|
|
 Newsletter sign-up: Top Headlines |
 
|
Get Breaking News on your cell|
About This Blog
Criminal justice reporters, editors and invited guests provide news and analysis impacting Dallas-area police, courts, fire and other public safety issues and entities. Readers are encouraged to join the conversation. March 2010
Recent Posts
Another irony in the Dallas Police Department's crime reporting practices Dallas Police Officer of the Month Dallas Crime Watch: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 In the halls of justice, we're taking the stairs Dallas police seeking person of interest in Pleasant Grove murder of pregnant woman Losing Dallas County constable candidate declines to endorse for Precinct 5 runoff Dallas Crime Watch: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Purse snatchers target Mansfield churches, day cares, nursing homes Death penalty opponents to head for Austin for alternative spring break Addison police documents on murder suspect Scott Matthew Marshall Recent Comments
Categories
dallasnews.com Blogs
|
March 10, 2010
There are times when something strikes me as so ironic that I can't help but bring it up. The DPD policy, adopted several years ago, is that generally only when assaults involving weapons such as bottles, bricks, pipes and other objects actually caused serious injury would be they considered aggravated. Instead, they would be recorded as simple assaults, which are not counted in the city's violent crime numbers. This brings me back to my point. Through open records, I obtained a copy of a report of the June 2008 death of Joseph Rushing, who was fatally shot while allegedly trying to steal property from another man. The records state that Rushing was killed in the "commission of (an) aggravated assault felony" when he "threatened the suspect with a large hammer. The suspect shot the complaintant in fear for his safety." So let me get this straight: It's not an aggravated assault if someone hits me with a hammer and doesn't seriously hurt me. But if someone raises a hammer at another and gets shot over it, then the department feels free to call that an aggravated assault. Interesting. By the way, Rushing's death did not count in the city's murder tally that year because authorities found the killing to be a justifiable homicide. To look out the prior stories we've done on DPD's crime reporting methods, check this link out.  Comments (1) Leave comment
|  E-mail entryThe entry "Another irony in the Dallas Police Department's crime reporting practices" is tagged: aggravated assault , Dallas police , David Kunkle , FBI guildelines , Joseph Rushing , Steve Thompson , Tanya Eiserer , UCR
Congratulations to Police Officer Craig Bennight who is the Dallas Police Department's Office of the Month for March. Bennight who is assigned to the city's northeast patrol station, was nominated for his work as an outstanding beat officer. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Dallas Police Officer of the Month " is tagged: Craig Bennight , Dallas police , Robert Harmon , Tanya Eiserer
•Dallas police are still keeping an eye on hospitalized North Dallas shooter Robert R. Mustard. He remains in intensive care at Baylor University Medical Center but police spokesman Kevin Janse said Tuesday that Mustard is not expected to survive his self-inflicted gunshot wound, but his status hadn't changed as of this morning. As a result, aggravated assault charges against Mustard are pending and won't be filed unless he survives, Janse said. Mustard, 60, is accused of critically wounding father and son financial advising team of Richard Smith, 66, and Christopher Smith, 39. The two, who are both listed in stable condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital, were shot Monday morning at their financial services office in North Dallas. Authorities have said Mustard, a longtime client of Richard Smith's, was upset with him over some financial dealings.
Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Dallas Crime Watch: Wednesday, March 10, 2010" has no entry tags.
Staff Writer Selwyn Crawford reports: Life at the Frank Crowley Criminal Courts Building in downtown Dallas is off to a not-so-uplifting start this morning. The six main elevators serving the building are out of order, forcing hundreds of court staffers, attorneys, visitors -- even a judge -- to have to hoof it on the stairs. There is one break: there are escalators for the first four floors. But even those electronic stairs are not working on one floor. Said one exasperated staffer after reaching the seventh floor: "Everything is in chaos right now and nobody knows anything."
Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "In the halls of justice, we're taking the stairs " is tagged: broken , building , court , crowley , dallas , downtown , elevators , frank , stairs March 9, 2010
Detectives want to talk to Manuel Edgar Perez (right), 28, regarding the death of Elena P. Reyna. The two are believed to have been dating, police said. Reyna was found seriously injured in the 7800 block of Elam Road near South Buckner Boulevard in Pleasant Grove last Tuesday morning. Investigators believe she was hit by a vehicle. A witness told police she saw a red pickup truck leaving the scene. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Dallas police seeking person of interest in Pleasant Grove murder of pregnant woman" is tagged: Elena P. Reyna , Manuel Edgar Perez , murder
Michael Orozco, who lost his bid for the Dallas County constable Precinct 5 nomination during last week's Democratic primary, has said he will not endorse either candidate in the upcoming runoff. Constable Jaime Cortes was the top vote getter in last Tuesday's primary but only barely. He faces Italy police officer Beth Villarreal in the April 13 runoff. Villarreal was hoping that Orozco, a deputy constable with another precinct, would ask his supporters to get behind her. Orozco won 27 percent of the vote. But Orozco released a statement on Saturday saying he decided to remain neutral for the runoff after "much consideration, discussion with my advisers, talking to the two candidates." Orozco is the one who is behind a Web site that is highly critical of Cortes and his administration. The site appears to be down. Orozco said in his statement that he won't make any more comments about the election, the runoff or the candidates. Comments (23) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Losing Dallas County constable candidate declines to endorse for Precinct 5 runoff" is tagged: Beth Villarreal , Jaime Cortes , Michael Orozco , runoff election
•An angry former client wounded two financial advisers and shot himself at a north Dallas office building Monday. •A driver headed the wrong way caused an accident that killed herself and injured two others in Mesquite early Moday morning. •State jail inspectors are conducting a week-long inspection of the Dallas County facility. The jail has not been in compliance with state regulations for seven years,. • A man who shot at police before being shot himself inside a Walmart in Hunt Coounty had prior arrests for drugs and evading arrest. • The city of Dallas hopes to cut costs by hiring fewer new police officers than originally planned, •Six finalists for the job of Dallas police chief have been named. Facebook CrimeBlog DallasNews! Tweet with DallasCrime on Twitter. Have a crime news tip? Email us. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry " Dallas Crime Watch: Tuesday, March 9, 2010" is tagged: Dallas crime watch
Mansfield police are asking for help identifying two purse snatchers who are targeting local churches. The women, possibly a mother-daughter pair, are believed to have used credit cards from the stolen purses, police said. Among the churches that were hit is First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, reports KDFW-TV (Channel 4). That's where they were caught on camera. Comments (2) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Purse snatchers target Mansfield churches, day cares, nursing homes" is tagged: First United Methodist Church , Mansfield , purse snatchers March 8, 2010
Students looking for something different over the upcoming spring break will descend on Austin next week for the Anti Death Penatly Alternative Spring Break. The 5-day program includes everything from a" telephone call from a person on death row" to a panel discussion with a half dozen death row exonerees. One of the speakers at the event is Bill Pelke, author of "Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing", about the murder of his grandmother by a group of teenaged girls, and his subsequent decision to campaign against the death penalty. Comments (5) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Death penalty opponents to head for Austin for alternative spring break" is tagged: Austin , death penalty , Diane Jennings , spring break March 7, 2010
Pages 1-2: Affidavit for arrest warrant for Marshall on a murder charge. Pages 3-4: Affidavit for arrest warrant for Sarah Durand on a charge of failure to report a felony. This charge was later dropped and Durand is now a state's witness. Pages 5-7: Warrant and affidavit for the search of Marshall's Addison apartment after the Dec. 20 fatal shooting of Staci Michelle Montgomery. Pages 8-9: September Addison police report regarding incident in which Marshall threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and himself. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Addison police documents on murder suspect Scott Matthew Marshall" is tagged: documents , Sarah Durand , Scott Marshall , Staci Montgomery March 6, 2010
