Police: Pearland 11-year-old threatened to bring gun to school

SkyEye 13 HD was over the scene at Rogers Middle School in Pearland where police say an 11-year-old threatened to bring a gun to school.

  PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- A Pearland middle school student is facing charges for allegedly threatening to bring a gun to school.

Pearland police say on Wednesday evening, they received a report that a Rogers Middle School student had threatened to bring a gun to school Thursday. According to the person who made the report, the student made the threat because he had a 'bad day' on Wednesday.

Police interviewed other witnesses and then contacted the Brazoria County District Attorney's Office. Charges of 'Terroristic Threat' were filed against the suspect.

The 11-year-old was not allowed to attend school Thursday. He was detained by police and taken to the Brazoria County Juvenile Detention Facility in Angleton.
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Pearland - Don't Miss Out on This Houston Suburb

Reward offered in case of vandalism of Pearland ISD's The Rig football field

  PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- A reward is now being offered for information leading police to the persons responsible for damaging the football field at the 'The Rig' in Pearland.

On Monday evening, vandals hit tore up Pearland High School's field at the stadium near Pearland Parkway and South Main Street. A soccer coach arrived Tuesday morning and found the field turf cut in the middle of the field.

The dollar amount of the damage done is not known, Pearland police say, but could easily be in the thousands of dollars.

Police are investigating the vandalism. They will look at video from security cameras around the stadium.

A private citizen is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the subjects responsible.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Jernigan at 281-997-4144 or Brazoria County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-460-2222.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Rezoning proposal sparks concerns in Pearland

PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- A group of Pearland residents are worried about the future of their neighborhood.

A proposal is in the works that would rezone a residential area along Pearland Parkway to make way for a medical complex. But a lot of people who live nearby are not buying into the idea.

Many of those neighbors will be gathering here at Pearland City Hall over that controversial zoning plan. So far, city staff supports the hospital idea. But some homeowners we talked to are saying, not in my neighborhood.

Howard Carter says his home at the Lake of Highland Glen in Pearland has been his piece of paradise -- until now. Carter says he's concerned a proposed zoning change could soon move a medical complex to this lot behind his house on Brighton Brook Lane.

"We're worried about possibly reduction of property values," he said.

And Carter's not the only neighbor worried about University General Health System's request to change 31 acres here from residential to commercial zoning.

"I'm concerned about the noise and light pollution that may affect us," homeowner Louis Caltzontzint said.

The president of University General Health System tells Eyewitness News a zoning change would allow it to build a small hospital and an Alzheimer's center among other offices on 17 acres of usable land close to the water treatment plant.

"Biggest concern is just the back side of a hospital that we really don't want to see what goes on back there," homeowner Ben Kasper said.

University General Health System says it's been listening to neighbor's concerns. And so has city staff.

"Some of the noise concerns can be mitigated through additional adding of shrubbery, and the developer has agreed to move the property a further distance back away from the residential homes in that area," said Sparkle Anderson with the city of Pearland.

Still some neighbors unhappy with the hospital idea plan to present a petition to council members.

The council meeting begins at 7:30pm. The council will read that zoning request for the second time. And up to this point, a majority of its members support the zoning change.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Residents encouraged to bike to work today in Pearland

  PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- Pearland is encouraging residents to leave their cars in the garage and ride their bikes to work today.

The city has declared today 'Bike to Work Day' and plans to make it an annual tradition.

Some city employees will observe the day by riding their bikes from the Recreation Center on Bailey Road to City Hall this morning.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Crosby teenager, his mom accused of enticing Pearland child through Facebook

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Facebook flirtation leads to the arrest of a Crosby woman who helped her son meet a 13-year-old Pearland girl and take the girl away.

We hear about kids who meet strangers online and the bad things that can happen. Well one 13-year-ld Pearland girl knows first hand how scary things can get when your online friends meet you face to face.

"I was really scared," the girl said.

It's been a rough week for this 13-year-old Pearland girl, and it all started with a Facebook friendship with a 16-year-old boy.

"He was playing around with me, saying he was going to kidnap me, but I didn't think he was really going to do it," the girl said.

But within a few weeks, the flirtation turned into a face-to-face meeting when the 16-year-old boy arrived at the girl's school with his mother in tow.

"So I decided to go with him, and when I was there, they were treating me good and everything but I did not know what was happening," she said.

Pearland police say on Tuesday, 37-year-old Dorothy Montenegro and her son took the girl from Pearland to their home in Crosby 40 miles away. After a few hours, the girl says things went bad when her cell phone started receiving text messages from her worried parents.

"He like broke my phone kind of and stole it from me," the girl said.

Back in Pearland, the girl's parents filed a missing persons report then hit the Internet and tracked down Montenegro's address. They say that's when the cops headed to Crosby.

"We were in the back seat and his mom was in the front seat driving and the cops came up to the car and told us to get out of the car and they took me away from them," the girl said.

While she is home now, the 13-year-old says no one should follow her example.

"I would tell them not to meet guys on Facebook and to be careful who they meet," the girl said.

Good advice, according to Katherine Cabaniss with Houston's Crime Stoppers, who adds parents need to pay close attention to a child's online friendships.

"You would never think about sending your 13-year-old to the mall and saying invite anyone into our house and welcome them into our living room. You would never think about that, but when you allow a child to talk to someone on the Internet unsupervised, it is just like inviting a stranger into your living room," Cabaniss said.

