Crime Time

Man killed in Decatur shootout had stuff to make bombs

Bomb making materials were found in the car of the man who was killed in a shootout Thursday with authorities in Decatur.

A search warrant released Tuesday described the materials.

Evan Spencer Ebel (shown here) is suspected of wounding Montague County Sheriff's Deputy James Boyd, who had stopped Ebel for a traffic issue.  

A chase ensued into Wise County, where Ebel died in a shoot out with police.

Deanna Boyd has our first report on the bomb components. Go here to read what she has so far.

Also, see this report by Kirk Mitchell of The Denver Post to get caught up on how Ebel is suspected in the execution-style murder a week ago of a Colorado prisons official.

The page also includes links to other stories on Ebel’s background, including his membership to a white supremacist prison gang, the 211 Crew.

 -- Bill Miller

Authorities trying to learn if white supremacist from Colorado shot deputy in Montague County

Colorado investigators believe the man who led police on a high-speed chase and shootout Thursday, wounding a deputy in Montague County, is a known white supremacist and suspect in the shooting deaths of a Colorado prisons chief and a Denver pizza delivery driver.

The Denver Post reported that federal and state authorities, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the man as 28-year-old Evan Spencer Ebel.

Texas law enforcement authorities, however, on Thursday were awaiting confirmation on the man’s identity.

Meanwhile, Deputy James Boyd was in serious condition Thursday night at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Read more in this report by Bill Hanna, Alex Branch and Bill Miller.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/03/21/4719913/man-shoots-deputy-in-bowie-flees.html#storylink=cpy

Body found in an Arlington creek believed to be man who fled from Fort Worth police

A body found Saturday in creek in west Arlington is believed to be a man who had been sought by Fort Worth police in the area on Jan. 24, a police spokesman Wednesday.

Gary Patron, 26, was identified by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office, said Sgt. Christopher Cook, Arlington police spokesman.

A person called police at about 12:40 p.m. Saturday to report that the body was spotted in the creek near the intersection of Findlay and Westwood drives in far west Arlington, Cook said. The area is near Bob Findlay Linear Park.

Patron, Cook said, "is believed to have been a man being pursued by Fort Worth police officers in that area a couple of weeks ago."

Cook explained that on Jan. 24, Fort Worth police contacted officers in Arlington at about 11:40 a.m., seeking help in a vehicle pursuit that extended into west Arlington.

According to Fort Worth police records, a motorcycle officer had clocked a 2013 Dodge going 82 mph in a 60 mph in the 6200 block of Interstate 30, just east of the intersection with East Loop 820.

"At that point," the officer wrote in his report, "I believed the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Patron, to be possibly intoxicated and was in immediate danger to the surrounding public."

The pursuit continued into west Arlington. The area where the chase began is nearly seven miles west of where the body was found Saturday.

At some point, Patron got out of the car and "fled on foot in the area," Cook said.

Two Fort Worth women traveling with Patron, ages 24 and 25, were arrested; one for possession of a controlled substance, and the other for public intoxication, according to the Fort Worth police report.

But, after about an hour, Arlington police couldn’t find the man, so they called off the search, Cook said.

"It is believed this suspect jumped into the creek in an attempt to escape and possibly drowned," Cook said.

Cook said there were "no apparent signs of trauma to the body," but Arlington police would continue working with Fort Worth officers on the case.

-- Bill Miller

Crazy night in Fort Worth: Quake felt on south side; burglary suspect pulled from river

Wednesday night was busy for Fort Worth police, to say the least.

Shortly after 8 p.m., dispatchers were "deluged" with reports of a powerful rumbling in southwest Fort Worth, said Capt. Kevin Rodricks, police spokesman.

Turns out it was an earthquake centered two miles east of Burleson, but it was widely felt all the way into Cowtown.

About an hour later, officers responded to a burglary alarm at 1400 E. First Street.

Four suspects fled in a car, which was ditched about three miles farther east near the intersection of Interstate 30 and Beach Street. The four people tried to run, but police set up a perimeter at a wooded area along the Trinity River.

"At least one, possibly two, got into the water to get away from the officers," Rodricks said. Scanner traffic indicated a lot of officers were involved.

UPDATE

Here's a report on the incident filed by FWPD early this morning:

"Officers responded to a warehouse burglary alarm and disrupted a burglary in progress. Four men had apparently cut the chain securing the front gate and were encountered inside as they were about to ram one of the vehicles into the building in order to gain entry. They noticed responding patrol units and fled in a van. A patrol supervisor then observed them as they were speeding off with their lights out. A short vehicle pursuit ensued, ending in East Division with the suspects bailing out and running across the freeway. All four suspects were apprehended with the assistance of East Division units. One of the suspects swam across the river before getting picked up south of the freeway near Brentwood Stair Road."

