Here's a daily list of recent activities drawing the attention of North Texas law enforcement. List compiled on Jan. 20, 2010.
MAN DEAD AFTER CRASH ON WALNUT HILL
A man crashed his car head-on into a stone wall in the 5700 block of Walnut Hill Lane just after midnight Wednesday Dallas police said. Police said the Infinity left the northbound Dallas North Tollway on the ramp to Walnut Hill Lane at high speed. The driver failed to turn at the top of the ramp, crossed all six lanes of Walnut Hill Lane and the median before striking a utility pole and then the wall, police said. Police said the man, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was from New Mexico.
FAULTY WIRING SPARKS DALLAS APARTMENT FIRE
Fire at the Brookbend Valley Apartments left 12 residents homeless Wednesday afternoon. Dallas Fire-Rescue got the 911 call just after 12:30 p.m. When firefighters arrived in the 8300 block of Spring Valley Road, they said they saw smoke and fire coming from the roof of the two-story apartment building. Four units, two upstairs and two downstairs, were damaged by smoke, fire and/or water Dallas Fire-Rescue said. Investigators said faulty wiring in the rear bedroom of a downstairs unit was the cause of the blaze. The American Red Cross is attending to the needs of the 12 residents displaced by the fire.
PUBLIC ASKED TO HELP FIND MAN WITH ALZHEIMER'S
Dallas police hope the public can help them find Sanford Phillips, who has Alzheimer's disease and has been missing for a week. Police said Phillips, 83, was dropped off at the McDonald's at Kiest Boulevard and South R.L. Thornton Freeway on Jan. 13. He was reported missing when he did not return home and did not contact his family, Dallas police said. Phillips was last seen wearing a white hat, beige jacket, khaki pants and white tennis shoes. Anyone who sees Phillips is urged to call 911.
APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS ROBBERY CONVICTION
A federal appeals court has overturned a robbery conviction in Dallas, saying that prosecutors in 2002 illegally struck two black jurors from the panel. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday reversed the armed robbery conviction of Cecil Keith Hayes, who is serving a 70-year prison sentence. The court ordered a new trial for Hayes, a black man convicted of robbing a high school student at gunpoint in 2001. Prosecutors said they disqualified two black jurors because one was a teacher thought to be liberal and the other indicated that the justice system should focus on rehabilitation instead of incarceration. In overturning the conviction, the appeals court noted that non-black jurors who expressed similar views were seated on the panel.