Marshall was arrested on a murder charge and is being held at the Dallas County Jail on $700,000 bail. He also faces four felony drug charges. Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Hear Scott Marshall's chilling 911 call reporting Addison shooting" is tagged: 911 call , Scott Marshall , Staci Montgomery
Annie Tovar Reyes, 83, was struck at an Oak Cliff intersection in June 2008 by a car driven by Eddie Robert Ramirez (right), who remains in the Dallas County Jail on a murder charge. Ramirez, 30, had just been released from prison after serving three years for stealing another Dallas police bait car. After the crash, Dallas police suspended the department's bait car program, designed to catch car thieves in the act. Comments (7) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Family of elderly woman killed in crash with Dallas police bait car sue city" is tagged: Annie Tovar Reyes , bait car , Eddie Robert Ramirez March 5, 2010
Recruits from both the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue will participate in Saturday's 6th Annual Trinity Levee 10-K Run and 2 mile fun run/walk set. The event benefits the Trinity Commons Foundation and the Dallas Running Club. "It's all done in good fun," Dallas Fire Chief Eddie Burns said of the friendly competition between the city's two main first-responder agencies. "But, at the end of the day, of course, we still want to win." Click here for more information about the runs, which begin at 9 a.m. at Trammell Crow Park, 3700 Sylvan Road. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Battle of the raw recruits: It's DPD vs. DFR " is tagged: Dallas Running Club , Eddie Burns , Trammell Crow Park , Trinity Commons Foundation
Here's a report from staff writer Abigail Thatcher Allen: A traffic stop led to a foot chase and a brief search this morning near American Airlines Center, authorities said. The chase ended when an officer tackled the suspect in a drainage tunnel. A video shot for TV news shows the unidentified officer demanding to know whether the suspect is armed. "You better tell me if you have any [expletive] guns on you ... or I'll [expletive] kill you," he tells the man. (Be warned: The unedited video from Fox 4 contains foul language.) About 4:45 a.m., a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper stopped a drunken-driving suspect along Stemmons Freeway near the arena. Enrique Franco, whose age was unavailable, fled after being handcuffed and entered a nearby drainage ditch, authorities said. Officers from Dallas and DPS converged on the area and within 30 minutes had the suspect in custody, DPS spokesman Lonny Haschel said. Comments (87) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Video: Lawman chases down, berates DWI suspect in Dallas drainage tunnel" is tagged: chase , DWI , KDFW , tunnel , video March 4, 2010
Akram Musa Abdallah, a former Holy Land fundraiser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2007, was sentenced today to a year and a half in prison. But U.S. District Judge Neil Wake in Phoenix also criticized the Justice Department for how they questioned Abdallah three years ago. "The FBI was interviewing Abdallah, a resident of Mesa in 2007, about his mid-1990s fundraising for the Holy Land Foundation. Agents had wiretapped his conversations and knew that he had actively done fundraising while he was an imam at a Phoenix mosque. But he denied that to the agents. Abdallah is not the only former Holy Land associate to face charges since a Dallas federal jury deemed it a Hamas front in 2008 and convicted five of its five former organizers. In January, Michigan authorities unsealed charges against Mohamad Mustapha Ali Masfaka for not disclosing his Holy Land ties on immigration forms. Click below for a full account of Abdallah's sentencing hearing on Thursday, courtesy of the mighty Associated Press. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Holy Land associate gets 18 months in prison in Arizona" is tagged: Akram Musa Abdallah , FBI , Holy Land Foundation , Mohamad Mustapha Ali Masfaka , Phoenix
The Consumer Awareness of Unsafe Service Employment group, or C.A.U.S.E., has certified its first North Texas company, Mr. Handyman, which serves southwest Denton and north Tarrant counties. The group, founded in 2004 by Lucia Bone of Flower Mound, pushes for businesses that employ home service workers to conduct complete background checks before they are hired and offers its C.A.U.S.E. certification to businesses that agree to adhere to certain safety and security standards, primarily annual background checks of employees. Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "North Texas business become first in area to get C.A.U.S.E. certification" is tagged: background checks , C.A.U.S.E. , Lucia Bone , Mr. Handyman , Sue Weaver
