Crime Time

Two ounces of cocaine equals 36-year prison sentence for FW man

JOHNSON COUNTY _ A 22-year-old Fort Worth man was sentenced to 36 years in prison Wednesday for possessing 55 grams of cocaine with the intent to deliver.

Because he had no prior criminal history, Jose Antonio Segovia Jr. had been probation eligible when he plead guilty Tuesday to the first-degree felony charge and placed the fate of his sentence in the hands of a Johnson County jury.

"Two ounces – that’s a large amount for Johnson County and the jury delivered quite a harsh sentence," said District Attorney Dale Hanna.

Segovia had been arrested during a traffic stop in February by members of the Stop The Offenders Program special crimes unit. The cocaine bust marked the largest made this year in Johnson County, officials said.

 - Deanna Boyd

Saudi king overturns verdict of 10 lashes for woman driver

King Abdullah apparently has embraced the bold reforms he promised years ago in his ultraconservative kingdom.

Just today, he overturned what to Western eyes is a ridiculous ban against women driving in Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, a Saudi court had found Shaima Jastaina guilty of violating the driving ban, and sentenced her to 10 lashes.

"It was the first time a legal punishment had been handed down for breaking the longtime ban in" Saudi Arabia, AP reports.

There's no law against women driving there, "but conservative religious edicts have banned it," according to AP.

On Sunday, King Abdullah granted women the right to vote, to run in future municipal elections, and even to serve on the Shura Council, the king's advisory board, the biggest change in a decade for women in Saudi Arabia.

They're still required to have male chaperones for almost any public activity.

But it's a start. Who knows, maybe soon they won't be flogged for adultery.

-- Tom Uhler, online news editor

Laser hits American Airlines flight near Meacham

FORT WORTH — An American Airlines flight, westbound from D/FW Airport, reported being hit by a green laser at 10,000 feet late Tuesday, seven miles northwest of Meacham Airport.

No injuries were reported, according to Lynn Lunsford, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

"We notified Fort Worth police," Lunsford said. "This nonsense happens multiple times a night in cities all across the United States."

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt announced this summer that the FAA would begin imposing civil penalties against people who point a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft.

The FAA’s legal interpretation found that directing a laser beam into an aircraft cockpit could interfere with a flight crew performing its duties while operating an aircraft, a violation of Federal Aviation Regulations.

The maximum civil penalty the FAA can impose on an individual for violating the FAA’s regulations that prohibit interfering with a flight crew is $11,000 per violation. The offender can also face jail time. — Marty Sabota

Fort Worth police seeking help in finding 7-11 robbers

Fort Worth police are looking for two men who robbed a 7-11 store clerk at knife point about 1:20 a.m. Sunday.

One man stepped up to the counter of the 6350 Camp Bowie Blvd. store and threatened the clerk with a knife as the other stood nearby. 

Both suspects are white. The first suspect is described as 18 to 21 years old, 6 feet tall, light skinned, blond hair and blue eyes.

The second suspect also is 18 to 21 years old with light skin and blond hair.

The suspects left in an older model, white four-door car, possibly a Honda Accord, with a black accent stripe along the side.

Anyone with information about the suspects is urged to call Detective Brian Raynsford at 817-392-4469. Call Crime Stoppers, 817-469-TIPS, to remain anonymous and qualify for a reward.

-- Terry Evans

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Texas '86's' special last meals for condemned inmates

Before being executed for his role in the execrable dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper in 1998, Lawrence Russell Brewer made the traditional special last meal request from his executioners:

- 2 chicken-fried steaks

- A triple-meat bacon cheeseburger

- Fried okra

- A pound of barbecue

- 3 fajitas

- A pint of ice cream

- A meat lover's pizza

- A slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts

He ate none of what was offered, according to The Associated Press.

That didn't sit well with Texas Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, according to AP.

Whitmire fired off a letter to prisons director Brad Livingston today saying he wants the "ridiculous" and "inappropriate" practice ended or the Legislature will do it for him.

Livingston complied - ending in Texas for now what's surely one of the more popular (and peculiar) curiosities in American culture.

The Huffington Post recently posted a story and photo gallery of the "strangest, smallest and largest last meal requests." (Ted Bundy, for example, made no special request and was offered the traditional steak and eggs - which he didn't eat.)

Texan Dennis Wayne Bagwell made a request similar to Brewer's before his execution in 2005 - steak, chicken (3 breasts, 3 thighs), barbecue, pound of bacon, dozen eggs, etc. Don't know how much he ate, if any. So did Bobby Wayne Woods, executed in 2009.

There're a bunch of websites on prisoners' last meals, including one called the Dead Man Eating Weblog (which was started in 2002 but hasn't been updated since last year) that understandably includes the last meal requests of lots of Texans.

Nothing too exotic - although one prisoner requested a peppy BLT, berries with whipped cream, french fries, onion rings and a Dr Pepper. Another asked that his last meal not be revealed to the public.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh requested 2 pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and one guy requested a lump of dirt, supposedly for a ritual. (It was denied.)

In case you were curious ...

-- Tom Uhler, online news editor

 

 

 

Men accused of scheme to bring wild horses to Texas for slaughter

Two Utah men bought 64 wild horses from the federal government and were transporting them to Texas, for slaughter in Mexico, according to a federal grand jury indictment. The horses supposedly were purchased for rodeo stock, but federal agents became suspicious of those plans, Horsetalk reports. The men, Robert Capson and Dennis Kunz, were indicted for wire fraud and making false statements.

Missing Keller man, 77, found safe in Alpine

UPDATE: James Louis Hopkins was found safe in far West Texas, police said Tuesday. He was found in Alpine in Brewster County, about 470 miles away. The Silver Alert has been canceled. 

Keller Police issued a Silver Alert Monday for 77-year-old James Louis Hopkins, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Hopkins was described as a white male, 5-foot-9 and 144 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue and gray polo shirt and tan pants. He has a scar on his chest from heart surgery.
He was last seen at 11 a.m. Monday on Eastwood Drive in Keller driving a silver 2006 Nissan Sentra, Texas license plate HFS419. There is a USGA bumper sticker on the back.
Law enforcement officials believe his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.
Anyone with information is asked to call Keller Police at 817-743-4522.
-- Marty Sabota

Fort Worth officers nab suspected copper thief

Fort Worth Police lauded the work of two officers who nabbed a suspected copper thief Monday and asked the public to be on the lookout for similar crimes.
Susan Chandler, a police spokeswoman, said officers Isiah Garner and Michael Arredondo were on routine patrol after midnight when they noticed a door ajar on an electrical transformer box at the future site of a Wal-Mart, an empty lot on East Berry Street.
“I saw the door ajar and went around the back side,” Garner said. “That’s when someone peeked out at me. I was in a vacant lot. I didn’t know if he had a weapon or not.”
Garner, who graduated from the police academy two years ago, said the suspect surprised him.
“Usually by the time we get there, the person is gone and the damage is done,” the officer said.
According to Chandler, the suspect was wearing gloves and had a set of pliers in his back pocket. The officers found a bolt matching one from the box in his back pocket and a piece of copper wire cut, but not removed from the box.
Oncor assessed the damage at $13,000. Garner said an Oncor representative said “the box was intended to wire the whole Wal-Mart building.”
The suspect was charged with felony criminal mischief.
Chandler said copper theft incidents have grown exponentially in recent years across the United States and around the world, fueled by demands from China and India. Thieves include small-time individuals, local copper theft rings and organized crime.
“Some thieves even risk their lives, and some have died, by cutting live electrical wiring to steal,” Chandler said.
Garner said some thieves are homeless persons trying to get quick cash.
“It’s not usually the kids.” Garner said.
Chandler said that although private citizens, schools, churches and businesses have been victimized by copper theft, “it impacts society on a much greater scale.”
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that copper thieves are threatening the U.S. critical infrastructure by targeting electrical, water supply, communication and transportation services, presenting a risk to both public safety and national security,” Chandler said.
The city of Fort Worth spent more than $161,000 to repair street lights damaged by copper thieves in the first six months of 2011, Chandler said.
As of Sept. 1, Fort Worth received 2,074 reports of copper theft.
Officer Don Hawkins, a compliance officer for secondary metals recyclers, advises citizens to be proactive in fighting this crime.
“First and foremost, pay attention in your neighborhood to unfamiliar vehicles and people who don’t belong in your neighborhood,” he said.
-- Marty Sabota

Standoff reported Friday morning at Arlington apartment complex

NBC5 is reporting that Arlington police trying to serve a felony warrant were involved in a standoff Friday morning with a man at an apartment complex on Park Springs Boulevard.

The station said officers were evacuating nearby apartment complexes.

Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Richard confirmed to the Star-Telegram that police were serving a warrant but did not immediately have further details.

Texas is No. 1 again - but nothing to brag about on this

Texas was the No. 1 state for heavy equipment thefts last year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau has reported. Overall, the state had 1,023 thefts of heavy equipment such as loaders, backhoes, tractors and forklifts. Five the top 10 cities for heavy equipment theft were in Texas: Houston, Conroe, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.