Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category

​In '05, the city outsourced its parking-ticket operations to locally based Affiliated Computer Service; then, a year later, forked over an additional five figures so the company could mount a few AutoVu license plate recognition cameras, making it easier to spot and track drivers who couldn't, didn't or just wouldn't feed the meters. When City Hall renewed its contract with ACS last year, part of the deal was: "new state-of-the-art equipment, which is essential for locating scofflaws and gaining payment compliance. The equipment can also be used to locate stolen vehicles." Or, turns out, anyone else owing a dime to Dallas.On the other side is the complete packet of memos sent to the city council Friday night. On Page 5 you'll find First Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez's note about how, any day now, the city will begin using LPR cameras as part of a pilot program to "locate individuals owning outstanding City of Dallas fines and fees by identifying their vehicles on Dallas streets and then posting notices on vehicles that may have outstanding bills with the Dallas Courts offices." That notice also follows, for those needing a sneak peek at the fine print.Not sure if the city's still using AutoVu cams, but it looks like Motorola has a nice set-up. Anyway. Last summer the Texas Observer ran a piece about how cops statewide are using the LPR cams without most Texans even aware they're at work; Big Brother, y'all. Local defense attorney Mike Lowe sums it up thusly: "That's right: Texas law enforcement is using 'mass surveillance' without your approval." Writes Gonzalez, hey, it's gotta be done: "While we understand that we are going through some tough economic times, we hope that this project will assist with compliance efforts."

First off, the Dallas Police Department just sent word: "Thanks to multiple viewer tips," writes Senior Corporal Kevin Janse, officers today detained the man they believe may be the one seen holding up the Exxon Tigermart on Lemmon Ave. with underwear on his head. His last name is Underwood. (Update at 7:23 p.m.: Janse just sent word that the suspect "was interviewed by detectives and released pending further investigation," and says that his earlier note about the man being taken to jail was incorrect. Which is why, at DPD's request, I've retracted his first name and age.)Now, then. Shortly before DPD sent that note, it forwarded along the video you see above -- this one, more thriller (for a few moments, anyway) than comedy. In it, a man can be seen dropping out of the ceiling of the A to Z Food Mart at 2120 St. Augustine Road near Bruton Road. Takes him a while, but once he finds his footing, he sticks around for quite a while -- and right in front of one of two security cameras that catch him in the act. Probably should have used an underwear mask. DPD needs help finding him too; anyone with info is asked to call property crimes Detective W. Jones at 214-671-0113 or 214-670-8346.

Photo by Danny FulgencioSteven Phillips​Steven Phillips, a man who spent 25 years in prison for a string of Dallas rapes he did not commit, was arrested in Carrollton for cocaine possession -- an arrest that could cost him millions. When reached by phone, Phillips declined to comment. But according to the arrest affidavit obtained by Unfair Park, on August 15, at around 9:48 p.m., Carrollton Police pulled his red Toyota Tundra over for having a cracked taillight. Phillips had had a little to drink, so he let a friend drive him. The friend, it turned out, had a suspended license and two active warrants with the Addison Police. She was arrested. Phillips blew into a portable breath tester and was found to be below the legal limit. The police ran his drivers' license and requested to search the truck. Phillips consented, and, according to the affidavit, an officer came up with two plastic bags containing four grams of coke in a take-out container. Possession of cocaine in any amount is a felony. In 2009, Phillips applied for and subsequently received statutory compensation for the years he spent wrongfully imprisoned -- some $4 million, half paid in a lump sum and the other half paid out in an annuity that garners five-percent interest each year until the day he dies. There's a caveat: If he's convicted of a felony, the annuity is gone.

