"Exotic dancers arrested during raid at strip clubs"

Really?

SAN ANTONIO – Eight exotic dancers and four managers are under arrest after a raid at a couple of local strip clubs. Investigators say workers at those businesses were breaking the law by performing without any clothing.

One woman tried hiding her face from News 4 WOAI’s camera as police led her to a patrol car. Detectives say that dancer is under arrest now for what she wasn’t hiding from her customers.

“We came in to do our inspection and found some girls dancing in an all-nude state,” said San Antonio Police VICE squad Lieutenant Andy Rodriguez.

Full- and semi-nudity is illegal at strip clubs in San Antonio.

(from WOAI-TV)

It is?

Semi-nudity is illegal in our great town? Don't we all -- all of us -- walk around in a state of semi-nudity at all times every day? I mean, unless you dress yourself in a burqa, some part of your body is not covered by clothing, so you are in a state of semi-nudity. It's just a matter as to what extent. And what about Splashtown? Swimming pools? Halloween? Do we really want our police to be arresting all women in skimpy clothing across the Alamo City?

Of course, you know what the solution to this problem would be. Have all the strip clubs change their designations to art houses, and then the ladies can dance naked all they want, call it performance art, and have the protection of the First Amendment.

Bringing grenades to the police

Apparently the police don't want you to do that. They'd rather you called the bomb squad rather than bringing a live grenade to their substation, even if you do want to just turn it in.

The bomb squad was called to a San Antonio police substation Wednesday morning, and officials say the Good Samaritan who carried them thought he was doing the right thing by handing over some explosives to the police department.

But police say that was exactly the wrong thing to do.

Police say the man came to the Prue police substation with two training grenades and one active grenade. The man allegedly found the three grenades at home and did not want his kids to mess with them. The man told police the grenades belonged to his grandfather and that they were in his home for about ten years before he found them.

He did not know what to do with them, he told officers, so he brought them to police and told them they were in his truck. But police say the man should have left the grenades where he found them and called for help instead.

(from KENS-5)

BUT! The really strange part is that the police officers at the Prue substation seem to feel like they need that connection to the farm, to the regular people, to the times when life was simpler.

Look at this still shot from the video of the story.




Do you see what's back there, behind the officer, behind the box, behind the fence erected to keep them in?

That's right.

Chickens! At the police station.



¡Puro San Antonio!

Silhouetting your interests

Some people like to put silhouettes of naked ladies on their trucks. You know, to show their interests, I guess.

And then some people like to add to those silhouettes.




Who knows? Maybe she's a cowgirl, and she rides a horse.




Or maybe she's a cow-- uh, horsegirl. And she rides a cow. I guess.



Giddy up.

Oh, Sheriff's Department, you are SO gonna get it!

(from KSAT-12)

"Rug ‘rip off’ rankles restaurant"

If you want to steal something, apparently it sometimes works when you just walk right up to it in front of everybody and calmly take it.

Really.

SAN ANTONIO – A thief walks into a restaurant and takes a rug worth $5,000 right off the wall.

It happened at the Cool Cafe downtown. The thief was caught on surveillance tape walking in and pulling the Persian rug off the wall. On his way out, the suspect could be seen stuffing the pilfered rug into a plastic bag.

The theft took place at around 8:20 Sunday night while the restaurant was open. Initially, the staff didn't notice the rug's disappearance. It wasn't until later, while viewing the video, they realized what had occurred.

Crystal Galvan, manager, says, “Our employees were actually here rolling silverware when it happened and he just came in through the back entrance and took off with it.”

(from WOAI-TV)

The back entrance? Really? You have a restaurant downtown and you leave the back entrance wide open so any old schmo can wander in, and nobody notices? Well, you know what happens when you do that. Your decor gets ripped right off the walls.

By the way, nice alliteration in the headline. Those writers live for stuff like that.

Car crashes into house

It's actually a truck, and this time the vehicle was running away from another accident that it had caused when it decided to take out a house as well.

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio police said one man could face charges of driving under the influence of prescription drugs following a hit and run accident that ended with the man hitting a house Saturday morning.

Police said it happened about 10:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of Wrangler Street on the city's west side.

Police said the man rear-ended a woman at a stop sign, then went around her.

Officers said the woman started to follow the man.

Investigators said that's when he ran a stop sign, lost control and hit the house.

(from KSAT-12)

You know, it's funny, from the story you would think it was the man himself that hit the woman and then the house. But we all know it was really that thoughtless vehicle. KSAT even has a picture to prove it:

Merry Christmas, San Antonio

Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful holiday.

Stealing the baby Jesus

Somebody really wants coal in their stocking this year.

Three baby Jesus figures have disappeared from nativity scenes in Floresville. Floresville police believe the same person, or group of people, are behind all the crimes.

Homeowner Roy Madero told KENS 5 he's had his nativity scene for the past 15 years and there had never been any problems until now. He also says replacing the stolen piece will be difficult.

"They're hard to find and it's very frustrating because we go through all the efforts to decorate our homes, and then somebody comes by and walks off with it," Madero said.

(from KENS-5)

Watch out. Scrooges are on the loose southeast of here.


UPDATE: The Jesus thief returned them, after stealing a bunch more.

The missing baby Jesus mystery in Floresville came to a holy end on Christmas Day.

On Wednesday, 11 baby Jesus dolls were stolen from residents' front yards. Seems as though the crook had a sudden change of heart, because Friday afternoon, the dolls were found on the front lawn of the First United Lutheran Church.

Crazy.

Daring the police

When committing a string of smash-and-grab robberies, how often do the criminals operate in a recognizable pattern?

SAN ANTONIO -- The ATM Trio hit again overnight. This time, the three men smashed a white SUV into a Walgreens on the North side; [sic] taking the money machine in minutes.

This is the third time the group of thieves has used a [sic] SUV to ram into a business and take the ATM. In fact, News 4 WOAI has discovered they steal the same type of vehicle, same color, just minutes before they commit their crimes.

...

It's believed the bad guys prefer using Jeeps as their get away vehicle because they have enough force to break through a security wall, door or window. Also, thieves can easily load things into the back and take off quickly. Police say it's the same trick they've used in at least two other burglaries.

(from WOAI-TV)

It's almost as if they're daring the police to catch on.

If you drive a white Jeep, be careful. It looks like a prime vehicle to steal these days.

Don't be sorry

Dave at Silver Creek 78250 found a rather meek restaurateur on Old Highway 90.

Seymour Perkins's house -- demolished

Remember Seymour Perkins, who died in February 2009 while still fighting to keep what was left of his house?

That house has now been destroyed.

SAN ANTONIO -- It took two years to bring down one house on South Hackberry. It was known hangout for prostitutes and drug addicts as well as a worry for parents of children who go to school just steps away.

The homeowner, a man who called himself Reverend Seymour Perkins, served time for drug possession. He was a folk artist who passed away earlier this year.

On Monday, his son and the family moved forward after a judge's decision to demolish the building.

Roland Perkins "I’m glad it's done, but I don't like the way [the city] did it."

(from WOAI-TV)

Is Perkins's story finally over? Is this the conclusion of the final chapter, and now we have nothing but the memory of a good read?

Or will it never really end?

You decide.

... and party every day!

I see one small thing wrong with this.

Celebrating the winter solstice South Texas Style, some San Antonio musicians were rocking out with a "Solar Jam."

