Crime Time

Suspect in fatal DWI wreck is former high school, college football star

The man accused of driving drunk and killing a Burleson man in a two-car wreck near Fort Worth Spinks Airport is apparently a former football standout at Weatherford High School and the University of Arkansas.

Mark Pierce (right) was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer late Monday when he struck a red minivan head-on in far south Fort Worth, then eluded police for about an hour after fleeing on foot, according to Lt. Paul Henderson, a police spokesman.

 The high-school star went on the University of Arkansas where he was a standout on the team's offense, but left for the NFL where he wasn't picked up in the 2004 draft.

Pierce is being held on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and is apparently at John Peter Smith Hospital.

Read a 2006 profile of Pierce in The Vicksburg Post here and a column about his problems with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks here.

See the full report about the Monday wreck and Pierce's apparent involvement here.

-- Andrew Chavez; photos from Star-Telegram archives

Police: Christmas Eve killer planned to kill mother, ex's divorce attorney

The California man who killed nine at a Christmas Eve party also planned to kill his mother and his wife's divorce attorney, according to police.

Lt. Pat Buchanan told the Los Angeles Times that Bruce Pardo was angry with his mother because he thought she sided with Pardo's ex-wife in a bitter divorce -- the one the targeted attorney helped negotiate.

Pardo killed nine when he entered the home of his ex-wife's parents dressed in a Santa suit and opened fire, eventually burning the home down with a homemade incendiary device.

He then fled and killed himself at his brother's home after accidentally burning himself.

Read the Times' full report here.

-- Andrew Chavez

Dad faces murder charge after letting kids walk 10 miles in snow

Authorities in Idaho have charged a 55-year-old father with second-degree murder and felony injury to a child after they said he let his two children out in the snow so that they could walk 10 miles to their mother's house.

The 11-year-old daughter died, probably from hypothermia, and the brother was treated and released from a hospital for symptoms of hypothermia.

The children were allowed to walk after their father's truck became stuck in the snow and he stayed behind along with another adult to free the vehicle.

-- Lance Murray

Thief nabs $2,000 in size XS thongs from Victoria's Secret

There's a lingerie crime wave under way in the Naples, Fla., area.

Yes, lacy larceny.

This past weekend, someone made off with 250 pairs of pink, size XS thongs from a Victoria's Secret store there. The scimpy undies were valued at just under $2,000.

It's the sixth major theft at the store since February. In May, for example, employees believe a man made off with 45 bras valued at nearly $2,000. Let's hope he didn't wear them out.

What to do? Perhaps an undercover operation. How about a "wire" in the underwire?

-- Lance Murray

Man faces murder charges in baseball beatings of boys

On Dec. 23 in Phoenix, Ariz., two little boys were brutally beaten in a city park by a man wielding a baseball bat.

They died Friday from their injuries.

Police say they've charged a man with murder in their deaths. Police say that Joe Sauceda Gallegos apparently followed the 10- and 7-year-old cousins to the park before beating them.

-- Lance Murray

Fomer Utah state trooper still suspected in shootings

Dallas police on Monday were still waiting for ballistic tests in the shooting death last week of Kentucky truck driver.

But police also held a press conference to say they were still confident that the killer was a former Utah state trooper who later fatally wounded himself.

The trucker, William Miller, 42, was fatally shot Dec. 22 in Dallas. Another man, Jorge Lopez, 20, of Rowlett was killed in Garland.

A report by NBC 5 stated that sources in the Dallas Police Department said they couldn't get an exact match from bullets fired from Smith's gun, a Glock.

Dallas police, however, held the press conference Monday to let the public know that they still believed Brian Smith, the former trooper, (left) was still suspected in Miller's death, said Sgt. Gil Cerda, police spokesman.

Police added that the tests were not yet complete, but there was other evidence.

"Based upon the extensive investigation conducted up to this point, all of our evidence points to Mr. Smith as the shooter," said Lt. Andy Harvey, another police spokesman.

Smith, 37, the former Utah state trooper, died Dec. 24 at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas after shooting himself in a standoff with Garland Police. 

Police believe Smith started the Dec. 22 crime spree by stealing a purse from a car in Southlake.

They also believe that he later robbed a Garland pharmacy before going on a rush-hour shooting spree in Garland and Dallas.

Shots were fired at one car and three 18-wheelers, killing Miller and Lopez, police said.

Smith had moved to Keller after resigning earlier this year from the Utah Highway Patrol. A professional standards report showed that he had been abusing alcohol and prescription drugs after an on-duty traffic accident.

-- Bill Miller

Texas is deadliest state for police officers on duty

Here's a distinction no state wants, but Texas has it.

Fourteen police officers have died in the line of duty in 2008 -- the most of any state, The Associated Press reported.

The good news, however, is that overall, fewer cops died this year compared with 2007. This reflects "better training and tactics," according to two law enforcement support groups, The AP reported.

The findings reversed the trend for 2007, when there was a spike in police deaths,

Officer deaths nationwide this year totaled 140, compared with 181 in 2007, according to the two groups.

For example, shooting deaths dropped to 41 officers, compared with 68 in 2007. The 2008 number represented the lowest total since 1956, when there were 35, and was far below the peak of 156 officers killed by gunfire in 1973.

Meanwhile, however, 71 officers were killed this year in traffic accidents, making 2008 the 11th consecutive year in which more officers were killed in traffic incidents than from any other cause.

Still, the 71 traffic deaths were down from 83 in 2007.

Read more here.

-- Bill Miller

Robber puts pistol to man's face, but it jams when he pulls trigger

Leoncio Martinez is lucky to be alive after a mugger stuck a gun to his head and pulled the trigger on the Upper East Side of New York City.

The gun jammed.

"Definitely, he was trying to kill me. I was freaking out," Martinez, 64, a retired air-conditioner installer, told the New York Post.

Police are looking for the mugger who put a black pistol to the back of Martinez's head after sneaking up on him.

Martinez took $70 out of his pocket to give the man, but saw his face.

"That's when he pulled the trigger right there in my face," said Martinez. "I was very scared."

15-year-old girl charged with 2 murders, dismemberment

Police in New York City have arrested a 15-year-old girl and charged her with two killings, including one in which a man was dismembered and his body found in a plastic bag.

The girl, Sharell Butler, was charged as an adult with murder in the deaths of a 24-year-old on Dec. 19 and a 22-year-old man on Dec. 21.

-- Lance Murray

Officers find ghost-hunting teens at FW middle school

Police responding to a prowler call at west side middle school ended up finding Fort Worth's junior Ghost Busters.

The officers surrounded the school after school security reported teens lurking in the building.

When a K9 officer entered, he spooked the teens and they emerged with backpacks filled with bedding, and explained they were looking for ghosts.

That didn't get them out of a trip to the juvenile detention center, though. They were booked on suspicion of criminal trespassing.

Here's the story.

-- Andrew Chavez