And here's the rest of our original report from late last night:

Officers called for MedStar and the Fire Department to ensure the soggy suspect didn’t succumb to the frigid water.

"There’s always a concern for hypothermia," Rodricks said. "So, they were appropriately cared for."

And then they went to jail.

-- Bill Miller

Read more here: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/crime_time/#storylink=cpy

 

 

-- Bill Miller

Updated: Injured Arlington motorcycle officer is back home recovering

A 44-year-old Tarrant County man was in custody late Wednesday afternoon after a chase in which an Arlington motorcycle officer was injured.

Officer Jason Heisel, an eight-year veteran, suffered a foot injury and was treated at Medical Center Arlington. He was released Wednesday night and is at home recovering today, according to a Facebook post by Arlington police.

Tarrant County Jail records show that the suspect faces charges of delivery or manufacture of a controlled substance, evading arrest and aggravated assault on a public servant.

The man, whose last known address was in Fort Worth, has a record of multiple felony drug convictions and was wanted for questioning in an ongoing investigation, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Terry Grisham said in a news release.

Arlington police said the chase began at about 4:15 p.m. after an officer saw the suspect commit a traffic violation in the 6000 block of West Pioneer Parkway. The suspect, who was driving a red SUV, led officers on a chase for several blocks that went into a residential area of Dalworthington Gardens.

On Estates Drive, a cul-de-sac, the suspect made a U-turn and headed for Heisel, who took evasive action and went down, police said.

The suspect turned onto Sieber Drive, another cul-de-sac, drove through a fence and fled, but officers soon had him in custody, police said.

-- Bill Miller and Patrick M. Walker

Man kills motorcyclist while fleeing cops in west Fort Worth, police say

A man on a motorcyle was killed around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when another man, fleeing from police, crashed a pickup truck into the back of the motorcycle near Ridgemar Mall in west Fort Worth, police said.

Debris still littered the intersection three hours later as officers continued to investigate the collision.

The pickup truck was about to be towed away with much of the motorcyle embedded in the truck’s engine compartment, said Fort Worth Police Lt. F.V. Gilbert.

Read more here.

-- Bill Miller

Washington state police chase ends in jail's parking lot

A high speed chase in Longview, Washington took an unexpected turn when the driver who eluded officers at speeds of more than 100 mph pulled into the parking lot of a local jail and smoked a cigarette before he surrendered.

TV news station KPTV reports that Craig Loven, 27, was spotted running a red light and swerving into oncoming traffic by an off-duty cop.

The officer followed Loven where he reportedly saw Loven driving over 100 mph, recklessly passing other cars on the shoulder and the median and running a stop sign.

An on-duty police officer joined in chasing Loven as he went through several more red lights and stop signs, occasionally driving in the oncoming lanes of traffic before he finally drove right into the parking lot of the Cowlitz County Jail, parked his car and got out.

Police said he then began to smoke a cigarette and surrendered without resisting arrest.

Loven, who was driving with a suspended license, had a previous charge of DUI. Now he faces another DUI charge as well as felony charges for eluding police.

-Chance Welch

Police: drunk New York man drove motorcycle more than 130 mph

A 20-year-old New York man is facing drunken driving charges after police say he reached speeds of more than 130 miles per hour while trying to evade police in western New York.

The Associated Press reports that Greg Smith was driving on Route 63 in Oakfield Thursday morning when a Genessee County Sheriff's deputy tried to stop him.

Police said Smith didn't stop until he sped through Oakfield, Batavia and then back into Oakfield where he crashed into another vehicle at an intersection.

But even then, Smith didn't stop. Smith ran away from the scene on foot and was found in a cornfield where he was finally arrested.

Smith faces charges of DWI, reckless driving, speeding and other traffic violations.

-Chance Welch

Deputy: Arkansas legislator chased at 100 mph, but not ticketed

An Arkansas state senator got nothing but a tongue-lashing from a deputy sheriff on Monday after leading the deputy on a chase that the officer said topped 100 mph, 4029TV.com reported.

Why just a scolding, you ask?

Well, the deputy thought the state constitution exempted state lawmakers from arrest, even though a 2003 AG's opinion said they can be ticketed and arrested for criminal offenses.

The senator, Bruce Holland, of Greenwood, said he didn't know the deputy was chasing him and that he had no idea how fast he was going, but said it wasn't 100 mph,  4029TV.com reported.

-- Lance Murray

Dallas police release video of beating; 1 officer fired, 3 face charges

Dallas police have fired one officer and are seeking criminal charges against three others in the videotaped beating of a motorcyclist on Sept. 5.

The department released the dashcam video from the patrol car that was pursuing the motorcyclist and it shows several officers beating a motorcycle driver at the end of a chase, KDFW/Channel 4 reported.

You can see the dashcam video with KDFW's report here.

-- Lance Murray