"We just need some sunshine, some instruments and some inspiration," said Matthew Ahern with Echotown, a group made of people and businesses trying to go green.

A little bit of sunshine goes long way for Ahern and his musical instruments that use the sun's rays to harness energy using solar panels.

"It’s the shortest day of the year, so it's proof that even on the shortest days we’ve got the power we need," Ahern said.

(from KSAT-12)

Most gigs are at night.

Stealing from the least of these

White collar crime? No, this is a bit more heinous than that.

Thursday, Keith Allen Roberts was sentenced to probation after he was forced to pay back all of the money. He pleaded no contest last month, after the Trouble Shooters discovered he used almost $50,000 from the special education fund at the San Antonio Independent School District to buy himself flat-screen televisions, DVDs, and computer equipment.

Roberts was the accountant in charge of buying things for special education classrooms at S.A.I.S.D.

(from WOAI-TV)

He probably stole candy from babies, too. Even when he was a baby.

"Mission Flea Market Worker Killed"

Apparently the flea market business is pretty competitive. And dangerous. Especially if the vendors need to be going home rather than to work.

SAN ANTONIO -- A flea market worker was killed in a suspected drunken driving incident Wednesday morning at Mission Open Air Flea Market.

Police said the worker was crossing a pathway near the parking lot of the flea market in the 700 block of Moursund Road at 6 a.m. when a 44-year-old man speeding in an F-150 pickup hit the victim. The incident happened at a time when vendors rush in to pick prime locations.

The victim, believed to be in his 60s, was pinned underneath the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The driver, who is a vendor at the flea market, told officers that he had been drinking alcohol prior to the incident, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

It's a whole other world at the flea market.

Stealing from the taxman

Are you tired of paying all those taxes to the government? I suppose you could take it back with a Jeep and some careful driving. Of course, that would be illegal. And you'd probably be taking some of your fellow citizens' money, too.

SAN ANTONIO -- A smash-and-grab burglary forced the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector's satellite office on the city's Northeast Side to close Tuesday.

According to Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Sylvia Romo, surveillance video showed three men drive a white Jeep pickup into the office in the 3300 block of Nacogdoches Road at 12:45 a.m.

Once inside, the men drove to the other end of the office, unhooked an ATM and loaded it into the back of the truck and drove away.

Romo said the crime seemed to be well-planned, with the burglars employing the same strategy used during a burglary at the satellite office on Southwest Military Drive on Nov. 11.

(from KSAT-12)

The only problem with that strategy is that there are only so many tax offices in the county that you can hit before exhausting the supply.

OK, there's a lot more problems than that.

Gettin' western on the West Side

Want some tamales? Be careful where you go. Sometimes fights break out.

SAN ANTONIO – A Sunday morning stop for some tamales went horribly wrong when a woman was assaulted in a parking lot. It happened during the Sunday morning rush at Barbacoa and Tamales To Go, in the 1400 block of West Southcross on the city’s south side.

Police tell News 4 WOAI Theresa Pena’s car was blocked in by another driver. They say she asked the driver of the vehicle to move, at which point a female got out of the car, walked up to her window and began punching her in the face. A police report says Pena tried to get out of her car to defend herself when a man who was with that woman threw a bottle at her head.

(from WOAI-TV)

And the really weird part? The story says the aggressive couple was in their fifties. Somewhere, a kid in college is reading this story and thinking, Mom? Dad?

Taggin' your own place

If you are having trouble making ends meet, does it really make sense to tag your own home?

Really?

SAN ANTONIO -- A struggling homeowner got creative when she was faced with foreclosure.

"It says, Help! Foreclosure!," reads Mary Ann Herrera. "I painted it with three cans of spray paint."

Herrera got desperate after losing her administrative assistant job in March. When bills piled up, she fell into mortgage problems, and was a step away from losing her home.

"I didn't know if we were going to be homeless," she says.

Despite her painted plea, it took nearly eight months to get her loans modified.

(from WOAI-TV)




It's a sad situation, but people still need to remember that their actions affect others as well. Besides making her own house unattractive, this woman is also affecting her neighbors' home values, whatever they may be. And her efforts didn't seem to pay off.

I wish her the best, but I still can't abide graffiti.

Gettin' Tombstone on the Northeast side

See what happens when you steal a car at the O.K. Corral?

It happened at an apartment complex in the 6700 block of Montgomery Drive in northeast Bexar County.

Deputies said the shooting and fight started over a stolen vehicle. Deputies said there was an exchange of gunfire between two groups of people.

When paramedics got to the location, they found two people with non life-threatening gunshot wounds. Paramedics also found a woman who had been run over by her own car after someone stole it and drove away.

Investigators said three others may have also been shot and then driven to the hospital before deputies got there.

(from KSAT-12)

Christmas lasers

Pink Floyd I understand. But Christmas? Is it right to celebrate the holiday with a laser-light show?

SAN ANTONIO -- Students are getting into the holiday spirit with a Christmas laser light show.

The show is put on by the Urban-15 group.

The group is holding several more student concerts. But if you and your family would like to see a show, Urban-15 is holding several performances through Saturday, December 11th [sic].

To find out more about the show or how to get tickets, CLICK HERE.

(from WOAI-TV)

That's this weekend. Hurry!

"Dozens of dogs seized from woman's home"

Here's another case of animal hoarding.

According to police, 33 dogs were found at the home in the 100 block of Elgin Avenue on the East Side. Many of them were caged or tied down, living in a foot of animal waste and newspaper.

Neighbors say the 43-year-old homeowner was known for feeding and housing homeless dogs she found on the streets.

(from WOAI-TV)

Wow. Thirty-three dogs. Living in waste twelve inches deep. That's a problem.

Car crashes into house

This time in happened in the 800 block of Westwood Street.

The driver lost control and plowed through the kitchen area of a house after hitting another house and taking out a fence. It is believed the driver was intoxicated.

Thankfully, nobody was injured.

(from WOAI-TV)

Two houses. And a fence. That dude must have been flying.

Simians in S.A.

First it's Bigfoot, now it's something else.

Following news reports about a woman who told police she had seen the elusive Sasquatch near Loop 1604 and Texas 151 Monday night, workers at JD's Paint and Body Shop on Wednesday released a murky video that shows what appears to be a hairy animal the workers say has been foraging around their trash bin for several weeks now.

Fidel Amaton, who is a technician at the body shop, was the first to see the animal early last month as he was throwing trash into the bin behind the shop. Amaton said it was early in the morning and he still was rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he was startled by what appeared to be a monkey that jumped out of the bin.

He said that unlike the 6-foot-tall “Bigfoot” sighted near Loop 1604, this animal was about 3 feet tall. It bared its teeth and let out a high-pitched hiss before it scaled the fence to the neighboring business.

(from the Express-News) (Yes, there's video, but it's not very good.)

Looks like the Alamo City is getting a bit more ape-friendly.

And for those of you who might suspect the animal is a baboon from Southwest Research, they swear they're not missing any.

But he did wonder if the animal could have escaped from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, which keeps baboons on hand and is located just north of the shop at Loop 410 and Texas 151.

The two immediately called the foundation. Adrian Duarte, the shop's manager, said that a few hours later, two individuals showed up to inspect the prints. He said the men told them they resembled a baboon's print.

Foundation officials said Wednesday they don't know what it is but they do know it's not theirs.

