Crime Time

Area 5-year-old trick-or-treater hit by vehicle

 

FORT WORTH — MedStar received two reports of children being injured in unrelated traffic accidents on Halloween, officials said Monday.

A 5-year-old was taken by ambulance to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth after being struck by a vehicle while trick-or-treating in the 5200 block of Morris Avenue in east Fort Worth about 8:30 p.m., a MedStar spokesman said. The youngster had non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

A hospital spokeswoman said she could not provide any information without a full name and age.

MedStar received a call of a child injured by a vehicle in the 4400 block of Lodestone Lane in south Fort Worth about 9 p.m. When the ambulance arrived, no child or parents could be located, the MedStar spokesman said.

— Marty Sabota

Have you seen this robbery suspect?

Grand Prairie police are asking the public's help in finding a woman who they believe is responsible for two robbery attempts. In the latest, at 5:40 p.m. Thursday, a woman was walking to her apartment in the 2700 block of West Bardin Road when a woman tried to grab the victim's purse. When she failed, she escaped in a dark green Toyota driven by a man, police report. Previously, they believe the same suspects stole a purse in Grand Prairie then used the victim's credit card at a Kroger store in Arlington. If you hae information, call the police tip line at 972-237-8877.

National Guard recruiter from Lubbock arrested in sex sting

A National Guard recruiter from Lubbock sent nude pictures of himself to what he thought was a 15-year-old girl, then arrived at a New Mexico house with a box of condoms expecting a rendezvous with her, a Clovis news site reports. Instead, he was met by deputies, and now he faces a charge of child solicitation by electronic device. 

108 seized dogs, cats turned over to SPCA

Cats and dogs living in filthy conditions in a Duncanville house, and other dogs in rusted wire cages in two other nearby houses have been turned over to the SPCA, the agency has announced. Duncanville police had seized the animals Friday. SPCA will work to place some of the animals for adoption. 

Another guilty plea in Fast and Furious gun trafficking case

A Metroplex man has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to buy a gun used in the slaying of an ICE agent in Mexico. Otilio Osorio was one of three straw purchasers of guns being trafficked to Mexico, according to federal officials. One of those Osorio purchased was used to kill special agent Jaime Zapata. Osorio's guilty plea Tuesday follows pleas by 7 other defendants last week. But the Brownsville Herald reports that the pleas don't satisfy U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, a leading critic of the Fast and Furious gun trafficking investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Grassley wrote that the ATF knew about the straw purchasers and failed to report the transfer of firearms 

College students say they were scammed into posing nude

A Lubbock County grand jury has indicted a former Texas Tech student on accusations that he scammed male students into posing nude, with promises that they would get thousands of dollars to do so, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Now, a San Marcos student has said that suspectTerrill Taylor offered him $2,500 to pose for photos in his boxers, the paper reports. 

Woman describes house of horrors in Killeen, with captives held in attic

More details are coming out about the disabled people found behind a chained basement door in Philadelphia. A woman has come forward to say she was locked in a closet in Killeen, Texas by the suspect, and that she saw the suspect's other captives in the attic above the closet. The captives had cigarette burns on their faces, and their tongues had been burned by a spoon, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The woman later escaped and said she told Killeen police of the people being held captive, but that they didn't act, according to the article. Philadelphia authorities have said the suspect imprisoned the disabled people as part of a scheme to collect their Social Security and disability benefits.

Flower Mound residents accused of multi-million-dollar fraud

Investors' money was used by Flower Mound residents for a leased BMW and $350,000 in rent, and trading losses gobbled up more of the funds, a federal agency says in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Accused are Linda Faye Harris, Chance Domel Harris and their companies,CDH Forex Investments and CDH Global Holdings, according to an Oct. 25 news release from the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The defendants, all of Flower Mound, are accused of solicitation fraud, making false statements and misappropriation of investors' funds, which totaled about $2.2 million. The agency is seeking civil penalties, restitution and trading bans.   

Condemned killer Hank Skinner makes third try for DNA testing

A federal judge in Amarillo on Monday heard arguments about whether death row inmate Hank Skinner, who was sentenced to death after a trial in Fort Worth, is entitled to DNA testing that he says will clear him. Twice before, courts have rejected his request, but the U.S. Supreme Court allowed him a day in court to argue for the testing. Skinner, convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her two adult sons in 1993, is scheduled for execution Nov. 9. See more details from the Amarillo Globe News. 

Armed, dangerous...and smells like dirty socks

Police have been searching for more than a week for a murder suspect they said was armed and dangerous. Hondo police and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force found the suspect at a San Antonio home - hiding in a laundry basket, a San Antonio TV station reported. No word on if he came clean to authorities. He is suspected of fatally shooting one man and injuring another in Hondo.