Last month, we wrote about a man who robbed a Dallas bank in a dapper hat and sports jacket. Well, today another robber wearing a fedora knocked over a Fort Worth bank, the Star-Telegram reports. It wasn't the same man. The Dallas robber (pictured at right) was a black man in his 30s, while the Fort Worth suspect is an older white man. If I owned a haberdashery, I'd invest in some security. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Bank robbers in Dallas, Fort Worth opted for fedoras over bandannas" is tagged: bank , fedora , robbery
Walk into any Texas courtroom, state or federal, and chances are good it looks pretty much the same as the one next door: lots of wood paneling, a couple of flags, somber portraits of a judge or two. But federal Judge Barbara Lynn's courtroom offers a different experience. The walls are decorated with colorful quilts and wall hangings to make the place less sterile and intimidating. "I decided when I got here, I was going to do what little I could to make it a little more soft," said Judge Lynn who was appointed to the bench ten years ago. Two quilts that flank the judge were purchased from donated funds left over from the judge's investiture. After they were installed, "I donated those quilts to the United States," she said. She commissioned another quilt that features the scales of justice, a gavel and an American eagle. One side wall also features a banner brought back from Africa by one of the judge's children, while a portrait of Judge Sarah Hughes decorates another wall. The wall hangings generate occasional comments, Judge Lynn said and she's not necessarily through. It is, after all, a big courtroom. "I still have some space and I'm always on the lookout," she said. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Judge tries to soften intimidating courtroom" is tagged: Diane Jennings , Judge Barbara Lynn , quilts
Ongoing drug violence by Mexican drug cartels is threatening to ruin a longtime rite of spring. Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Texas Department of Public Safety warns spring breakers to avoid Mexico" is tagged: spring break , Steven C. McCraw
As I wrote in that blog post, I was led to believe that the issue was with a new vendor that had recently taken over management of the system. I was told that the city was working with the vendor on some issues. But in response to a Public Information Act request, The Dallas Morning News obtained an email sent by the president of that outside vendor, Orion Communications, to city officials that tells a different story. Leslie F. Delatte wrote the email (posted in its entirety below) to Robert Roussell and Annette Pegram of the city's Communication and Information Services department. Delatte expressed frustration after reading my blog post because, she wrote, "this is not a vendor issue nor a bug in the system. We were asked and we complied with a request to remove from the public site the ability to select the offenses of Murder and Rape." On Wednesday afternoon, I called CIS Director Worris Levine and Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan for comment. Neither returned my messages (though someone in Levine's office called me back twice asking for more details on why I was calling). So why does this matter? Well, for one, I'd like to set the record straight if I was initially misled and, as a result, misled you. But I'd also like to know why the city and/or the Dallas police decided to restrict access to certain offense reports on its public system. Obviously, the best and most reliable way to view complete public records is to request them formally through the records department. But I have to wonder why the Dallas Police Department would launch a public access incident report system only to decide later to scale back which offense reports are available on that system? I'll update the post when someone offers me an explanation. Comments (18) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Email: City of Dallas instructed vendor to restrict public access to some online police reports" is tagged: Jill Jordan , Leslie F. Delatte , Orion Communications , police reports , public information , Worris Levine |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bio
-thumb-150x174-73362.jpg)
Tanya Eiserer, 'glad you are there and
Dear why,
Innocent people sent
Find them, fill the stolen purses with
The family of this repeat offender shou
For all you cry babies crying about thi
same thing yesterday. Dallas county ad
Then there is the topic of respect. The
Lawsuits are for purposeful, blatant br
If you are a new customer, mention you
All I know is that with all the bad art