I bet it's somebody's pet monkey that escaped or was turned loose because they couldn't care for the animal any more. Or I guess it could be a baby Bigfoot.

What do you think?

Being Van Gogh

Not your usual piece of evidence.

SAN ANTONIO -- When a 32-year-old woman was sexually assaulted near Our Lady of the Lake University on March 29 2008, she managed to bite off her attacker’s right earlobe.

Through DNA technology using the earlobe, authorities were able to link 31-year-old Daniel Martinez to the rape.

During his trial Tuesday, prosecutors played Martinez’ police department interview for the jury. It was recorded on January 13 when Martinez was arrested after the DNA match was made. Throughout the interview Martinez repeatedly insisted he could not remember the attack.

(from KSAT-12)

Good presence of mind to hang on to that earlobe. I'm glad the victim was able to keep her wits about her even while being assaulted.

Bigfoot?

Or chupacabra?

You decide.

SAN ANTONIO -- Experts are now investigating reported sightings of a large, hairy, 'Bigfoot-type' creature on the West Side.

Police said the 'Bigfoot-type' creature was spotted in the area around Highway 151 and Loop 1604. A caller told police a large, tall, hairy creature dragged a deer carcass into the woods. Officers searched the area, but said they did not find anything.

"If one sighting is real, then that means something is out there," said Rick Tullos, who is a member of the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization.

(from WOAI-TV)

Oh, sorry. It's not a "Bigfoot." It's just a "Bigfoot-type" creature. Move along, now.

How exackly will it be enforced?

Found on South St. Mary's Street.

Oddest place for a PSA

If you are the police department, and you want to get a public service announcement out that's seasonal and topical, you might want to rethink just repeating it mindlessly in every news story involving the police.

SAN ANTONIO -- Glass littered the residential streets of the Cherry Hills and Eastwood Village neighborhoods near Martin Luther King Jr. Park Sunday.

"Kids just don't have anything to do when they're off, I don't know," said Earl Gibson, a victim of the vandalism.

Police said the vandals are believed to be young people, possibly teenagers. Officers said they shot out the windows of a couple dozen cars and trucks on several different streets.

...

Police said the vandals did not steal anything but rather shot out the windows just to be destructive. Officers also reminded people never to leave valuables in sight to prevent vehicle burglaries, especially during this time of your [sic] when you're shopping. [emphasis added]

(from KSAT-12)

Oh yeah, and don't do drugs.

Seriously, the effectiveness of PSAs just goes out the window if you spout them at inapt times. Moderation, please, even in messages to the public.

Stealing from the Church

Well, this is an odd thing to steal: plants from a historic mission.

It was a shocking end to the Thanksgiving holiday at Mission Espada, where police say sometime Thursday night, thieves made off with more than $1,000 worth of stolen property, all which consisted of different kinds of pots and plants.

"It just put a damper on our Christmas... to think that someone would come and steal from the church or from anyone but especially the church," said neighbor Ollie Christman. [ellipsis in original]

(from KENS-5)

Bonus strangeness: A Catholic mission's neighbor named "Christman."

Car crashes into garage

For your Friday after Thanksgiving, let's hope you spent it putting up Christmas decorations instead of caution tape.

Fire and police personnel were called out to the address in the 2600 block of Crow Valley around 6 p.m. for a report of a vehicle hitting a house.

Rescuers say the woman driving apparently had a medical issue just before she hit the home’s garage. Reportedly she did not live at the address.

A bystander was also hit by the vehicle.

(from WOAI-TV)

They didn't say if the bystander also reportedly did not live at the address.

"Trashy yard"

Bad day to be a neighbor on the Northwest Side of town.

Keith Menefee would like to sell his northwest side home but he says his neighbor is making that impossible. For the past 18 months Menefee's neighbor, Robert Blankenship has turned his own yard into a salvage yard. Blankenship has been "scraping." Not the kind you put in a book. The kind where you gather scrap metals, sort them then take the valuable scrap to a recycler. Blankenship's yard is littered with old bar-b-que pits, swing sets, shelving almost anything of any scrap value.

Menefee began complaining to Code Compliance in April of 2008. Since then the city has gone to municipal court and district court , and won cases ordering Blankenship to clean up. Despite the court orders, the mess continues. So this past Monday Blankenship's attorneys and San Antonio attorneys met and reached a settlement.

(from KENS-5)

Bonus strangeness: KENS-5 without Chris Marrou.

More than one way ...

Bad day to be a cat on the North Side of town.

The cat's body was found in a yard near San Pedro and McCarty on the North Side. Witnesses said the cat had been skinned and its head was cut off.

Neighbors told News 4 WOAI it is not the first time something like this has happened. It's actually the 4th time this year, and police are investigating.

(from WOAI-TV)

Perhaps they should be looking for "El cazador trofeo de los gatos."

"Teacher Charged With Indecent Exposure"

A special education teacher, at that.

SAN ANTONIO -- A 54-year-old Southwest Independent School District special education teacher was arrested after he exposed himself to an undercover police officer, San Antonio police said.

After an officer spotted Lewin Bramwell acting suspiciously at Olmos Park on Tuesday afternoon, an undercover officer was dispatched to the park, said Officer Matthew Porter, a spokesman with the San Antonio Police Department.

Moments after the undercover officer initiated a conversation with Bramwell, the suspect exposed himself to the officer, Porter said.

(from KSAT-12)

What compels these guys to do this, even though they know it is a "mistake," as the suspect admitted in the article? Is it the thrill of possibly getting caught? Because, if it is, that just doesn't square with the actual penalties that will be paid if they do get caught. Jail and a lifetime of registering as a sex offender don't seem like acceptable risks to me.

Fessing up to the cops

When you're crazy enough to shoot at a cop, I don't think it will make things better to just say you're sorry. But, then again, I could be wrong.

Police were called to the 3000 block of Woodsage shortly after 12:00 a.m. for a shooting which allegedly involved a drug debt between gang members. Around 5:00 a.m., police received information that the 25-year-old suspect was at a home in the 200 block of McNarney. After knocking on the door of the home, the officers walked towards the back yard and spotted the man running out the back door of the home. Police said the man opened fire on Officer Gregory Severns, hitting him once in the back.

Although Officer Severns was wearing a body armor vest, the bullet missed the vest and struck him in the upper back. Severns was able to return fire but did not hit the suspect, who then took off on foot. Police captured the suspect a short time later in the 200 block of Doolittle and found a gun nearby.

Officer Severns, who is a 24-year veteran at the San Antonio Police Department, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect was arrested and will be charged with Attempted Capital Murder [I have no idea why this is capitalized. --ed.]. He spoke to News 4 WOAI's Kristina De Leon as officers placed him into a patrol car and apologized on camera.

(from WOAI-TV)

I bet that makes any defense lawyer cringe.

Posing as the cops

You might think twice about opening the door for anybody in the middle of the night.

SAN ANTONIO -- Two armed men dressed as police officers forced their way into a home and robbed a family of their belongings.

The police impersonators knocked on the door of a home in the 5100 block of Bluff Street at 12:30 a.m. and asked the homeowner if he would come outside to identify a woman they had in custody, police said.

When the homeowner opened the door, the men forced their way inside the home and forced the homeowner, his wife and their 13-year-old son to lie face-down on the floor.

The men ransacked the home for about 40 minutes and got away with electronics. No arrests have been made.

(from KSAT-12)

This is why Rey Feo was arrested -- and rightly so -- for impersonating an officer when someone flipped him the bird on the highway. People who pose as cops when they are not are usually criminals, and they are a danger to everyone who depends on the police to keep the peace.

Stealing near the cops

Brave thief.

SAN ANTONIO -- A crook was caught on camera committing a crime just feet away from police headquarters.

The man broke into the Cadillac Bar on South Flores and stole 3 plasma televisions and some liquor.

Security cameras did capture images of the man in the act but didn't get a clear shot of his face.

(from WOAI-TV)

"Family Returns Home With Wrong Cat"

Oops.

SAN ANTONIO -- When Jaison Shae arrived home with his two cats after having them spayed and neutered at the Animal Defense League he noticed the cat he brought home wasn't his.

“She was running all over the house knocking pictures over she broke my toaster oven she knocked it off the counter," said Shae.

The female feline was accidentally switched at the Defense League. Don Specht, the Director of Operations, admits the mistake. "It was a mistake on our part," Specht said. "One of the attendants accidentally grabbed the wrong one and put it in the wrong cage."

(from KSAT-12)

Bonus strangeness: the name Jason spelled as "Jaison."

Wear your chaps ...

... love your "eveines."

Dave at Silver Creek 78250 has the pictures.

Pantsless home invader

This guy must have been on drugs. Because the thought of broken glass anywhere near my lower half would convince me to keep my pants on.

SAN ANTONIO – A man accused of stripping off his pants and breaking into a family’s Northeast Side home is under police watch at a local hospital.

A family at Covina Plaza Apartments says the man broke through their glass window and tried snatching a 7-month-old baby who was resting in an area a few steps away from the window.

“He was saying that the baby was somebody else’s baby,” the child’s aunt Babi Loredo told News 4 WOAI.

Loredo’s brother quickly tackled the man and tried restraining him until police showed up, but said it was tough. Family members said the intruder reacted in a wild manner, breaking everything in sight.

It took more than a dozen police officers to hold the man down and take him into custody.

(from WOAI-TV)

Hooker stabs driving man

Picking up hookers can be dangerous. Because sometimes they get mad if you don't pay them first. And they don't care if you're driving.

SAN ANTONIO -- A prostitute stabbed a man who refused to pay for her services up front, police said.

The woman stabbed the man three times in the upper chest, police said. He was taken to University Hospital in an undetermined condition.

During the stabbing, the man in his 50s lost control of his pickup truck and crashed into a fence and a parked vehicle at the intersection of Santiago and South Hamilton on the city's West Side.

(from KSAT-12)

OK, if a woman threatens to hurt you if you don't pay for her hooker services up front, isn't that just plain robbery? Or would the sex be a reward for making the right decision?

I'm genuinely curious.

Ugly king acting ugly

Remember, an honorary anything is not actually the real thing. That's an especially good thing to keep in mind if you position yourself as an upstanding citizen in the community.

LIVE OAK, Texas -- Charlie Garza, who represented Fiesta royalty in 2009 as El Rey Feo, has been charged with impersonating a police officer, Live Oak Police Chief Ron Echols said Tuesday.

The charges stem from a traffic altercation with a woman Friday.

The woman, who didn't want to be identified, said that she flashed her lights at a Cadillac Escalade that was traveling slow in the fast lane on Loop 1604. When the driver refused to move to the slower lane, the woman said that she passed the SUV in the other lane and flipped the driver the finger.

"I probably shouldn't have done it, but it's not against the law," the woman said in an interview with KSAT 12 News.

The woman said the driver then pulled up alongside her, showed a badge and motioned for her to pull over.

...

Echols said that Garza showed the woman an honorary Bexar County deputy constable certificate, which "holds no authority and it is explained to the people they have no police powers," said W.R. Tomlin, an assistant chief with the constable's office.

(from KSAT-12)

For those readers unfamiliar with the program, El Rey Feo means "The Ugly King" in Spanish. The Rey Feo Scholarship program is a non-profit that raises money for kids going to college, and the fundraiser that gathers the most dough gets to be crowned El Rey Feo, which is a position of royalty at San Antonio's annual Fiesta celebrations.

El Rey Feo is an honorary kingship. It, also, is not real.

"More Than 5,000 Rape Kits Untested By SAPD"

This doesn't sound right.

SAN ANTONIO -- Sitting in the San Antonio police department's evidence storage room are nearly 11,000 rape kits. Almost half have never been tested.

While a number of those cases involve known assailants, an alarmingly high number involve unknown suspects.

"We were not aware that there were stranger cases that hadn't been tested," said Rape Crisis Center CEO Lynn Blanco.

Following a recent meeting with police chief William McManus, that policy is changing.

(from KSAT-12)

I'll bet that policy is changing. I know media outlets can distort the picture and show you what they want you to see, but 5,191 rape kits sounds like a lot to be sitting around without ever having been analyzed. And I'm sure the police chief will scramble to get them done just to save face.

The bad news? Each analysis costs about $450 to get done, so we're looking at over $2.3 million of taxpayer money to get those rape kits tested. That's a big unexpected expense at a time when the City of San Antonio is facing budget difficulties.

Fake racially-motivated crime

Remember the supposed hate crime where a woman's mobile home was torched after she found paper crosses burning on her front lawn? I thought it sounded suspicious. And apparently it is, but it's not on the part of a disgruntled neighbor, as I had suspected; it's hanky-panky on the part of the one reporting the crime.

According to Lindel Faulkner, someone set crosses in the shape of a swastika on fire in the yard of her southeast Bexar County home.

On Monday, Bexar County officials said Faulkner was arrested for arson in connection with the fire. Faulkner was charged after the fire extensively damaged her trailer on Hildebrandt.

Shortly after the fire, Faulkner told News 4 WOAI her bi-racial family was threatened when she moved into the 9000 block of Hildebrandt Road this May.

Arson investigators say her story was "inconsistent" with the evidence they gathered at the scene. Additionally, witnesses told officials that just before Faulkner's mobile home burned, she left the friends she was staying with. When she returned, she reportedly told them not to go to her trailer home.

Also, fire officials say Faulkner had another trailer home which burned in February of this year.

(from WOAI-TV)

If this woman is pretending to be victimized by imaginary racists, then she's the real threat to race relations, not anyone who happens to disagree with our president.

No ID, despite an ID

I'm sure there's a reason for this explanation, but only the investigators know right now.

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio police are investigating the discovery of some human remains in a field on the northwest side.

Police said the remains were found around 6 p.m. Friday in Welles Park by some kids who were walking nearby.

Police said a skull, leg bone and some vertebrae were found along with some clothing and an Iowa driver's license.

Investigators said no identification has been made on the remains and they don't know how long they had been there. [emphases added]

(from KSAT-12)

Am I off base? Are the investigators just being cautious and not jumping to conclusions, in case the Iowa license actually belongs to a different person? Or are they being obtuse? I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt and assume they are just being careful, even if they strongly suspect that the remains indeed are the person on the license, and I'm thinking they don't want to share too much information or make too many definitive statements with the media reporting their every word. What do you think?

Oh, and if this was the fantasy world of CSI: San Antonio, do you think they would have solved the case by now?

UPDATE: The police have released an identification: Richard Ashbacher.

"Staircase collapses at apartment complex"

Yikes.

SAN ANTONIO – Behind some plywood barriers and caution tape, Churchill Park tenants will point you to a big problem at Building 13. They’ll show you a few dangling railings and the mangled mess left behind after a 3-level staircase collapsed.

