Crime Report:  December 11-17

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | December 20, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 208 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Robbery suspects arrested

Posted December 17, 2011

On October 20 Garland Police released information and a video of a robbery that occurred at the AT&T store located in the 3100 block of North Jupiter Road.  During the robbery a man is seen on surveillance video entering the store, locking the front door and then forcing employees into a storeroom at gunpoint.  The man then let an accomplice in the back door of the store.  The two got away after stealing approximately $25,000 worth of cell phones.

On Friday, December 9, Garland Police arrested 35-year-old Tory Londale Jackson and 34-year-old Quentin Patrick Williams in connection with the robbery.  Police also executed a search warrant at their Garland residence and recovered items that are believed to connect the pair to the October robbery.

Robbery Unit detectives have also connected the pair to the robbery of a Garland Radio Shack in September.  Robbery detectives have been in contact with other area agencies and believe Jackson and Williams are responsible for other similar type robberies over the past several months.

Garland has filed two counts of aggravated robbery on Tory Jackson and Quentin Williams.  They are currently in the Dallas County jail.  Jackson’s bond was set at $50,000 on each case.  Williams’ bond was set at $100,000 on each case.

Hate letters motivate city officials to pass resolution against racism

Kim Everett | December 17, 2011

The Garland City Council and Mayor Ronald Jones passed a resolution denouncing racially charged hate letters recently sent to six Garland Hispanic families who live in the Star Crest Estates area of District 2. When the crime first came to light, police were aware of four letters, but two more have surfaced this week.

Laura Perkins Cox, the District 2 council representative made the motion to adopt the resolution.  “I wanted to say very clearly in an official capacity…that this act is not congruent at all with who we are as a community,” she said.  “We are a very diverse community.  We respect all of our residents and this is not reflective of who we are as a city.”

Jones used the word “despicable” to describe the letters.  “It [the resolution] reiterates council’s position to enhance and embrace our diverse community…and it sends a message to people that we stand with you and will support you.  That’s the whole purpose of it,” he said.

The letters, which carried a Fort Worth postmark, were received at the residents’ homes on Friday and Saturday, December 2-3.  The basic message of the letters was that the Hispanic families should leave the state and that they should not be in America, and the message continued with more derogatory comments.  The typed letters were personally addressed and identically formatted.

Police do not believe that the recipients of the letters are in danger of being harmed, but the threats are being taken seriously.  According to Public Information Officer Joe Harn of the Garland Police Department, no suspects have been identified at this time, but investigators are attempting to retrieve fingerprints from the letters and are also working with other forensic evidence. 

The FBI has been alerted and is being kept up to date on the investigation.  Hispanics make up approximately 30 percent of Garland’s population.

Crime Report:  December 4-10

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | December 14, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 236 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Final suspect arrested in 2005 murder

Posted December 11, 2011

In September 2005, Garland police arrested six of seven suspects for the May 15, 2005 murder of 16- year-old Jacob Orta.  According to a press release from the Garland Police Department, the seventh and final suspect, Sergio Valencia, was booked into the Dallas County jail for Jacob’s murder Friday, December 9. 

The press release said that Valencia was taken into custody in central Mexico and after months of working on his extradition, U.S. Marshalls were able to bring him back to Texas.  Valencia has been indicted on two counts of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity. One charge is for the murder of Jacob Orta and the second for the aggravated assault on a friend of Jacob’s who was with him on the night of the murder.  Each case is a first degree felony and each has a bond of $1,000,000.  Valencia also has a burglary charge with a bond of $2,500 that is not connected to the murder.

The cases on the other six people who were arrested in September 2005 have all been adjudicated.  Those arrested then were Augustin Aviles, Sergio Guerrero, Michael Cruz, and Jose Mercado, with the remaining two being juveniles at the time.

Crime Report:  November 27 - December 3

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | December 8, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 226 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  November 20-26

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | December 1, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 232 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  November 13-19

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | November 22, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 239 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  November 6-12

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | November 17, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 254 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Police look for victims in possible sexual abuse case

Posted November 8, 2011

According to a press release from the Garland Police Department, Garland’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit has been working on an investigation with Dallas Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U. S. Attorney’s office.

The investigation led to indictments that were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas on October 20.  The federal indictments were for Child Pornography on Amber Schmidt, 24, and Gary Lee Jackson, 26, both of Garland.

The press release further states that during this investigation Garland detectives discovered the possibility of sexual abuse on children who came in contact with Schmidt or Jackson.  Detectives also believe this could go back at least six years.  For that reason detectives are asking if anyone has knowledge of a child who has come in contact with either Amber Schmidt or Gary Jackson within the past six years to contact the Garland Police Department at 972-205-2046.

Crime Report:  October 23-29

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | November 3, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 223 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Man murdered early Sunday morning

Posted October 30, 2011

According to a press release received from the Garland Police Department, 36-year-old Jesus Dominguez was shot and killed just after 1 a.m. Sunday, October 30.  Dominguez was shot when he opened the front door at a Hubbards Ridge apartment located in the 4300 block of Point Boulevard.

