Chief’s Weekly Update |
Week of May 5, 2008 – May 11, 2008 |
OPERATIONS – PATROL |
| Aggravated Robbery On Monday, May 5th, the 99 Cent Store located at 1003 Fox Avenue was robbed by two unidentified males. The suspects entered the store around 10:00 a.m. One suspect was armed with a pistol and the other with mace. They sprayed one victim in the face with the mace and stole money from the register and jewelry from a display case. The suspects were last seen running to the rear of the store. The victims suffered minor injuries in the robbery (08-05273). |
| On Tuesday May 6th, at about 6:46 p.m., Officer Showalter was conducting a Close Patrol of St. Charles Place Apartments 1090 South Charles Street. While driving past building number 3, Officer Showalter received an alert of a possible stolen vehicle from the onboard license plate recognition system. Officer Showalter located the silver Honda Civic in question parked across from building number 3. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the steering column was observed to be damaged. The Honda was confirmed stolen out of Carrolton (08-05345). The onboard license plate recognition system, PlateScan, is a new addition to two police squad cars. The system works by capturing digital license plate images as they pass one of four cameras mounted on the squad car. The plates are automatically cross-checked, in real time against multiple local and statewide databases to identify stolen vehicles. |
| Felony Warrant Arrest Officers Dority, Jones, Guy, and Stamper, along with Sergeant Letalien, arrested a 21 year-old Lewisville man at the Park Timber Apartments (1902 South State Highway 121 Business). Officer Dority located the suspect’s vehicle in the parking lot on Thursday, May 8th, and knew that the suspect was wanted for Aggravated Assault. The officers located the suspect and were able to place him under arrest after a brief struggle. The suspect suffered a cut on his chin, which did not require medical attention. No officers were injured during the struggle. The Aggravated Assault warrant stems from an incident on April 22, 2008, when the suspect attempted to run over a Runaway Bay Police Officer, who had attempted to contact the suspect believing he was driving while intoxicated (08-04727). OPERATIONS – CID |
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The Lewisville Police Department, Killough LHS North, and the Killough LHS North Campus Crew presented the Eighth Annual Deadly Decision Program at Killough LHS North at 9:30 a.m. on May 9th. The program included a re-enactment of a DWI crash and demonstrated how one bad decision to drink and drive may lead to deadly decisions resulting in arrest, serious bodily injury, or death.
The project began in January of 2008, when eleven volunteer student actors appeared in a locally produced film focused on driver distractions. The distractions presented in the plot included text messaging, talking on cell phones, too many occupants in a vehicle, and driver inexperience. What makes this a unique program is the fact that the freshmen themselves take an active role in increasing the awareness of the dangers they face and the importance of personal decisions. Since many of these students will soon be licensed drivers, primary program goals include stressing the importance of safe driving habits and increasing awareness of the lifelong implications of personal decisions.
The freshman student body attended an assembly and heard a guest speaker from MADD and then viewed the student actor video. After the video, the student body moved to a parking area where a DWI crash was pre-staged for a live demonstration. Lewisville Police Officers and Lewisville Fire Department personnel, including traffic officers, firefighters, and paramedics responded to the scene to simulate a public safety response. Medical treatment, a Care Flight helicopter, a Mulkey-Mason Funeral Home hearse, and a mock DWI arrest added to the dramatic effect of the demonstration and helped the students understand the finality of a truly bad decision. Lewisville Fire Chief Rick Lasky concluded the demonstration by discussing the incident and the effects of personal decisions.
We extend a special thanks to Officer Jesse Flores, Officer Rick Crociata, and Officer Louie Reyes for their assistance in making this event a success.
Child Pornography Investigation
On May 9th, officers responded to the 1200 block of Monaco on a child pornography complaint. The resident was repairing a computer and noticed what he believed to be child pornography on the computer. Detectives Andrea Fisher and Larry Ellis responded and assisted patrol officers with the investigation. The computer was seized until a search warrant could be obtained. The suspect gave officers consent to search his apartment for child pornography. There was no child pornography located in the apartment. The suspect confessed to detectives that they would find child pornography on the computer. Once a search warrant is obtained, detectives will conduct a forensic examination of the computer’s hard drive. If there are images of child pornography, an arrest warrant will be issued for the suspect.
Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Murder Case
Jeff Stealey (29) entered a plea of guilty to murder for his role in the 1997 homicide of Santino Schraer. Stealey accepted the plea bargain and was sentenced to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Casey Nelson (30) had previously plead to the offense and was sentenced to 25 years. Marshal Mashburn took his case to trial and was found guilty and given a life sentence.
Stealey was the last defendant to be sentenced for this homicide. The homicide was discovered when Schraer’s remains were located near Interstate 35 and Jones Street in January 1999. Detective Richard Anders did an excellent job on this investigation.
Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
On May 2nd, Child Protective Services was contacted in reference to three children that had possibly been assaulted. The children were interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center. The children stated that they had been abused by their great-grandfather. The offense occurred at the residence of the great-grandfather, who resides in the 2000 block of Raven Court. Detective Andrea Fisher learned that the suspect fled the country to Nicaragua after the allegation was reported. Detective Fisher is seeking an arrest warrant for the suspect in this case.
SUPPORT SERVICES |
| New Employees Please help me welcome a couple of new employees. Tifney Martinez has been hired as a Public Safety Dispatcher and she will be starting on Wednesday, May 14th. Betty Johnson is a new Communications Supervisor and she will begin employment on Monday, May 19th. |
The current testing cycle for the position of Police Officer has been extended through June. Following are the remaining test dates:
· May 16
· June 27
These tests will take place in the Community Room at the Municipal Annex. Study guides are available by direct purchase from the distributor. Information regarding the study guides and complete testing information is located on the City’s web site. Anyone needing additional information can contact Human Resources.
Practice dates for the physical ability test are the Wednesdays immediately preceding each test date.
Personnel Openings:
Patrol: 3 (Overfill) CSO: 3+1 (Overfill) Clerk-Typist: 0
Public Safety Dispatcher: 2 + 2 (Overfill) Dispatch Supervisor: 1 Call-Taker: 0
Vehicle and Equipment Porter: 0 Prop. & Evidence Tech.: 0