Neighbors say two tenants were walking on the staircase this week when they heard a loud band. They say the impact threw one man against the wall. Now he’s having back problems.

(from WOAI-TV)

Wow. At the very least, you would expect a staircase to hold you up. Wouldn't you?

Racially-motivated crime?

Or lame harassment? You decide.

The Bexar County fire marshal's office is investigating a suspicious fire that destroyed a South Bexar County mobile home early Thursday morning, hours after three paper crosses were set on fire in the front yard.

So far, officials are investigating the mobile home fire and the cross-burning incidents separately, according to Ino Badillo, spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Badillo wouldn't say whether the incident is being considered a hate crime, or religiously or racially motivated.

...

Neighbors reacted skeptically to the claim that the fire was racially motivated. Local residents said the area was typically calm.

“We don't have a problem with racial stuff around here,” said Vickie Shultz, a neighbor. “Everybody out here gets along. This is a quiet place.”

(from the Express-News)

Paper crosses? That's what leads me to believe that someone has it in for the owner of the burned mobile home (personally, not racially) and is trying to make people think it's racially-motivated. After all, if you live in a quiet neighborhood and can get your neighbors to think it was some bad, if inept, Klansman that did the deed, then they're not going to suspect you. Are they?

A Strange one passes away

Don Strange, that is.

He was known for innovations in the culinary industry, for catering one-of-a-kind parties for the rich and famous, for his love of South Texas and Northern Mexico cuisine and for old-fashioned barbecue — for 10 or maybe 10,000.

But Don Strange, the trailblazing Texas caterer whose family business began in a small store on the city's Northwest Side, was most known as a nice guy with a generous spirit as well as an architect of imaginative events, from black-tie to down-home.

He died suddenly Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 69.

Strange, who had recently launched a new online venture, was most associated with his Don Strange Ranch outside Boerne. Don Strange of Texas Inc., with more than 50 full-time employees, many of whom had worked for the company for decades, catered events for presidents and princes; corporate America and couples newly married; even Hollywood types and leaders of the sports world.

And he fed them everything from caviar to cabrito.

(from the Express-News)

R.I.P., Strange.

Playing for the homeless

Have you ever heard of the band Junes Not Faking? They're a local group, and they're doing something pretty cool downtown.

Every other month, the band Junes Not Faking (JNF) has been playing a free concert to homeless people under the Commerce Street Bridge in downtown San Antonio.

The idea is to give something back to the community, said Jeff Lopez, lead guitarist, singer and manager for the group.

“We started to play the free concerts after the start of the New Year,” Lopez said. “I got the idea after watching an interview with one of the band members from one of my favorite bands, Blink 182.”

Lopez also credits Blink 182 as one of the musical inspirations for the band. JNF does more than just provide an afternoon of free entertainment to who ever shows up at the concert.

“Before we go to do the gig, we put whatever cash we have together and make a bunch of sandwiches and get as much soda and bottled water as we can,” said Lopez. “All we're trying to do is give a little something back.”

(from the Southside Reporter)

Rock the Bridge.

Absolutely nothing going on today

What's the attraction of local news casts? Local news, right? Surely something is going on in this town to warrant some kind of news story, even on a Sunday. Isn't there?

Not according to WOAI-TV. Here's a screen cap taken at about 3:45 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, 2009:



And here are the datelines for the stories listed above (I've skipped the sports scores and movie reviews):

"Complete Doppler radar coverage" -- San Antonio (This is the only local story)

"Doctors look for better ways to uncover heart attacks" -- Philadelphia

"5-foot snake missing after wreck" -- Troup, Texas

"Cockroaches wanted for good cause" -- West Palm Beach, Florida

"Jack Ruby's hat sells for $53,775 at Texas auction" -- Dallas

"Dad busts teen daughter for growing pot in her bedroom" -- Troy, Michigan

"Officer accused of spanking hanky-panky" -- Ocoee, Florida

"Microchipping pets only works if owner's info is accurate" -- San Jose, California


Yep, nothing newsworthy going on in this town on a Sunday. Check back tomorrow. Maybe something will be happening then.

Everywhere a sign

Dave at Silver Creek 78250 has some examples of signs that are puro San Antonio. One is refreshing in what you hope is its honesty, and the other is disappointing on its surface because the maker seems to think there are just so many people out there that would believe him. Sadly, some would believe that sign, but I hope not at many as the signmaker thinks.

Caring for a killer

That psycho jihadist is in town, and he's receiving the best care the Army can provide.

SAN ANTONIO – Army officials say the accused shooter from Fort Hood is now at Brooke Army Medical Center.

He was transferred from the Scott and White Hospital in Temple on Friday. He arrived in San Antonio around 3:30 p.m.

A Brooke Army hospital spokesperson says Maj. Nidal Hasan is in stable condition. Hasan was taken to BAMC because it's the only Level 1 trauma center in the Army, according to officials.

(from WOAI-TV)

All on the taxpayer dime.

Nice shot

Is shopping in heels strange? Maybe so, maybe not. Whatever the case, I sure like this shot that Shorty over at San Antonio Daily Photo took in her local grocery store.

Gettin' Hatfields and McCoys on the Northeast Side

This sounds interesting.

"We believe that some violent confrontation is going to happen," said Rick Thomas, one of the neighbors involved in the feud.

"I don't know why he attacks me," added Jim Rudd, another neighbor involved in the feud.

Thomas and Rudd said that their neighbor, who KSAT 12 News is not identifying, flashes them with his truck headlights and a high-powered spotlight at night.

The unidentified neighbor has also carved the words "bite me" with his lawn mower onto his lawn, placed nails in the greenbelt and scattered beer and soda cans on his yard, Thomas and Rudd said.

"He has told me on several occasions that he was going to kill my service dogs," said Rudd, who claims to be a fully disabled veteran.

"The worst thing is he's been seen with the beer cans in his underwear, exposing himself," Thomas said.

(from KSAT-12)

Of course, we're not getting all sides in this story. If I remember to turn the TV on later, I might just watch this segment.

Unfortunate juxtaposition

When WOAI includes a "Watch" tag next to the headlines for its online news stories, that's a link that takes you to the video of that particular story.

I know that.

But still, when that tag is put next to a headline that contains language like that highlighted below, I can't help feeling a little creeped out.



I gave you a screen capture because I'm sure someone will notice that and correct it.

"Would-Be Craigslist Buyer Shot"

Be careful when meeting people to finalize a deal on Craigslist. Or at least be licensed.

Maymi Russell posted a listing to sell a camera on Craigslist, but he decided to do some research on Facebook on the potential buyer, Sammy Villa, before meeting him, said Sgt. Chris Benavides, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman.

When Russell arrived at behind an IHOP Monday afternoon to make the transaction, he saw a man who motioned Russell to finish the transaction, Benavides said.

Russell noticed something was wrong when two other men approached him. Moments later, they demanded the camera from him, Benavides said.

But Russell, who is licensed to carry a weapon, pulled out a gun and shot Villa, Benavides said. The two other men, John McFarland and Cameron McFarland, took off but were later arrested.

(from KSAT-12)

Bonus strangeness: the name "Maymi." But good on him for being aware of his surroundings. He kept himself from being a victim.

"Manu Undergoes Rabies Shots"

That's not something you hear said about one of your star basketball players just every day!

