Chilling smiles

What does it say about a person when, once they are accused of cold-blooded murder, they mug for their mug?

SAN ANTONIO -- Nearly 12 hours after a man was found beaten to death, San Antonio police named a suspect in the slaying.

An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Gabriel Reyes Castillo, 33.

Castillo is accused of killing a man in his 30s at an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Clara Lane on the city's Northwest Side at around 6 a.m. during a confrontation, police said. Police said the victim was assaulted with a shovel and had blunt force trauma and lacerations on his body.

(from KSAT-12)

SAN ANTONIO -- Police arrested a man suspected of murdering another man on the Northeast Side last month.

The suspect, 26-year-old Troy King had a smile on his face as he was led out of the police department Wednesday night. King is accused of killing 22-year-old Troy Skidmore.

Police say King and another man, Leroy Peterson, chased Skidmore through the Spring Hill Apartments in the 4800 block of Raybon and then pulled out a gun and shot him several times.

(from WOAI-TV)


I hope this smiling thing doesn't become a trend.

"SAPD Helicopter Lands On Highway 281"

Not something you see every day.

SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio Police Department helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing Thursday night on Highway 281 at Nakoma.

...

Traffic on Highway 281 was backed up for miles.

(from KSAT-12)

Just saying no

Not everyone might agree with the way this clerk handled the situation (and it's fortunate that the robber was something of the non-committal sort), but I think it's amusing that he simply said, "No," and that was quite enough.

[SAPD Sergeant Daniel] Alonzo said the store clerk told officers a man walked in, pointed a gun at him and demanded cash. But the gunman ended up leaving the store empty-handed.

"Basically, the clerk just stood his ground and said he didn't have any money to give him," Alonzo said. "The suspect really wasn't too threatening with the weapon. He just asked him for the money twice, and turned around and walked out."

Alonzo said witnesses reported seeing the robber casually walking down a nearby street. The clerk told police he thought he recognized the man as a customer who lives in the area.

(from KSAT-12)

Two more things:

1. That robber is lucky the clerk didn't have a gun of his own, or that he had one and decided not to use it.

2. What dimwit thinks it's a good idea to rob a store where he's a regular customer?

Missing the obvious

Am I wrong, or is someone missing something here?

SAN ANTONIO - An update to an emotional story we've been tracking here at News 4 WOAI. A South Texas man lost his truck, trailer and best friend while shopping at The Rim. But now Chris Cooley and his dog JB are now back together for Christmas. True to his word, the finder was rewarded with a $10,000 dollar check. Still no sign of the stolen truck or trailer.

(from WOAI-TV)

I'll give you a sign ---- look in the garage of that guy you just gave ten grand to.

Oh, and by the way, this story has been getting a lot of media play that is sympathetic to the guy who got his dog stolen because it was in his truck when it got stolen while he was inside a store doing some shopping. During the summer, the same media bombards us with messages about how bad it is that animals get left in vehicles while the owners go shopping, so why the hell aren't they taking this guy to task for doing the same thing during the holidays? I understand the juiciness of a story where a guy is offering $10K as a reward for a pet, but how about just a little bit of consistency, please.

Merry Christmas

Someone who should have gripped a little more

There's a reason cartoon burglars are depicted with sacks on their backs. It makes it easier to carry their ill-gotten loot.

Really, it does.

Officers say the two suspects pried open the back door of a Burlington Coat Factory store on Southwest Military early Wednesday morning.
Then, in their haste to get away, they dropped several items. All officers had to do was follow a trail of stolen backpacks and clothing to a nearby apartment where both men were arrested.

(from KENS-5)

Couldn't they have at least put the clothing in the backpacks?

Refining your Christmas plant search

By the way, if your nine-year-old son asks you what the difference is between holly and mistletoe, and you are looking up images of these plants on Bing to show him (and you don't have the filter set to Strict), make sure you type in "holly berries and leaves", not just "holly".

It avoids a lot of questions.

Headline of the day

There's all kinds of strange with this headline.

"Dog blamed for fire on Gomer Pyle Street"

Everyone seems to be OK, though. Even the dog.

Someone who should drink a little less

Here's a thought: If you're going to engage in some criminal activity, perhaps you shouldn't drink and burgle. Or burgle, then drink.

