Here's a daily list of recent activities drawing the attention of North Texas law enforcement. List compiled on Aug. 26, 2009.
POLICE: TEEN KIDNAPPED TO KEEP HER OFF WITNESS STAND
Police said a woman and her teenage daughter were kidnapped from a Dallas shopping center and driven across the state. The 16-year-old girl is the star witness in an upcoming felony criminal trial, Dallas police said. The mother jumped out of the moving car in Austin. Her daughter was left on the side of a highway in San Marcos and was reunited Thursday with her mother. Click here to read more on NBCDFW.com.
FW MAN'S TASER DEATH RULED HOMICIDE
The Fort Worth medical examiner has ruled that the death of a 24-year-old mentally ill man who died after police stunned him is a homicide. Police said the family of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, called for help, saying he was causing problems. Police have said officers used the Taser after he became combative, but then he had difficulty breathing after he was handcuffed. Click here to read more on NBCDFW.com.
DALLAS CO. JAIL OFFICER ACCUSED OF TAKING BRIBES
A Dallas County jail detention officer is accused of smuggling in items for inmates, authorities said Thursday. Natasha Lewis, 33, of Lewisville, was arrested when she arrived for work Thursday morning. The sheriff said she is accused of accepting bribes to supply cell phones to prisoners and may have also smuggled in cigarettes. Investigators said they intercepted one cell phone. Lewis is being held on $4,000 bail.
NTSB: DRIVER IN SHERMAN BUS CRASH HAD USED COCAINE
A drug test conducted on the driver involved in the charter bus crash that killed 17 passengers last year in Sherman showed evidence of recent cocaine use, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. The National Transportation Safety Board found evidence of cocaine in a urine sample from Barrett Broussard during its investigation of the accident, according to documents prepared by the Sherman Police Department. Law enforcement officials said Broussard, 53, of Houston, hasn't been charged with a crime because the NTSB did not find evidence of cocaine in his blood, which would have indicated he was driving while impaired. Click here to read more on NBCDFW.com.
COP, DISPATCHERS FIRED OVER EGGING ALLEGATIONS
A Carrollton police officer and three dispatchers were fired for alleged involvement in a house egging, the police department said. Police said a resident called police May 9 to report criminal mischief. Police said Officer Jennifer Cackler, a two-year veteran of the department, and dispatchers Laura Anderson, Ashley Cackler and Laken Schifelbein have been charged with criminal mischief, police said. Click here to read more on NBCDFW.com.
DENTON MOM FOUND DEAD INSIDE HOME
Denton police said a 55-year-old mother was found dead Wednesday night inside her home on Kariba Lane. Police were called to check on Ying Ying "Jennifer" Maik after she did not show up for work and relatives were not able to reach her by telephone. Police said a former co-worker who is a person of interest in the case turned himself in to Palmer police in Ellis County. Click here to read more on NBCDFW.com.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
TEXAS DRUG CARTEL LEADER GETS 9 YEARS IN PRISON
A McKinney man accused of being a Gulf cartel leader in Texas has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison in a drug and money-laundering case. Sergio Maldonado pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors said the Maldonado operation smuggled thousands of kilograms of cocaine and hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the Mexican border.