SAN ANTONIO -- Two days after swatting a bat that was flying around the AT&T Center during Saturday night's game against the Sacramento Kings, Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili confirmed that he is undergoing rabies shots as a precaution.

Ginobili showed up at the team's practice facility Monday afternoon with a bandage on his arm and acknowledged that he had started a round of rabies vaccinations. He underwent a series of five shots, and will have to undergo seven to 10 more shots over the next month.

"It was pretty funny at the time, but now it's not," Ginobili told reporters Monday.

(from KSAT-12)

Well, that's what you get for playing with bats.

Boo!

It's Halloween in San Antonio. Time for some scary stories.

Thankfully, the Express-News has a good roundup of goosebump-rendering stories that get told and retold in the Alamo City, including such classics as Midget Mansion, the Donkey Lady, La Llorona, the chicken-footed man in the dance hall (which I remember being called El Cameroncito, or something like that), and, of course, the thoroughly discredited yet widely believed tale of the ghost children at the railroad tracks.

Read and enjoy. And have a great Halloween!

Clumsy robber

Sometimes the bad guys make it so easy for the cops.

Police say Michael Kern, 18, was one of three men who attempted to rob a man at knifepoint Oct. 24 at an apartment complex in the 8700 block of Fredericksburg Road.

The victim said he was walking his dog when Kern and two others approached and repeatedly asked for the time, the affidavit says. One of the other men pulled a knife on the victim, who started running.

Investigators discovered Kern’s wallet on the ground next to a vehicle. The victim saw the photo and said, “That’s him,” identifying Kern.

(from the Express-News)

Chupacabra!

This time, it's near Houston! (Of course, there's passing mention of chupacabra sightings around here.)

SPRING, Texas—Paul Stuart drives down Gosling Road near Woodlands Parkway almost every day, but it’s not every day that he encounters a legendary beast. But Stuart says it happened, and it was so unbelievable that he immediately pulled out his video camera and began to record.

“When I rolled down the window and looked at it, it was very unusual,” he said. “Boys, that’s a chupacabra right there.”

...

But what makes Stuart’s story unique is that chupacabra sightings usually happen in Mexico or other parts of Texas—not here in the Houston area.

“This rare sighting certainly resembles what other people report as being a chupacabra,” said Stuart.

Keith Crenshaw, an urban biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, said there is no such thing as a chupacabra. After viewing Stuart’s video, he said he knew exactly what the unusual animal was.

“It’s a coyote. It’s a coyote. No doubt,” said Crenshaw.

Crenshaw said the coyote had a very serious case of mange, and proper authorities need to be alerted.

(from KENS-5)

And the chupacabra was quoted as saying: I'z in ur state, xpandin mah reech.

Lyin' about the chupacabra

Alan at Blogonomicon watches a History channel show about a wolf-like beast from Eighteenth Century France, and he's disgusted. He even turns the show off halfway through. But, the important thing is that there is a San Antonio connection in the show (and you knew there had to be one)! Unfortunately, though, the guy from the Alamo City is a bit of an embarrassment.

The two guys on this show were some alleged cryptozoologist from San Antonio and a police profiler from somewhere else.

My first complaint: their conversations were obviously scripted. Either that, or they both have the most monotonous and un-modulated voices I have ever heard.

But the big complaint, and the one which made me turn it off and give up before even the 30-minute mark, was a blatant lie.

The so-called crypto guy was trying to show the police guy that some odd creatures may be out there, so he used some search engine (not Google) to hunt down the Cuero "chupacabra." He gave the police guy a brief synopsis of the case, and then said something like, "scientists still have not been able to determine what it was."

False. False false false false false.

Alan's right. That was a coyote, possibly a coyote/wolf mix, that the woman in Cuero found and was trying to insist that it might be a chupacabra. But of course no amount of DNA tests are ever going to convince someone who wants to believe in chupacabras to consider another possibility. So, we get guys like that on the History channel shows.

By the way, whatever happened to the History channel? They used to have such cool shows about actual history. Nowadays we seem to keep getting weird stuff from those guys. Oh well, there's still the Military History channel.

The Crucible?

Modern-day cult, or modern-day witch hunt?

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Rosseau teaches middle school "science, keyboarding, and bible classes at a local Christian-based school. The affidavit states that a third teen reported she was asked by two other girls to join a 'secret society' call the "Order" which was based on the occult, magic, Freemasonry, and Christianity. The girl was told by the pair that to be a member of the society, she would have to be 'intimate' with the director, identified as Rosseau, in order to establish trust.

The girl said she met with Rosseau at the home of one of the other girls but refused to join the group. She was reportedly later told that Rosseau was receiving pressure from his superiors to have her submit to him.

Police were informed about the incidences after the girl got into an argument with classmates at school about revealing that Rosseau might be having sex with the two other girls. After police were told the girl had been in contact with Rosseau through computer chat room emails, police obtained permission from the girl's family to collect her home computer.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, both of the other two girls initially denied having sex with Rosseau as well as the existence of the 'Order' when questioned by police. However, one of the girls later told her parents and police that she had been engaged in a sexual relationship with Rosseau for 10 months. She said she too had been recruited into the 'Order' by a friend and was told she should demonstrate her trust and strict adherence to the society by having sex with Rosseau. She told police that the friend who had recruited her had been having sex with Rosseau since 2007.

(from WOAI-TV)

I'm not sure what to think.

Gettin' Pee-wee in Von Ormy

Von Ormy, Bexar County's newest little town (pop. 1,300), is apparently big enough to support an adult theater. And at least one constable is reported to be an enthusiastic fan.

The three men, 73-year-old Lee Roy Tondre, 54-year-old Jose Terrasas, and 47-year-old Donald Allison, were arrested at the Twin Theatre in the 12,000 block of Fischer Road in Von Ormy after undercover deputies reportedly found them masturbating inside one of the theaters.

According to deputies, Terrases is the Reserve Chief Deputy Constable Precinct #2.

(from WOAI-TV)

"Prized Angora Rabbits Killed"

Bad day to be a rabbit in San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO -- Lupita Rocha is bracing for what she has to tell her brother when Pedro Gonzalez returns from out of town on Sunday. Six of his 14 beloved Angora rabbits were stabbed to death, according to San Antonio Police. A seventh will survive, but because of its other injuries, Rocha said a veterinarian has told her it is now paralyzed.

Rocha also said she was told that rabbit’s terrified prize-winning mate died of a heart attack.

“Who, who would do this?” said Rocha outside her brother’s mobile home in the 7600 block of W. Military Drive. “I can’t believe there are people out there who would brutally murder, I mean, stab them.”

(from KSAT-12)

Oops. She let the mask slip a little bit there.

And how can one determine that a rabbit has died of a heart attack? I suppose a veterinarian could figure that out, but to what end, besides tugging on the heart strings of readers? It's a sad thing that somebody killed all the Rocha's rabbits, but let's not take the anthropomorphizing too far.

Oh, and would this be a bad time to mention how much I love rabbit stew?

A dedicated employee

Certainly an odd situation, and an even odder response to it.

One man fought more than traffic on his way to work Thursday.

He says he was driving his green Cadillac near Hwy. 90 and Military Dr. when someone started shooting at him.

Four bullets hit the car, and although shots grazed his head and chin, he kept right on driving to work.

The man says he didn't do anything to provoke the shooter.

