Chase leads to immigration investigation in Atascocita

A chase lead to an immigration investigation in Atascocita.

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- An immigration investigation began after a chase Thursday in northeast Harris County.

Humble police chased a man and woman in an SUV into an Atascocita neighborhood. The couple ran off and officers began a house to house search.

At one home, more than a dozen people ran out of the house. Officers arrested 14 people and handed them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Police never found the couple they were chasing.

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More charged in ongoing Friendswood-area heroin investigation

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A narcotics search warrant at a local home netted four arrests in what police are calling an ongoing heroin investigation in the Friendswood area.

Robert Griego Jimenez, 24, 19-year-old Tia Amelia Stone and 23-year-old Layton Jamal Coulter -- all of Houston -- were each charged with possession of a controlled substance. Coulter was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Seamus Bernard Lamb, 22, of Heritage Park, was charged with possession of marijuana.

These arrests follow the arrest of Isaac Christopher Dominguez, 25, of League City on Wednesday. Dominguez was charged with delivery of a controlled substance after a traffic stop in the 3300 block of F.M. 528 where officers allegedly found him in possession of 7 grams of heroin.

After Dominguez's arrest, officers obtained a warrant to search Jimenez's home in the 11000 block of Sageview Drive in the Sagemont subdivision of Houston.

According to officials, Friendswood police entered the home around 6:45pm Thursday and found two vials of liquid heroin, marijuana and two boxes of narcotic paraphernalia and syringes. They also found a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition.

Investigators knew Coulter was living with Jimenez and that he had an active parole revocation warrant. Coulter is a convicted felon.

This is the second narcotic search warrant executed at Jimenez' home in as many years. In January 2010, officers arrested Jimenez after they found black tar heroin, liquid heroin, LSD, codeine, marijuana, hashish and a large variety of illegal prescription pills.

Jimenez pleaded guilty and received 42 months of community supervision. His probation for this offense does not expire until September 2013, police said. In March 2011, Jimenez was charged with a misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and received 10 days in Harris County Jail. Jimenez is now back in jail, being held on a $2,000 bond.

Coulter's prior arrests include a 2008 arrest for possession of more than 17 grams of heroin with intent to distribute and a 2009 arrest for possession of 4 grams of heroin with intent to distribute. Coulter was placed on three years of community supervision. His probation was set to expire March 2012, but he was sentenced in December 2010 to two years in prison for violating the terms of his probation. He served from February 2011 to March 2011 when he was released on parole until April 2012. Coulter is in Harris County Jail. He has two $5,000 bonds for the current charges, but no bond is set for the revocation of parole warrant.

Lamb was previously arrested in 2008 for possession of 17 grams of heroin and possession of marijuana. In 2009, he was arrested again for possession of 38 grams of marijuana, and he was arrested for possession of marijuana in 2010. He successfully served a year of probation. Lamb is in the Harris County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Stone was arrested for possession of heroin in March 2011. She received two years of felony probation that will expire in May 2013. Stone is in Harris County Jail and has not had a bond set.

Dominguez remains in the Harris County Jail on a $20,000 bond. His last arrest was for evading arrest after he led officers in a vehicle pursuit in October 2011.

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First Asst. DA speaks out on grand jury investigation into BAT vans

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The BAT van grand jury probe Thursday hit the top floor in the Harris County District Attorney's Office, taking hours of testimony from DA Pat Lykos' right-hand man. First Assistant District Attorney Jim Leitner admits the BAT vans are still a problem and the controversy has hurt the office, but told Eyewitness News that no laws were broken.

This grand jury really is the Energizer bunny. They keep going and going and it's unclear if they will stop before subpoenaing the District Attorney herself. Either way, grand jurors are taking a holiday break next week and the DA's Office admitted on Thursday they need to take steps to solve lingering public perception problems with those DWI testing vans.

Jim Leitner, Harris Co. DA Pat Lykos' top assistant, headed in to testify to a grand jury Thursday morning. Three and a half hours later he emerged, hoping he convinced grand jurors there was nothing wrong inside the DA's Office when it comes to the mobile DWI testing BAT vans.

Grand jurors have been digging into it for more than two months after a judge hinted there was possible criminal activity by the DA's team.

"That sounded horrible and, you know, a lot of people when they read that headline, that's all it takes. They think, well it's got to be true," said Leitner. "Months later, I hope soon this whole thing ends and everybody sees that's not true, that the DA's Office didn't do any criminal activity."

He admits the investigation has damaged the image of the DA's Office, but insists he acted as soon as he could to protect DWI suspects' rights. That's a point the grand jury is certainly examining as it continues its work into next year.

In the meantime, the DA's Office knows BAT vans may still be a dirty word in Houston.

"It's obvious to me though that BAT vans are a problem because what I thought would've answered the question, obviously for the public and the media and everybody else, it hasn't answered the question," said Leitner.

The DA and Houston Police Department have come up with a plan to reduce the use of the pricey but controversial BAT vans by this summer, replacing them with fixed units at HPD substations.

"In the meantime, if they need to use the BAT vans, because of problems within the city, they should use them. But they better make sure they are maintained by the book," Leitner said.

On investigation specifics, Leitner was less specific. The DA's Office won't discipline Asst. District Attorney Rachel Palmer for taking the Fifth earlier this week. She's still on the job.

"I would be hard pressed to punish anyone because they exercised their constitutional rights," Leitner said.

And he denies the DA's Office retaliated against whistle blower Amanda Culbertson who brought these problems to light in the first place. He will have to wait until some time next year to find out if the grand jury takes his word for it.

