Crime Time

He shut down an international bridge; gets 6 months in prison

Here at Crime Time, we try to follow up on stories that we've reported before.

You may recall our Aug. 17 story about how a 79-year-old man was arrested at an international bridge in El Paso for drug smuggling. The kicker, though, was that the marijuana-laden gas tank of his car looked unusual, prompting officials at the Paso del Norte Bridge to call in the bomb squad and to close the bridge for five hours.

If you've ever been on one that bridge (I have), you'll know that it's a busy international entry point -- averaging 5,000 cars and 21,000 pedestrians a day, according to the El Paso Times.

The man arrested, Felipe Origel, was sentenced Monday to six months in  prison and six months of home confinement with no fine. He could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined up to $1 million.

Read the El Paso Times' story here, to find out more about the case and why Origel received a light sentence.

-- Lance Murray

-- Texas Department of Transportation photo

Explosive device causes school evacuation

Students were evacuated, streets were blocked and worried parents waited to find their children at Arlington Heights High School on Friday after police and fire units were called in to deal with an explosive device found on the campus.

The bomb squad used a robot to defuse the device and police said a 16-year-old student was taken into custody. He could face charges for possession of an explosive device or a hoax bomb, a police spokesman said.

Read the report by staff writers Deanna Boyd and Alex Branch here.

-- Lance Murray

-- Star-Telegram Photo by Tom Pennington

Odd gas tank causes bridge bomb scare

A bomb scare that shut down the Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso for nearly five hours Tuesday has landed a 79-year-old man -- who authorities believe is a marijuana smuggler -- in jail, according to Customs and Border Protection officials.

CBP officers apparently noticed that the gas tank on the man's 1988 Subaru station wagon was unusual after being alerted by a drug-sniffing dog. That led to the bomb squad being called to the busy international bridge that connects El Paso with Juarez, Mexico.

-- Lance Murray