The release further states that when officers arrived they were directed by a witness to an apartment where the front door was slightly open.  Inside the apartment entryway officers could see the man, whom they later identified as Dominguez, lying on the floor with blood on him.  They checked him and there were no signs of life.  No one else was in the apartment at the time.

Shortly after officers arrived, a female approached the apartment and was crying.  She told officers she had been inside the apartment with Dominguez when he was shot.  She told officers that her estranged husband, Mark Milligan, had come to the apartment, knocked on the door, and when Dominguez opened the door, Milligan shot him.  She stated that Milligan then began assaulting her and she managed to get away from him.  She told officers that he then left in a 1996 Suburban.  Police broadcast the information on Milligan and his vehicle to other area police agencies.

Milligan was located in his vehicle by Denton County deputies in Aubrey at approximately 4 a.m. and taken into custody without incident.  He was transported back to Garland and is in the Garland jail.  He has been cooperating with GPD detectives.  A gun believed to be the murder weapon was recovered.  Milligan is currently charged with Capital Murder and Aggravated Assault.  Bond has not been set.

Crime Report:  October 16-22

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | October 26, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 223 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Garland man sentenced in prostitution, money laundering scheme

Posted October 23, 2011

According to a press release received from Denise Corcoran, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent and Public Information Officer at the Dallas Field Office, a 58-year-old Garland man has been sentenced in a prostitution and money laundering scheme in the Eastern District of Texas.  U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced the sentence last week.

The release states:  “Ricardo Guevara pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2010, to being involved in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of a prostitution scheme and was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge David Folsom.  Guevara was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $10,000. 

According to information presented in court, beginning in 2005 and continuing through June of 2010, Guevara and Chidiebere Onyinanya, 32, of Plano, operated an escort service that provided prostitution services to individuals in exchange for payments, which would then be used to promote the escort service and additional prostitution activity.  Guevara and Onyinanya recruited the prostitutes, advertised the services, leased apartments for the prostitution activity, and generated in excess of $440,000 in proceeds from the criminal enterprise.  Onyinanya has not yet been scheduled for a sentencing hearing.

U.S. Attorney Bales served notice to those involved in money laundering schemes, “Let this be a warning to criminals who generate proceeds from their crimes:  We will follow the money trail, uncover the criminal scheme, and prosecute you for your offenses.” 

“In addition to enforcing the nation’s tax laws, the IRS investigates financial crimes associated with a myriad of illegal activities, including the shadowy world of prostitution,” said Andrea D. Whelan, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division’s Dallas Field Office.  “We are pleased with the outcome of this case, which was the result of an outstanding cooperative effort between Federal and local law enforcement.”

This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.  President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

This case is being investigated by agents from the Internal Revenue Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shamoil Shipchandler.”

Crime Report:  October 9-15

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | October 20, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 223 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Police seek help identifying robbery suspects

Posted October 20, 2011 -- Information provided by Officer Mike Hatfield, Acting PIO, GPD

At approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, October 20, 2011, Garland police responded to a robbery at the AT&T store located in the 3100 block of N. Jupiter Road.  Detectives were able to recover surveillance video of the robbery.  In the video, a suspect is seen entering the front door of the business and locking the door.  The suspect then forced employees of the store into a storeroom at gunpoint and is then observed on video to open the rear door of the business and let a second male suspect enter and eventually remove assorted cell phones from the business. 

The first suspect is described as a black male in his 40s, around 5’8”, medium build and wearing a white shirt, dark pants, and a ball cap. 

The second suspect is described as being a black male in his 40s, around 5’9 – 6’1”, medium build and wearing a dark shirt with a logo, dark pants, and a ball cap that appears to have a plaid pattern and a NY symbol on the front.   

Police detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects.  Information can be given to Garland Crime Stoppers at www.garlandcrimestoppers.org or by phone at 972-272-TIPS (8477).

Crime Report:  October 2-8

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | October 13, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 217 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Alcohol suspected factor in traffic fatality

Posted October 12, 2011, Updated October 16, 2011

According to a press release from Joe Harn of the Garland Police Department, police and fire personnel responded to a major crash Wednesday, October 12 just after 5 a.m. at the east bound exit ramp of IH 635 and Centerville Road.  When they arrived they found an SUV that had left the roadway and crashed into the concrete base of a light pole.  The vehicle was occupied by two males and three females who ranged in age from 19 to 25.

One of the females, 20-year-old Elizabeth Naira Sanchez of Rowlett, died at the scene.  The other four occupants were transported to either Parkland Memorial Hospital or Baylor Hospital of Dallas.  At this time it is believed they will survive. 

Garland traffic investigators believe the SUV was traveling east at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control and ran off the roadway just past the exit ramp for Centerville Road.  The press release states that it appears the contributing factors are going to be alcohol, speed, and wet pavement.