"We're going to continue to work for as long as the grand jury wants to, and as long as we think it is productive," said special prosecutor Jim Mount.

On Thursday, the attorneys helping the grand jury said they will be back meeting after the first of the year. Their term expires at the end of July.

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Questions surround investigation involving Patti LaBelle

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We're learning new information about a shocking confrontation between a West Point cadet and famed singer Patti LaBelle's entourage at a Houston airport, as questions linger over how police handled the situation.

A man was punched and pushed to the ground, then taken to the hospital bleeding. In the end, no charges were filed, and at least one officer got a picture with LaBelle. We've learned police are now reviewing how officers handled themselves that night.

Sources close to the investigation say that right now there is not an official internal affairs investigation. Rather, supervisors over the airport division of Houston police are looking carefully at everything that went on that night. They're looking at the video, which, apparently a lot of other people may not have done until recently.

The surveillance video showing West Point Cadet Richard King, wearing a yellow shirt, being beaten up by Patti LaBelle's bodyguards has sparked a lot of questions as to why no criminal charges were ever filed in the case.

KTRK Legal Analyst Joel Androphy said, "He didn't have any type of weapons, he's waiting at the luggage area -- it's shocking to see what happened there. What's even more shocking that police didn't do anything about it."

Now that the video has been made public, HPD says it is conducting an internal review. Police sources tell us they are evaluating why the initial report listed King as the suspect, and why, after he was carted off in an ambulance with blood everywhere, that Houston police officers were seen taking photos with LaBelle.

"If they're taking a picture with Patti LaBelle, who is a witness to this case, along with her three bodyguards, that is improper behavior," Androphy said.

What happened outside the airport terminal will have a lifetime of implications for this young man. On Friday West Point told Eyewitness News that King will be leaving the academy without graduating. His only option is to go through a mentorship program where he will have to spend at least a year serving as an enlisted member of the military, before he can reapply for admission

"It was vicious. It was brutal," said King's attorney John Raley. "It was one of the worst things I've ever seen."

LaBelle's representatives are aware of the lawsuit, but so far they have issued no comments. Houston police won't say whether their officers even looked at the video before making the report -- a report that may have derailed a young military career.

Androphy said, "It's hard to believe the officers picked up the phone to call West Point. There's no reason to do that at the time."

It's uncertain who actually notified West Point. The lawyers say it was someone within the Houston Police Department. HPD says they don't believe that is the case.

It does, however, appear that the initial officer who made the report ever looked at the video, and that is something that is being scrutinized.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Former teacher under investigation for child porn

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A former Klein ISD teacher has been charged with viewing child pornography while on the job at school. The teacher worked at Hildebrandt Intermediate, before he left the job nearly seven months ago. Now he's wanted by police.

Law enforcement is looking for a former teacher at Hildebrandt Intermediate School, who is accused of having child pornography on his work computer. An arrest warrant was issued for Orville Blaine Sanders on Monday. He's accused of possession of child porn. Sanders supervised students during in-school suspension.

The investigation started back in October and law enforcement says illegal images were found on his work computer.

We received a statement from Klein ISD that says in part, "Mr. Sanders admitted visiting inappropriate sites during his employment with Klein and then promptly resigned."

Klein ISD also says none of the images found on Sanders' computer were of students. He allegedly downloaded them from websites.

Klein ISD did not make anyone from Klein ISD Police Department available to talk about the investigation.

Sanders worked for the school district for eight years and has no criminal history. According to court documents, he heard about the child porn websites from students and he continued to visit the websites for "shock value."

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Officials react to request for criminal investigation

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- County leaders are reacting to the Port of Houston reportedly asking the district attorney to launch a criminal investigation into the port's dealings. It comes after an extensive 13 Undercover investigation.

The county attorney's office has opened its own investigation. In the meantime, the port chairman and president have written a letter to District Attorney Pat Lykos asking that the DA's office investigate the allegations against them. That letter reads in part, "We firmly believe that the Port Authority and the people who work for it conduct their business honorably and lawfully. However, in recent days we have heard claims that the Port of Houston Authority and some of its public officials and staff have not acted in full compliance with state law."

This letter follows a probe by13 Undercover. In that report, questions arose about Port President Alec Dreyer's use of the organization's tour vessel for a private party, and possibly conflicts of interest between Port Chairman Jim Edmonds and AECOM, a company that does business with the port.

This morning I asked Assistant County Attorney Terry O'Rourke his thoughts on the port leadership's letter to the DA's office.

He said, "I believe it's very good. I really, sincerely appreciate when people come in who are under investigation with full cooperation. That's what I hope we're getting."

In response to the requested investigation, the Harris County DA's office said, "We cannot confirm or deny a criminal investigation until the point when, and if, a criminal charge is filed."

In the meantime, two port commissioners have asked that Dreyer's employment with the port be placed on a May 24th agenda of their own commission meeting.

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High rise balcony fire under investigation

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Officials said the only thing destroyed by an overnight fire at a high rise was some patio furniture on a balcony. The question now is how the fire started -- 13 stories up.

The fire was first reported around 9:50pm Friday at Museum Tower on Montrose near Milford in the Museum District.

According to the Houston Fire Department, some furniture on the balcony of an apartment on the 13th floor of the building caught fire.

The blaze prompted the evacuation of the 13th floor until firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames.

The fire did not spread inside the unit because the balcony is made of concrete. The people who live there were at home, but they did not know how it started.

Arson is investigating.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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