SAN ANTONIO -- It appears a burglary suspect's fingers did the talking, helping San Antonio police to identify him as the person who broke into a west side home in September.

The arrest warrant affidavit showed police found fingerprints on a liquor bottle in the home, in the 400 block of S. Sabinas Street, which they traced back to Jesse Moreno, 43.

Moreno was arrested Thursday on a charge of burglary.

The homeowner reported the break-in, telling investigators that no one actually lived there, the affidavit said.

However, the homeowner said there were several items still in the residence that belonged to his now-dead parents.

(from KSAT-12)

Like, apparently, the wet bar.

Moderating comments

I've had to turn the comment moderation on. I don't like to, but I've been getting a lot of spam comments lately. Please bear with me.

How not to sketch a suspect

Here is the description of the man who robbed a couple of students at gunpoint on the campus of San Antonio College:

The robber is described as a black male in his late teens or early 20’s. He has black hair/short dreadlocks and brown eyes and is 5’09” to 5’10” tall and weighs about 160 - 200 lbs. The man was wearing a black baseball cap, black jacket, blue jeans, black t-shirt, and a gold-colored necklace with a gold-colored headphones pendant.

(from WOAI-TV)

And here's the sketch of the suspect as released by the Alamo Colleges Police Department:





Whiskey.

Tango.

Foxtrot.

Dude doesn't have a lick of hair on his head, much less dreadlocks. Who sketched this? An art student that ran out of time?

Some guys who should have thought a little more

Like, didn't you think that the stuff you were stealing would be hard to hide?

SAN ANTONIO -- Three CPS Energy employees have been fired after being found with what could be stolen utility poles.

The investigation into the case started when a concerned citizen followed a speeding CPS Energy truck to a rural East Bexar County road.

Thomas Robles said he was suspicious of the truck's driver.

"They ended up going into this road behind me where they went to the back and I just gave them a little time and went back and checked and that's where they were unloading the poles like they were in a hurry," said Robles.

Robles took photographs and said wooden utility poles were being used as fence posts on the property.

...

Robles said he saw about 10 new poles on the truck and suspected that the wire being used in the fencing is from CPS Energy as well.

(from KSAT-12)

And didn't you think your neighbor would notice your fence -- your nice, new, sturdy fence -- and wonder where you got your materials so cheap? And so different from any other kind of fence material?

Gettin' western right at home

If you can't party with your own family, who can you party with?

Police said several people were at a party at this home in the 300 block of Mount Vernon Court. The party began Saturday night and lasted throughout the night into the morning, but shortly after noon on Sunday, two brothers, 26 and 25, at the party, began arguing.

According to police, the argument spilled into the street and that's when the older man shot his younger brother several times in the stomach[.]

"Some of the witnesses decided, you know what, enough is enough, we're leaving, we're getting out of here. Next thing you know, they turn their head because they hear shots being fired," said Sgt. Steven Trujillo with the San Antonio Police Dept.

(from KSAT-12)

As of this writing, the shooter is on the loose, and the shootee is recovering from surgery.

And, by the way, what a party! They were still going strong after noon the next day!


UPDATE: Oh damn, what the hell is up with this brother thing?

SAN ANTONIO - Around 3 am Sunday morning a pair of brothers got into fight, sending the oldest to the hospital. According to police, a family argument got out of hand on the Southeast Side. That's when one of the men allegedly pulled a knife on his older brother and stabbed him several times in the stomach. After that he took off. The brother that was stabbed was taken to the hospital for his injuries.

(from WOAI-TV)

That's one shooting and one stabbing carried out by siblings against each other in the same time period. Hey people, here's a thought -- Let's stop partying with family! At least for a little while. M'kay?

Bull!

A bull tried to make a run for it on the South Side, but he didn't get far.

SAN ANTONIO -- A bull escaped from the L&H Meat Packing Company Friday afternoon. It sent people on a chase for nearly an hour, and ended up on the campus of the Blessed Sacrament Academy a little over a mile away.

Witnesses say the bull followed a lady walking her dog in the area. Students from a high school campus and a child development center were outside at the time. They were told to stay indoors until the bull was caught.

(from WOAI-TV)

But the lady and her dog? Eh, they're on their own.

Car crashes into church

And it got a fence, too.

Police said Isidro Palomo's Chevy Blazer smashed through a wall of Huisache Baptist Church just before 7 a.m. Thursday after he jumped out of the moving vehicle.