City of Frisco​Back in June, the city sent word that it had agreed to hand over to the feds $2.5 million -- without acknowledging that, ya know, maybe it did violate the civil False Claims Act and Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act by overcharging Medicare and Medicaid for ambulance rides. Could have been worse: There was a chance the city could have owed the government somewhere closer to $40 million. Much cheaper to settle without acknowledging any wrongdoing. That case, of course, stemmed from the whistle-blowing of then-assistant city auditor Doug Moore, who's currently entangled in a retaliation suit against the city over his dismissal.So happens, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Moore's whistling didn't stop at the Dallas city limits:The Texas cities of Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Mesquite, Celina, DeSoto, Corpus Christi, Cedar Hill, Rowlett, North Richland Hills and University Park (collectively "Cities") have agreed to pay the U.S. and Texas the collective amount of $1.69 million to resolve allegations they violated the civil False Claims Act and Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The U.S. and Texas contend all the Cities caused "upcoded" claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid for city-dispatched 911 ambulance transports between 2006 and 2010. All the Cities fully cooperated with the investigation, and by settling, did not admit any wrongdoing or liability.Ambulance services generally are coded either as basic life support level or advanced life support (ALS). ALS transports are reimbursed at a higher rate by both Medicare and Medicaid. The U.S. and Texas contend the Cities' billing contractor coded 911-dispatched transports at the ALS level, which indicates an ALS service was furnished and/or the patient's condition necessitated an ALS intervention. The U.S. and Texas allege the Cities caused to be submitted for payment claims falsely representing to Medicare and Medicaid that such ALS services were appropriate and furnished by their personnel when in fact no ALS service was rendered and/or the patient did not require an ALS transport. And, reminds the release, since the investigations were the results of Moore's whistleblower suit, he "can receive up to 30% of the recovery under the settlement." Which is why the city says it fired Moore in the first place.

​1402 Rowan Avenue, located just a few blocks from O.M. Roberts Elementary near Fair Park, is on the tax rolls at around $18,000. But that didn't stop two men -- Blaise Hancock of Arlington and Clint Allen of Lewisville -- from taking out insurance policies on the property worth a collective $1.2 million, more than $800,000 on the house alone. And that smelled a bit fishy to Dallas Fire-Rescue and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials. Because it was.On Friday, the two men were scheduled to go to trial in Dallas federal court; they faced charges of insurance fraud. But per a release just sent from the U.S. Attorney's Office, they pleaded guilty to the crime shortly before entering the downtown courtroom, and each man faces up to 20 years in the federal penitentiary for trying to burn down the house. Here, according to the AG's office, is how they did the deed:On December 2, 2007, Allen damaged and destroyed, by fire, the dwelling at 1402 Rowan Avenue and its contents. To establish an alibi, prior to the fire Allen sent his cell phone to his father in Pineville, Louisiana, and caused a person to check into a motel in Pineville using Allen's name and credit card. On December 1, 2007, Hancock went to San Antonio, Texas, to establish an alibi, and returned on December 3, 2007, the day after the fire. That day, Hancock called SAFECO to report the fire.The full cautionary tale follows.

Still from Sweet ScienceFrom left: Charles Hatley, Greg Hatley Jr. and Dominic Littleton​Yesterday, we told you about the Feed Store of God Cowboy Church, where police are investigating possible animal cruelty charges relating to dead livestock, and introduced you to its pastor, James Hatley Jr. We're still awaiting more information about the investigation, but the name Hatley rang a bell for Wilonsky, and late last night he figured out why.Turns out James Hatley is the uncle of two local boxers who were the subject of Chris Howell's documentary Sweet Science, which was nearly a decade in the making -- seven years of filming and two and a half years of editing. Robert was a big fan of the film when it screened at the Dallas International Film Festival last year. Howell won't confirm or deny HBO's interest in distributing the film.Back in 2005, then Observer-er Paul Kix wrote a feature about the family as well: Greg Hatley Sr., who trained his two young sons; Charlie, then 19; and Greg Jr., his older brother, nicknamed "Rabbit." Greg Sr., a former Dallas firefighter, converted his garage into a boxing gym, where he trained his sons and a number of other neighborhood boys.In 2001, Hatley's makeshift gym caught the attention of Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban's former partner in Broadcast.com, who provided money for the real thing. Oak Cliff Boxing Gym opened in Lancaster that year with a reported budget of $250,000 annually. But in '05, for reasons that are disputed by all the parties involved, Wagner quit funding the Oak Cliff Boxing Club. At the same time, the feed store run by Greg and James Hatley's father, James Sr., was forced to shut down because of James Sr.'s health problems. The young boxers started practicing in the abandoned feed store -- the very same one we visited Tuesday.

What do you need to know about this video sent out by the Dallas Police Department? Well, let's see. The stick-em-up in question took place yesterday at around 5:25 in the morning at the Exxon TigerMart at 2503 Lemmon, which is right off of N. Central Expressway. And, per the DPD:The suspect is seen entering the store wearing what appears to be a black and white flower dress with white boots. His face is also covered with what appears to be under garments. He demands money from the cashier and a patron while holding what could possibly be a gun under the dress. He then flees the store in an unknown direction. The suspect is described as a white male, 5'05" and weighing 145 lbs. If you know this guy, call the DPD Robbery Unit at (214) 671-3464. Then, call everyone else you know.