The 16-year-old boy and his mom were both charged with misdemeanor counts of enticing a child.

We worked on this story with The Pearland Journal, a Houston Community Newspapers partner. You can read more about this case in The Pearland Journal.

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Pearland school lockdown lifted after stranger seen in bathroom

Carleston Elementary School was on lockdown Wednesday morning after a student saw a strange man near a school bathroom

  PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- A lockdown has been lifted at a Pearland elementary school after a student saw a strange man inside a school bathroom.

The lockdown lasted for nearly an hour and a half at Carleston Elementary School on Harkey. Pearland police say a fourth grader said they saw an unknown man inside a school bathroom at around 10:40am and immediately reported the incident to school officials.

Police arrived on the scene, a perimeter was set up and a room by room search was begun to account for everyone in the building.

Pearland ISD said the lockdown was precautionary. It was lifted at around noon.

No stranger was ever located and the scene is now cleared.

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.

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Youths caught on camera taking donated toys from Pearland church

  PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- The Pearland Police Department seeks the public's help in identifying a group of thieves who are targeting Christmas toy donations.

St. Helen Catholic Church in the 2200 block of Old Alvin had been collecting new, unwrapped toys to give away at Christmas. Parishioners had been leaving the toys at the designated collection site inside the narthex of the church and had collected two large bags of toys with a total estimated value of $600.

Police say on Sunday, just before 11am, three suspects, all of whom appeared to be juveniles, were captured on video picking up the bags of toys and walking out of the church. The suspects had also been seen panhandling outside the church. After taking the toys, the suspects got into a gold Chrysler minivan and left the scene.

Pearland police say a similar theft had reportedly occurred at Mary Queen Catholic Church in Friendswood.

The first subject is described as a juvenile white female wearing black pants and a black shirt. According to police, she appeared to be approximately 5'4" to 5'6" and was walking and talking with a white male juvenile who was wearing blue jeans and a white polo shirt with tan and blue horizontal stripes.

A second juvenile female, who appeared to be approximately 8 to 10 years old and wearing white pants and a pink shirt, was observed to remove a second bag filled with toys. The Chrysler minivan had tinted windows, aluminum wheels and no front license plate.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pearland Police Department at 281-997-4100.

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Pearland urging residents to conserve water

PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- Pearland is the latest community in the Houston area asking residents to conserve water in response to drought conditions.

Some Pearland residents saw this coming. Most realize it's a pretty stubborn drought and the city of Pearland's assistant city manager tells us it's watched its water usage climb. One o'clock in at the afternoon and the sprinklers in Pearland are at full throttle. One zone after another, drought conditions, for months now, are taking their toll on southeast Texas, the likes of which some don't recall. "We've lived here 11 years and never in the last 11 years," Pearland resident Angela Hale said. But the midday watering is no longer what the city of Pearland wants to see. Pearland administration is now calling for voluntary water restrictions, something Hale is already on board with. "We always watered at 6 o'clock in the morning Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Hale said. The city of Pearland has seen is water usage surge enough over the last several days to enact their standard drought contingency plan. "When we reach three consecutive days of 70 percent or more of water production, then we go into what's called Stage One," Pearland Assistant City Manager John Branson said. The city of Pearland is asking residents to voluntarily reduce outdoor watering to between 6 and 10am or 8 and 10pm Monday through Friday. On top, they urge residents with odd-number addresses to water in odd-number calendar days and even-number addresses to water in even-number days. Citizens of Pearland are also asked to refrain from watering on the weekends. The upside, Hale says, is a much lighter water bill. "As much as people are having to water, your water bill goes up too, so I think keeping your own bills in check with their requests, it all matches," Hale said. If the drought persists for several more weeks and pushing water consumption increases to at least three consecutive days of 80 percent or more then restrictions will be mandatory; but the city is in the low 70's right now and officials don't foresee that happening. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Pearland police probe attempted abduction

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Pearland police are investigating the attempted abduction of an 11-year-old who was biking in her neighborhood.

Police say two suspects in a truck approached the girl around 5pm Monday as she biked in Lakes of Highland Glen subdivision near Pearland Parkway. The driver reportedly tried waving the girl over, but she ignored them and turned around. The man followed her home as she rode back to her home. When the girl arrived at her home and started entering the garage, the suspect opened the door to the truck, but a neighbor who drove up at that moment may have scared the man off and he sped off. Everyone in the subdivision is on high alert and in shock. "We have a nice neighborhood that's very quiet and everybody around here has kids. It's just a nice community to raise kids, and I'm in shock," neighbor Dai Nguyen said. The suspect is described a slender, white man in his 40's with short blonde hair. He was wearing a gray T-shirt. The passenger in the left rear was described as a white male in his 30's, slender build with long brown hair. The men were inside a white, full-sized Ford or Chevrolet, either extended cab or 4-door, with tinted windows. It has a round bumper sticker on the left rear fender and a rectangular shaped red sticker on the right rear fender. Police are still searching for the man. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) 

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Pearland ISD hoping to avoid teacher layoffs

PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- According to their website, the Pearland Independent School District is avoiding layoffs through budget reductions. However the administration is identifying positions and programs that may be eliminated to balance the district's budget.

Like many other school districts in our area, Pearland ISD faces a potential budget shortfall from state funding. That number is said to be around $12 million for Pearland ISD. Just last week, the district launched a search for a new superintendent. Pearland's previous superintendent resigned to accept a job in the Waco school district. We'll bring you more details today on Eyewitness News. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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