APD: Man with Forgery Warrant Lies to Police About Identity

Yesterday at about 3:40 p.m., Officer Robert Brannon was dispatched to a theft in-progress call at a business in the 4500 block of South First Street. APD had been notified by a loss prevention employee that two female suspects were concealing merchandise in their purses. As this call for service went out over the radio, Detective John Clark acknowledged the call and advised headquarters that he was nearby the incident scene. As the incident progressed, one of the suspects fled from the store and the other suspect remained inside the store under the watchful eye of loss prevention. Det. Clark arrived at the scene in his unmarked police vehicle as headquarters provided essential suspect vehicle description information. He quickly located the suspect vehicle as it pulled into a parking spot; a parking spot that was blocked, preventing the suspect from driving forward. Det. Clark stopped his vehicle behind the suspect vehicle, but as he attempted to contact the suspect, the suspect placed the vehicle in reverse and collided with Det. Clark's vehicle. The suspect then exited the driver's seat and fled from the vehicle on-foot and Det. Clark gave chase. He arrested this suspect whom we will refer to as suspect #1. Officer Brannon contacted the other suspect inside the store whom we will refer to as suspect #2. Officer Brannon's investigation revealed that suspect #2 remained inside the store after being contacted by loss prevention and had concealed over $300 of merchandise with the intent to steal it. Suspect #2 also had an outstanding warrant for her arrest and she was arrested on the charge of theft and for her warrant. This investigation further revealed that Suspect #1 had also concealed merchandise in her purse with the intent to steal it. Suspect #1 was arrested on the charge of evading arrest and for theft. Furthermore, Suspect #1 was cited for several traffic violations, including backing without safety. Damages to both vehicles were minimal.

Last night at about 11:30, Officer Gabe Thompson contacted a motorist in the 600 block of EN 10th Street for a traffic violation. The male driver identified himself verbally to Officer Thompson. A records check revealed that the subject had lied about his date of birth. His true identity was revealed and the subject showed to have an outstanding forgery warrant from the state of Arkansas. The investigation further revealed that the warrant would not authorize extradition from Texas. The subject was arrested for failure to identify.

At about 12:30 a.m. today, officers were dispatched to a major accident call at a residence in the 400 block of Westview Drive. APD was also advised that a male suspect had purposefully driven his car into the calling party's car. Sgt. Jason Haak responded to the call. His investigation revealed that a male suspect, who was still at the scene, had rammed his vehicle into his girlfriend's car while she occupied her vehicle and was attempting to leave. The investigation revealed that this assault was associated with a verbal altercation. Damages to the victim's vehicle were estimated at approximately $1,500. Though no reported injuries were sustained, the victim felt pain from the assault. The male suspect was arrested for two felony charges; aggravated assault family violence and criminal mischief.

Please remind all of your friends and loved ones that Texas law requires everyone to be properly restrained with seatbelts or a child safety seat when occupying a vehicle on public roadways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that roughly 3 out of 4 child safety seats are not used correctly, I draw your attention to a great website that contains an informative video that shows guidelines on how to properly install/secure a child safety seat for a range of ages: www.bucklethemright.org