Crime Report:  September 25 - October 1

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | October 6, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 202 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  September 18-24

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | September 29, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 217 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  September 11-17

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | September 21, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 214 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Crime Report:  September 4-10

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | August 24, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 204 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Mini storage break-in caught on video

Posted September 13, 2011

Garland detectives have recovered video of a break-in that happened last month at the Garland Self Storage located in the 100 block of East Avenue B.  The video shows a man and woman breaking into a storage unit, removing property, and placing it into their car.  The second video also shows two men in a pickup truck later going to the same unit and taking a motorcycle.             

Some of the items taken include a computer and stereo equipment.  The motorcycle taken is a 2006 yellow and black Suzuki.  

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the thieves in an effort to recover the property and make arrests. 

Information can be given to Garland Crime Stoppers at www.garlandcrimstoppers.org or by calling 972-272-8477.

Labor Day DWI patrol results

Posted September 8, 2011

Garland’s added patrols for Labor Day, funded through a state grant, resulted in 40 DWI related arrests with one additional for Driving Under the Influence by a Minor.  During the same time period, August 19 through September 6, regular police patrols logged 11 more DWI arrests, plus one more for Driving Under the Influence by a Minor. 

One of the additional patrol arrests was related to a rollover crash on IH-30 where three people were injured.  One of the three injured persons was the intoxicated driver who was filed on for intoxication assault.  The city’s Impaired Driving arrests totaled 53 during the additional enforcement time.

The extra patrols were added during the holiday time in an effort to keep Garland citizens and visitors safe on Garland roadways.  The additional enforcement was funded by a state grant from TxDot, known as the Impaired Driving Mobilization grant. 

Posted August 24, 2011

Garland Police responded to the Microtel motel, located at 1901 Pendleton Drive, on the report of a robbery just before midnight on August 15.  Detectives later recovered surveillance video of the robbery.  In the video the suspect is seen jumping over the counter, striking the clerk and then taking money from the cash drawer.  He was last seen leaving on foot from the motel. 

The suspect is described as a white male with red curly hair, about 6’ tall and weighing around 230 to 240 pounds.  He was dressed in a green t-shirt and blue athletic shorts. 

Police detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect.  Information can be given to Garland Crime Stopper at www.garlandcrimestoppers.org or by phone at 972-272-TIPS (8477).

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | August 24, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 222 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Garland police are continuing an investigation into the missing 40-year-old Garland woman, Carolyn Cordova.  Carolyn has not been seen by her family since Monday, August 8.  She was reported to police as missing on Wednesday, August 10, the same day her 2003 Yukon was found on the parking lot of Monkey’s Pub & Grubb in Sachse.  Carolyn is 5’ 2” tall, 110 pounds, and was last seen wearing a white tank top and blue jeans. 

Police have been interviewing family and friends in an effort to locate Carolyn.  After those interviews police believe she was last seen on Monday, August 8, in both Sachse and Garland with a man who went by the name of Andy.  Andy was described as approximately 40-years-old, 5’ 8” tall and very muscular.  He was wearing an oversized tank top, was clean shaven and had a shaved head.  He was driving either a GMC or Chevrolet pickup.  The pickup was described to be around a 2000 year model and champagne in color. 

Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Carolyn Cordova, and have obtained a composite drawing of the man going by Andy.  They are asking anyone who knows who this man is or where he is to call the Garland Police Department.    

Update:  Police located Cordova the morning of August 20 after releasing her information as a missing person.  She is in good condition and has been gone on her own free will.

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | August 19, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 240 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred:

Posted August 19, 2011

Garland police are gearing up for increased Driving While Intoxicated patrols for an Impaired Driver Mobilization project.  The project is funded through a TXDOT grant program which targets DWI along with Driving Under the Influence by Minors. 

The specialized patrols will begin Friday, August 19 and run through Tuesday, September 6.  Patrols will be active in the night time hours by utilizing both marked and unmarked police cars.

So far this year, Garland police have recorded a total of 243 alcohol related driving arrests of either DWI or DUI Minor.

Convicted first-time DWI offenders can pay a fine up to $2,000, lose their driver’s license for up to a year, and serve 180 days in jail. Safety officials say other costs associated with an impaired driving arrest and conviction can add up to more than $17,000 for bail, legal fees, court appearances, court-ordered classes, vehicle insurance increases, and other expenses.

The consequences of driving under the influence can be much worse. In 2009, there were 27,108 alcohol-related crashes in Texas that resulted in 955 deaths and 17,542 injuries (preliminary data).

Posted August 9, 2011

On the night of July 29, $10,000 worth of copper was stolen from Garland Power & Light’s city storage area.  Police are trying to identify the suspect who was caught on surveillance cameras inside a secured area.  They are asking anyone who knows or recognizes the person in this picture to call Garland Crime Stoppers at 972-276-TIPS (8477) or email garlandcrimestoppers.org.

Crime Report:  July 24-30

Joe Harn, Garland Police Department | August 3, 2011

The Garland Police Department has divided the city into 26 districts, numbers vary from 11 to 56.  Listed below are the 220 crimes reported this period and the districts in which they occurred: