Subject: Crime Stoppers International

• Someone Hates Kashmere Gardens Schools

  July 21, 2008

• Last Suspect In Shooting Of Historic Officer Nabbed

  July 31, 2008

• Plague Of The Nicknamed Bandits

  August 14, 2008

• A Different Kind Of Brink's Robbery

  September 2, 2008

• Dialing for Dollars

  Crime Stoppers and its rewards get a mixed reception from students

  July 10, 2003

• Bayou Body Count: Shootout On The North Side

  David Samuel Sepeda, 24, had decided to spend Saturday afternoon with his 13-year-old younger brother. They were washing Sepeda's car at the Apache Springs Apartment at 400 North Vista, not far from Bush International Airport, when suddenly they noticed that two African-American men watching them, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.Suddenly, the two men began walking towards Sepeda and his brother. The men were armed. But so was Sepeda. When Sepeda reached for his gun, according

  June 1, 2009

• Houston Now Has A "Dirty Dozen" Bank Robbers; Nickname Expected To Result In Arrests Soon

  Bank robberies are sprouting up like bankruptcies all over the Houston area, and the FBI and Crime Stoppers has decided to do something about it -- break out the nicknames.The two organizations officially announced today a list of the "Dirty Dozen" bank robbers in the Houston area, including "The Note Passer" and the "Point Blank Bandit."Unfortunately, the 10 other suspects are identified only by such labels as "Female Robber" or "Black Man w/Acne" or (gasp!) their actual names.How is that suppo

  November 25, 2008

• Bayou Body County: Killed While Cleaning Up Some Beer Cans

  Photo courtesy HCSOAfter less than three months of investigating, the Houston police think they've finally got their man. Investigators have charged 23-year-old Kermit Ladell Johnson with murder for allegedly killing man in a parking lot in March.Police accuse Johnson of shooting 39-year-old Steven Torres several times in the upper body early in the morning on March 10 outside an apartment building on the 4200 block of Wilmington. Residents heard gunshots in the parking lot, police say, and then

  June 2, 2009

• Local TV Anchors -- The Legends Are Disappearing

  The New York Times reports today that the veteran anchor, the mainstay glamor position in local TV news, may become a thing of the past.Falling ratings, slashed budgets and the obsession to woo young viewers all has management axing legends who have been around for years in their market.(The Times cites as an example Carolyn Campbell, who worked for KHOU for 26 years, but she wasn't really an anchor.)One expert told the paper that anchors at top-rated stations in a local market are probably safe

  December 1, 2008

• The Bank Robbery Record Has Been Broken!

  Last year was a banner year for bank robberies in Houston, more than doubling the number from the year before.But last year's record has already tumbled, and we've still got a month to go.Doing their best to help in that effort are the robbers who keep hitting the IBC branch bank at 3939 Montrose, near the University of St. Thomas.They've been hit three times since September 1, FBI special agent Pat Villafranca tells Hair Balls.

  December 1, 2008

• West U? They're Robbing Banks In West U?

  Famous bank robber Willie Sutton -- who lived in a time when bank robbers became famous -- was once asked why he robbed banks."Because that's where the money is," he replied.So probably we shouldn't be surprised that Houston's rash of bank robberies (it's been a record-setting year) has come to include the leafy, bucolic confines of West University Place.

  December 11, 2008

• Burglar Unknowingly Steals Museum-Quality World War II Stuff

  A Houston burglar was doing what he does in a Spring Branch house -- grabbing electronics and jewelry -- when he noticed two FedEx packages filled with something. He grabbed them and took off."He probably thought they had Christmas presents in them," Amy Smith, Crime Stoppers spokeswoman, tells Hair Balls.What they had, though, was something very different -- an eclectic collection of World War II memorabilia that had been displayed in the Anne Frank Center in New York and was about to be shippe

  December 23, 2008

• The First Two Local Bank Robberies of the New Year in Houston

  Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Houston Bank Robbery Task Force were probably still nursing their hangovers when they were called to not one but two bank robberies on the first business day of the new year.

  January 5, 2009

• The Saddest, Dumbest Robbers

  Photo by cardhouseA pair of criminal masterminds recently executed a daring daylight robbery -- of a 99-cent store.Police are on the lookout for two black males carrying old Alf lunchboxes, soon-to-expire cans of pseudo-tuna, plastic spatulas, wads of crumbled dollar bills and boxes of detergent that looks like a name brand if you don't check it too closely.Seriously, dudes, if the name of your targeted store is "Nothing Over 99 Cents," then your plan probably needs a little rethinking.Com

  March 3, 2009

• Read My Lips. My Freakishly Colored Lips.

