friendship with him over the years, the suit alleges. He then is accused of sending a string of e-mail statements showing extraordinary monthly returns. After a time, customers were persuaded to invest their own money, the suit says.
He further persuaded customers to withdraw retirement funds by telling investors they could earn large returns through forex trading, court documents show.
In reality, the suit alleges, Gresham only invested about $2 million of the $15 million he received in a forex trading account. He later withdrew $1.4 million of the $2 million from that from the trading account and lost $90,000 through trading, according to the suit.
"As the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme unfolded in the media in late 2008, Gresham communicated to concerned customers that all their funds with Gresham were safe and would be returned when due," the suit says. "These statements were and continue to be false. Gresham has never had sufficient funds on hand to return all customers’ principal and purported returns on investment."
Investors began trying to retrieve their money in May or June but none have been successful in recovering their money, according to the commission’s suit. Gresham’s assets were frozen last month.
Paul Shabay said his father knew Gresham growing up. He wouldn’t say whether his father, P.D. Shabay, had invested with Gresham.
"They were best friends growing up," Paul Shabay said.
"It’s been pretty painful for our family. It’s been such a shock."
Gresham grew up in Graham, where he was a star football and basketball player and played with Shabay. Gresham was a high school All-American in football and later was an all Southwest Conference selection at TCU.
Despite the allegations, some showed support for Gresham on a TCU sports fan Web site, killerfrogs.com. One poster on the site’s message board said Gresham "was a great role model for me. He attended University Baptist [Church] when I was a high school kid in its youth group. He frequently donated his time to our youth camps and lock-ins, and openly shared his faith with anyone willing to listen."
Another wrote, "I knew EA (Gresham) from the football team . . . and never would have imagined anything like this."
Eldon "E.A." Gresham, a former standout football player for Texas Christian University, is accused by a federal agency of bamboozling dozens of people out of more than $15 million in a Ponzi scheme that relied on investors’ Christian faith and his long-standing friendships, according to court documents and information from a federal regulatory agency.
The case against Gresham was initiated after someone in Texas complained to authorities, said an attorney familiar with the case. A government lawsuit against Gresham was unsealed in July.
The Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service assisted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its investigation of Gresham, who is accused of luring investors by telling them that the "Lord had blessed him" with a successful foreign currency trading business. A spokesman for the inspection service said that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas had also opened a case on him. He referred questions to that office.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said she could not confirm an investigation. Gresham has not been criminally charged, according to federal court documents.
Messages left for Gresham, who lives in Peachtree City, Ga., were not returned. Court records do not list an attorney representing him.
It isn’t clear whether any of Gresham’s investors were fellow TCU alumni. Gresham graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in English and history, according to the university. He played football for the Horned Frogs beginning in the mid-1960s and won an all-conference selection at the center position in 1967.
Richard A. Rice Jr. an Atlanta attorney representing Gresham’s son, Kirk, said that he did not know whether any of the investors were connected to the university but said at least one is from Texas. Gresham’s son is a relief defendant, meaning the government accuses him of receiving money from the alleged scheme but does not accuse him of participating in it, Rice said.
"I’m assuming there’s at least one [investor in Texas] because the investigation initially resulted after an initial complainant came from Texas," Rice said.
Gresham began trading foreign currency, known as forex, in 2002, according to the commission’s lawsuit.
It lays out these allegations:
From about January 2004 until July, Gresham targeted people of the Christian faith to provide funds to trade in forex and told them he had never had a "single losing month."
"Gresham told prospective customers that he was offering his program to a limited number of fellow Christians for a limited time," the lawsuit says. He promised returns of 5 to 10 percent — per average month — and told one woman he could triple her investment in a year.
Gresham told investors, who eventually numbered more than 75, that his investing formula would make money whether the market was "up, down or sideways" and that he was successful because of God.
Gresham solicited some people to invest by opening and "supposedly funding" an account for them based on their friendship with him over the years, the suit alleges. He then is accused of sending a string of e-mail statements showing extraordinary monthly returns. After a time, customers were persuaded to invest their own money, the suit says.
He further persuaded customers to withdraw retirement funds by telling investors they could earn large returns through forex trading, court documents show.
In reality, the suit alleges, Gresham only invested about $2 million of the $15 million he received in a forex trading account. He later withdrew $1.4 million of the $2 million from that from the trading account and lost $90,000 through trading, according to the suit.
"As the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme unfolded in the media in late 2008, Gresham communicated to concerned customers that all their funds with Gresham were safe and would be returned when due," the suit says. "These statements were and continue to be false. Gresham has never had sufficient funds on hand to return all customers’ principal and purported returns on investment."
Investors began trying to retrieve their money in May or June but none have been successful in recovering their money, according to the commission’s suit. Gresham’s assets were frozen last month.
Paul Shabay said his father knew Gresham growing up. He wouldn’t say whether his father, P.D. Shabay, had invested with Gresham.
"They were best friends growing up," Paul Shabay said.
"It’s been pretty painful for our family. It’s been such a shock."
Gresham grew up in Graham, where he was a star football and basketball player and played with Shabay. Gresham was a high school All-American in football and later was an all Southwest Conference selection at TCU.
Despite the allegations, some showed support for Gresham on a TCU sports fan Web site, killerfrogs.com. One poster on the site’s message board said Gresham "was a great role model for me. He attended University Baptist [Church] when I was a high school kid in its youth group. He frequently donated his time to our youth camps and lock-ins, and openly shared his faith with anyone willing to listen."
Another wrote, "I knew EA (Gresham) from the football team . . . and never would have imagined anything like this."
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