Palomo told police he was driving along Interstate 10 near Woodlawn Avenue when his accelerator suddenly hit the floor and became stuck. He said it sent the vehicle barreling down the highway at speeds of up to 90 mph.

"He tried to put it in neutral and use his emergency brake to slow his vehicle down and it kept on accelerating, so he exited the highway," said Officer Art Knox, with the San Antonio Police Department.

Knox said the vehicle hit a curb and Paloma jumped out, suffering a few minor cuts and bruises on his knees.

Meanwhile, the SUV kept rolling, first through a chain-link fence, then through the church wall.

(from KSAT-12)



Bonus strangeness: The pastor's reaction.

"It just goes to show you that God will use extreme measures to get somebody to church. If you won't go, He'll take you," said Bez Cummings, the church pastor, jokingly.

Well, technically it was the SUV that went. Apparently Mr. Palomo thought he didn't need no churchin', because he jumped out before he got there.

Not getting the point of your tactic

I've always thought that the point of a hunger strike was to shame entities or people into action by threatening to die on their doorstep in plain view of the broader society unless they carried out a specific course of action. And I also thought that, to be effective, one had to actually be willing to risk death for the cause.

In San Antonio, that's apparently not the case. Here, you strike until you get really, really hungry, and then you simply let someone else take over.

A Dream Act supporter is a free woman after sitting behind bars for a week.

Reverend Lorenza Smith was released from jail a short time ago. She was the lone protester who decided to not bond out right away in order to make a point. Smith says she has no regrets! [Nice editorial use of the exclamation point. No bias there, nosirree. --ed.]

...

Reverend Smith, along with 14 other UTSA Dream Act supporters were arrested last week for trespassing at the office of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Hutchison does not support the legislation that would pave the way to citizenship for undocumented students - also known as the Dream Act.

...

[Smith] stopped her 12-day fast Monday after medical issues [such as impending death, maybe? --ed.] necessitated its end. Now two other church leaders will take on her fast.

(from KENS-5)

By doing this the strikers are showing that they are not willing to face any real risk to their health in the prosecution of this strike. They may be dedicated to seeing the Dream Act get passed, but they don't seem to be fully committed to the hunger tactic. In fact, to gain the upper hand, the powers-that-be need to just wait them out. The protesters may get others to fast for them in succession, and they may get more media coverage, but there doesn't seem to be any real danger to their health. Therefore, no real urgency.

At least, that's the impression I get. Your mileage may vary.

Dissin' the tortilla

Tortillas replaced by pitas? In San Antonio?

Surely you jest.

Watch your back, tortillas — you have some serious competition in the form of flatbread.

Known the world over in many forms — naan, foccacia, saj, pita, chapatti — flatbreads or unleavened breads are staples in Middle Eastern, Italian and Indian cuisines.

(from the Express-News)

All of those breads are nice, and there may be quite a few places in town that feature these delectable delights, but posing "serious competition" to tortillas? Really? Tortillas are king in this town, and they always will be.

I'm going to make a bold prediction here: Never will you ever see a co-worker come into your office or workplace carrying a bag of tacos made with beans and cheese and foccacia. And, if you do see this, something is wrong with your co-worker. Stay away from him. And don't accept his carne guisada on naan either.

Leading the police on a chase.

There was some excitement all the way out to Boerne this morning.

When police arrived at a home in the 11000 block of Whisper Willow they found the suspect armed with a gun. Police say the suspect then set the house on fire and made a getaway on his motorcycle.

SAPD followed in patrol cars along with Boerne police and Kendall County Sheriff's deputies.

Authorities say during the chase the gunman turned towards police several times and pointed his weapon towards them but it wasn't until the suspect jumped off his bike that they reacted.

"He jumped off his motorcycle and was running along the bike." SAPD Police Chief William McManus said.

(from KENS-5)

The cops took him out when he pointed his gun at them.

The guy also threatened his family with a sword. And the chase was a low-speed chase, though it isn't clear from this story if that low speed lasted all the way out to Boerne.

Picking the wrong illustration

I don't want to be the one to tell KSAT how to run its website, but I think that image is supposed to go with the story two slots above.



(from KSAT-12)

I could be wrong, though. I've never actually been to a Hanukkah celebration.