Photos by Anna Merlan​"I don't want to talk about all that." The pastor took some letters from the mailbox without glancing over. "What I really want to talk about is getting more people to come to church on Sundays. You want to talk about religion, you can come by anytime."Yesterday, we got an email from the police department saying that Air 1 had been doing a routine patrol over South Central Expressway when they noticed a dead calf lying in a corral. The pilot said there were other cows and horses nearby that appeared to have no access to food or water. Animal Control has taken over the investigation, but they haven't issued any statements yet about what they found, and they're not answering questions, saying they've been "overwhelmed" with calls.We were referred instead to City spokesman Frank Librio, who told us that brand-new Animal Services director Jody Jones isn't yet ready to handle media requests. He said that the incident is "under investigation," adding, "We're not going to reveal anything to do with the investigation, because we don't want to jeopardize it."James Hatley Jr.​When I arrived at the property yesterday, I found the Feed Store of God Cowboy Church and James Hatley Jr., its pastor. The church's name is on a trim white sign out front, and spray-painted again on a battered old trailer sitting out in the yard. It's way down South Central Expressway in a lonely corner of town, perched in a stretch of auto salvage yards and dirt side roads.Hatley told me he didn't want to discuss the allegations. But since I'd driven all the way down, he invited me inside anyway, to talk about the Lord. "We practice the letter of God," Hatley said. "The whole of the Word. Laying on of hands and all that." On Sundays, he anoints the heads of his congregation -- which includes his wife, nieces, nephews and cousins, among others, he said -- with oil.True to its name, the building itself is an old feed store, one that Hatley said had been in his family 11 years before it closed and he converted the space into a church. "Used to be you could get food for your animals here," he told me, "now you can get food for your soul."

Via.​A disheartening report by the Dallas Police Department shows that crimes against senior citizens have increased in the past year, with rates for July 2011 15 percent higher than during the same time last year. Lieutenant Herbert Ashford presented the numbers at this morning's Senior Affairs Commission Victimization Committee meeting, a lengthy discussion about the perils of old age and the hucksters who seize the opportunity to con Grandma out of what's left of her life savings. Most notably, embezzlement more than doubled in the past year, while residential burglary rose 18 percent. In addition to the rise in crime, a not-necessarily criminal activity to which local elders fall victim is payday and auto title lending, geriatric crisis intervention caseworker, Marilu Thorn, said in a presentation at the meeting. The elderly can borrow against their fixed income for small cash advances that come with exorbitant interest rates, often creating a spiral of debt, inability to repay and even more debt. There are more payday and auto-title lenders in Texas than McDonald's and Whataburgers, according to Thorn. They've almost tripled in number over the past three years: "It's a monster in disguise, it really is," she says.

​Last time I noted the Dallas Police Department's concerns over cat killings 'cross the city, the great Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram jumped in the comments and insisted, "Every 'cat mutilation' hoax nationwide has turned out to be the work of animal predators." Far as Bud's concerned, it's all the work of very precise coyotes and foxes -- no matter what police say, here or anywhere else. And, in recent years, cases have ranged far and wide, from Sacramento to Denver to Oregon to Florida.Dallas PD heartily disagrees. Which I mention this morning only because over the weekend, an elderly neighbor of mine in Northwest Dallas found two cat legs tossed in her front yard. The Metroplex Animal Coalition got involved, Ann Margolin was notified, and officers from the Northwest Patrol Division responded this morning by collecting the pieces and taking them to the Dallas Animal Services animal-cruelty folks for a further look-see, shades of the citywide cat killings of August '09. Writes Sgt. Louis Felini, now in the NW, he assured the woman who found the cat parts that "we would do everything to find out who is responsible."According to the police report from this weekend, "the cat legs were not mangled and appeared to have been cut by unknown cutting type instrument." DPD spokesman Senior Corporal Kevin Janse says as far as the officers are concerned for now, "a cutting instrument was definitely used. ... It's obvious when it's cut that precise. There's no way an animal can cut the legs off that cleanly."He says no arrests have ever been made in the cases of cat mutilations, but only because "the dark of night is when they're doing it, and there's rarely any witnesses or evidence tying them to it." I also asked him about the theory floating 'round the neighborhood that this is some kind of back-to-school gang ritual: "Back in the day, we asked our gang unit if they'd ever heard of that, and they said there's never been any confirmation of that."