Police don't have much to go on in the case. They do know that the accused gunman was driving a black Impala.

(from KENS-5)

He probably didn't have any sick time or vacation time left, so he had to go to work, bullet wounds or no bullet wounds.

Practicing religion

If you stop by your neighborhood bakery, and your baker displays a few hooves and animal skins, you might want to ask him if he can cure cancer. He might say yes. But I don't suggest you ask him to actually cure whatever disease afflicts you, at least not without consulting your doctor (regular, not witch) first.

WOAI reports on just such a man here in San Antonio.

We spotted several birds, a dog and turtle behind the West Side building. We also saw where animals had clearly been killed and left outside.

When News 4 WOAI asked Jesse Mercado, the owner of Celia’s Bakery, about what was going on, he explained “this is part of the religion, you need to eat the animals, you need to eat it."

Mercado says the religion is called Yoruba, and it's similar to voodoo. When we were out there, he demonstrated some of the rituals that are part of his religion.

He told us he’s “capable to cure anybody with cancer, any disease."

Mercado practices in the building next to the bakery. And inside that building a cat head.

However, Mercado says, "I don't have nothing to do with cat."

(from WOAI-TV; slideshow here)

Sure you don't have nothing to do with cat. Just the cat head. Makes for a good bakery decoration, I bet.

A thief who should have thought a little more

If you steal someone's trailer, and you find out there's a professional race car inside of it, you might want to consider that the car might be difficult to drive around in without drawing attention. So you might leave it behind. But, if you do decide to take the race car, and even if you think it would be a good idea to hide it so you can keep it, you might do well to stash it someplace away from where you grow all your pot.

Police say it started this weekend when they recovered a stolen trailer on W.W. White. Police contacted the owner, who is a professional race car driver. He asked if his racing car was still in the back of the trailer. It was not.

Police say through their investigation, they identified a person of interest. On Tuesday, the department flew its Eagle Helicopter to search for the car. It was located in the backyard of a house on Tucker.

The suspect had an outstanding warrant so he was immediately arrested. Police the suspect's mother also lives at the house, and gave consent to search. That's when detectives found an addition to the house in the back. Inside they said it was like a greenhouse for growing marijuana plants.

(from KENS-5)

Car crashes into house

No fences were hit in the attack, but a fire hydrant and a tree did not come out so well.

SAN ANTONIO - Police tell News 4 WOAI the driver of an SUV lost control and crashed into a home on Craig Street near downtown. The driver not only took out the porch, but a fire hydrant and a tree as well.

We're told he was arrested on an outstanding warrant, but will also face drunk driving charges for this crash.

(from WOAI-TV)

Switching Bushes

I know KSAT-12 is no longer displaying the graphic I saw that illustrated their teaser for the coming visit of former president Bush and current president Obama to Texas A&M University (their current story treats the event in past tense, of course). So, I grabbed a screen capture.



Come on. You would think anybody by now -- especially news people -- will have learned to distinguish between George H.W. Bush, the father, and George W. Bush, the son. After all, they really have no trouble telling the Clintons apart, do they?

Free hugs, revisited

Remember the free huggers? They came back.

SAN ANTONIO -- Students from a local hairstyling school handed out a special treat to visitors in Alamo Plaza on Wednesday ... free hugs.

“I think they are a little freaked out like, 'Why are people out there giving hugs?'" said Angelica Martinez of Paul Mitchell The School said.

Martinez said the reason for the hugs was to promote niceness in the world.

(from KSAT-12)

At least they are a little more realistic this time. In 2007, they were trying to achieve world peace. A bit of niceness is somewhat easier to attain.

Toilet Seat Museum, revisited

Remember the Toilet Seat Museum? Well, Barney Smith is still around, making his art. And now a travel website has rated his collection as the "wackiest" in the nation.

SAN ANTONIO -- The Alamo may attract millions of Arizona visitors each year, but a little museum in Alamo Heights ranks higher than both of them when it comes to off-the-wall attractions.

TripAdvisor.com, a popular online travel community, has just named Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum the Wackiest Attraction in America. The museum is located in Smith's garage.

(from KSAT-12. video here.)

Get ready for more tourists, San Antonio!

By the way, they're toilet lids, not seats.

As if that might make a difference.

Time traveling in San Antonio

The thought of kids dropping out of school makes for a sad story, but the argument must be made: If they have the power to travel into the future, then what do they need to be in school for anyway?

SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio and Edgewood school districts are teaming up to keep eighth-graders in school.

District officials said too many older middle school students are dropping out of high school and [are] then challenged with finding a decent-paying job.

(from KSAT-12)

"... too many older middle school students are dropping out of high school ..."

Well, they can't drop out of high school until they get there first. Right? So then they wouldn't be middle school students, would they? The only explanation is that they must be middle school students who have powers that allow them to travel into the future and be high school students simultaneously. Which would be a pretty awesome superpower to have (though not quite as cool as the ability to stick to walls or to use metal claws that extrude from your hands), and anyone with abilities like that should probably be given a pass on their grades. Shouldn't they?

In any case, those kids better get back into school. Or else the mayor is going to be knocking on their doors.

With names like "Kaos" and "Trix" ...

... you're almost destined for a life of crime.

Of course, if you don't want to get caught, you probably shouldn't try your tricksy ways on someone you know who is more than willing to not cooperate with you.

A pair of unusual nicknames backfired on two burglary suspects who allegedly invaded a southeast-side home over the weekend, police say.

According to an arrest warrant, the victim recognized the suspects who beat, stabbed and stole electronics [sic. Poor electronics.] from his southeast side home early Friday morning. He said he knew the pair as "Kaos" and "Trix."

The victim had one of the suspect's phone numbers on Caller ID, police say. The other intruder had done house work for his father.

San Antonio police were able to use the nicknames and the phone number to arrest the two men on Sunday. Ernest "Kaos" Alcoser and Thomas "Trix" DeLeon were booked into the Bexar County Detention Center on burglary charges.

...

An arrest warrant said the 25-year-old wanted a man in the 500 block of Kashmuir Place to buy a gun for him. According to the document, the victim refused. Police said two hours later, Alcoser and 27-year-old DeLeon broke into the victim's home. They reportedly attacked the man in his bed sometime after 2 a.m.

...

According to the warrant, due to the victim's familiarity with the suspects, tracking them down was not difficult.

(from KENS-5)

Sometimes they make it easy for the cops.

"77-Year-Old Woman Beaten at Senior Home"

By this imp?

Janice Maier was taken to University Hospital, where KSAT 12 News learned that was in poor condition after suffering from head trauma where the man allegedly kicked her several times.

Daniel Villareal, 22, is suspected of committing the beating.

Police said Villareal snuck into the Clare Bridge Homestyle Senior Living Facility through a back door early Saturday morning. According to police, he hid from security and then went into Maier’s room and began beating her.

...

Villareal was arrested Saturday morning. He told police he was looking for a “lady to choke” because he was mad at life.

(from KSAT-12)

Man. Talk about a Napoleon complex.

Looking for a cause of death

A woman has a car accident, and then she dies. And officials are not sure why.

It happened just before 8 a.m. Friday at Huebner Rd. and USAA Blvd. A witness said Alyson Hahnel tried to pass a Chevy Blazer on Huebner and apparently lost control of her vehicle. She veered right onto rain-slick USAA Blvd., careened from the center median, and into some trees.

About an hour later, she was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital.

SAPD Officer Richard Casillas noted “[t]here was no visible damage inside [the vehicle] to indicate that the driver … suffered any injuries form the impact into the tree.”

(from WOAI-TV)

Strange in San Antonio, so long ago

On San Antonio Remembers, this interesting item was listed on the October 8 entry:

1838
City Council issues decree requiring old soldiers of Santa Anna's disbanded army to either give proof of respectable occupation or leave the city.

OK, fine. You guys don't have to go home, now that we defeated your army. But you do have to get a good job and earn a decent living, dammit!

Smokin' up the joint

Are you mad at your probation officer? If so, you could do better than what this guy did.

San Antonio police are looking for a man who threw two smoke flares at a receptionist Thursday morning inside a downtown building that houses several Bexar County offices.

Employees in the three-story Heritage Plaza building in the 400 block of South Main Street were evacuated for about an hour after the 9:30 a.m. incident, said Arson Detective Jose Salame of the San Antonio Fire Department.

A receptionist for Elite Consulting, a service provider for Bexar County's adult probation department on the building's second floor, told authorities she heard the man pull the ignition strings on the smoke flares, but didn't see his face, according to county spokeswoman Laura Jesse.

...

Authorities believe the man who threw the flares is a client of the service provider.

Salame said the suspect wrote “zero tolerance” on one of the flares.

(from the Express-News)

No one was hurt in the attack, but apparently the place got quite smoky. And, of course, smoking in the workplace is really frowned upon these days.

"Bus stop fight sends two men to the hospital"

Let's say you're driving down the road. And then you see a guy you got into a fight with not too long ago, and this guy is just sitting at a bus stop minding his own business. Are you the kind of person who would actually pull over to fight him again?

Maybe you aren't, but there are some people like that out there.

The fight happened at a bus stop near the Shell gas station on Fair Avenue near IH-37 around 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Police say a man driving by saw someone he had fought with 6 months ago sitting at the bus stop. The man stopped, and the two got into a fight again. One of them pulled out a knife during the fight.

(from WOAI-TV)

Apparently they're both in the hospital over this. No immediate word on their conditions.

Someone who should reconsider his methods

After reading this story, I think maybe I just have a different idea of what it means to better yourself.

SAN ANTONIO – A man who said he was "sorry" and “…just trying to better himself” was arrested by police on Tuesday.

At 2:55 a.m., an alarm went off at the San Antonio Police and Fire Fund Building at 311 Roosevelt, just south of Downtown. Minutes later, Richard Thomas Alvarez was detained by officers investigating another nearby call.

Investigators say they found several items from the building on Alvarez. According to the police report, these included a laptop-computer bag, digital camera, and cell phone.

(from WOAI-TV)

Hm. Education. Hard work. Enlightenment. Consideration for your fellow man. How silly of me to think those things could make you a better person. Instead, it's stolen electronics.

Imagine that.

"Police find dead man's body at Cibolo home after alleged sexual assault"

Strange goings-on in the town of Cibolo:

Police found a dead body outside a Cibolo home after getting reports of a sexual assault at the residence, officials say.

Police responded to a house in the 3800 block of Green Valley around 2 a.m. They found the dead body of a white male lying next to a truck. There were no apparent signs of trauma on his body.

Officials say the woman who reported the assault ran from the home where the body was found and called police from a neighbor's house. Police say she also reported shots fired during her call.

SWAT was called in to clear the home, and they did find a man inside the house. But while officials say that man is not a suspect, police are questioning him.

(from KENS-5)

A call for sexual assault. Fleeing. Shots reported. A dead body. No signs of trauma. SWAT called. One man found and being questioned, but not a suspect.

I'm curious to see what comes of this.

Showin' off the paint

A man takes on the weather.

SAN ANTONIO -- Michael Robinson said he didn't think the turnaround at Badger Street and Cardiff Avenue was impassable because the water level wasn't over the guardrail. However, he was mistaken. Robinson's car stalled in high water Sunday afternoon after he attempted to drive through it.

(from KSAT-12)

Nor did he think his paint job was too garish for the streets.



Of course, I'm one to talk. I actually drove an orange car once. Once.

A criminal who should have thought a little more

If you have multiple arrest warrants out in your name, you might want to think twice before creating a Facebook page. And then you might think again before posting where you're going to be.

SAN ANTONIO -- Members of the San Antonio Police Department's Tactical Response Unit showed up at the Mink Ultra Club in the 900 block of Bitters Road Friday night and took 21-year-old Eric Daniel Dishong into custody.

Police said Dishong was wanted for three different outstanding arrest warrants for theft of a firearm, burglary of a vehicle and theft under $50.

...

Officers may have learned about Dishong's whereabouts Friday night through a posting he put on his Facebook page. The page mentioned an early birthday party he was having at the club.

(from KSAT-12)

"Kanye West and Lady Gaga tour canceled"

Darn.

Someone who should have thought a little more

If you're looking to score a few quick bucks, you could do worse than armed robbery of your own grandmother.

Ah, who am I kidding. You couldn't do worse. Robbing your grandma is about as low as you can go.

Brian Keith Grunewald has been accused of robbing his own grandmother with a shotgun, deputies say.

According to an arrest warrant, the 33-year-old used the weapon to force the elderly woman to write him a $350 check last week. But the check did not turn into cash as he anticipated. Instead, it landed him behind bars on an aggravated robbery charge.

The warrant said Grunewald wanted money from his 77-year-old grandmother. He reportedly urged her to write him a check. The arrest document said when she refused, her grandson became irate.

According to Bexar County Sheriff's deputies, he continued to demand the check. Investigators said he went to his bedroom in the home he shares with the victim in the 8200 block of Gardner and got a shotgun.

(from KENS-5)

And then he forced her to write a check. And then he tried to cash it. Ultimately, he wasn't successful, and he was eventually caught by sheriff's deputies, but he has forever alienated himself from family reunions and skeet shoots.

"Woman Arrested in Kidnapping Hoax"

If you try to fake your sister's abduction -- your twin sister -- make sure she's not asleep nearby first.

SAN ANTONIO -- A woman who claimed she witnessed the kidnapping of her twin sister was arrested by police early Wednesday.

Police said the woman told officers that she and her sister were standing outside a home in the 9100 block of Ranch Corner when a man in a pickup pulled up, forced her sister into the truck and took off with her.

Police took the woman's claim seriously and launched a search for the woman and the pickup.

But officers soon figured out that the woman's story wasn't adding up and found the sister asleep at home, police said.

(from KSAT-12)

"U.S. Flag Missing Stars"

Looks like someone has been living in the past. Specifically in late 1890 or early 1891.

SAN ANTONIO -- Built in the bicentennial year of 1976, the Olympic-sized Northside Independent School District Aquatics Center has helped train a gold medal winner.

Banners that celebrate the achievements of the Holmes Huskies and the John Jay Mustangs are hanging from the roof of the aquatics center next to the Texas and U.S. flags.

But one person noticed and complained that the U.S. flag was seven stars short of the normal 50 stars.

...

"Just a simple mistake, that's all," Jesse Castoreno of Allied Advertising [the maker of the flag] said about the missing stars.

(from KSAT-12)

Who knows? Maybe someone at Allied Advertising has something against Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii. After all, Abe Simpson refuses to recognize Missourah!

UPDATE: Looking at the KSAT video, it seems they had the flag displayed improperly, too.