  The FBI always comes up with cool names for bank robbers, and the G-Men (and G-Women) didn't let Hair Balls down today: following a robbery at the midtown Wachovia Bank this mornings, authorities nabbed a suspect with freakishly colored lips. And now the FBI thinks he might be "Read My Lips" - a unique fellow who robbed two other Midtown banks this week. "This suspect has a condition causing his lips to have unusual coloration, and investigation is ongoing to determine if he is 'Read My Lips,'"

  March 6, 2009

• Bank Robberies Continue To Soar In Houston

  Photo courtesy FBIBank robbers had a banner year in Houston in 2008, but it appears 2009 is going to be even better. (Or worse, if you're a law-abiding citizen.)FBI Special Agent Patricia Villafranca says robberies are up in a big, big way: "The Houston Bank Robbery Task Force, which investigates bank robberies within Houston and Harris County, reports that from January 1 through April 1 there have been 32 bank robberies in 2009. For the same period in 2008 there were 23 robberies," she says.Sh

  April 2, 2009

• Amazingly, the Comets Couldn't Survive

  Who's Got Next?

  December 11, 2008

• It's Art!

  Yes, "Art" made of fake bombs will get attention

  December 14, 2006

• Uncivil Action

  No one's responsible for a body-parts debacle

  March 31, 2005

• Undercover Cop

  New HPD Chief Hurtt is still plainclothes

  August 19, 2004

• Love the Big Bang

  Sure, an LNG terminal is dangerous. Live with it.

  July 8, 2004

• Adept Ada

  Edwards draws raves in her inaugural year on council

  August 22, 2002

• Bayou Body Count: Nudity, Crack Pipes & A Double-Murder-Suicide

  The big news this week in Bayou Body Count is the three dead family members League City police are investigating as a possible murder-murder-suicide. Lewis Cantrell Jr. and his wife Gayle Cantrell were found shot to death in their living room on the 2900 block of Chinaberry Park Lane. Lewis Cantrell III, 26, joined them on the floor, a pistol next to his body. Two of the Cantrells' other adult children were in the home when the shooting occurred Wednesday evening. As soon as they heard gunfire,

  May 15, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Death Doesn't Take A Holiday

  Unfortunately, murder doesn't recognize holiday weekends, as evidenced by the following homicide investigations recently opened by area law enforcement.A man was killed following a shootout with Humble police late this morning. Details are limited, but the incident occurred outside an employment officer in the 9800 block of FM 1960 Bypass, according to Humble police. An officer working an extra job at a nearby bank responded to a call of a man with a gun holding a female hostage. The officer obs

  May 26, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Absolute Nightmare For Some Kids

  The Portillo children walked into a nightmare. They were coming home from school Wednesday afternoon. But when they entered their southwest Houston home at 12706 Corona, they found their parents, Antonio and Rosa Portillo, dead. Houston police say both parents had gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene. The children told police that their parents had been arguing earlier in the day. A single pistol was found by their bodies. Police are continuing to investigate.View Larger Map

  May 28, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Fight To The Death Over A Window Frame

  Houston police have arrested a man on suspicion of stabbing a good Samaritan to death. Roy Lee Powell, 60, is charged with allegedly murdering 33-year-old Burt Lee Hopkins late Wednesday. According to police, Powell stole an aluminum window frame from a resident on the 4700 block of Russell. The homeowner went looking for the thief and bumped into Hopkins, who pointed Powell out walking down the street. The homeowner caught up to Powell at a bus stop at 4000 Cavalcade and the two began to fight.

  May 29, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: A Suspect Sketch Released In Double Murder

  Courtesy HPDHouston police released today a composite sketch of the apparent shooter in a double murder at a Phillips 66 gas station last week.  One of the victims, Mohammad Aziz Zubair, 55, called 911 before he was shot, providing police with a brief description of the suspect, police say. Shahzad Anwer Quraishi, 57, was also killed during the robbery. Investigators describe the shooter, who had been "hanging out near the store," as a 19- to 22-year-old black man, about five-foot, seven-in

  June 12, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Officer Down, And Brother Vs. Brother

  Houston police have charged a pair of men for allegedly killing an undercover officer on Tuesday on the 6700 block of Hillcroft. A 16-year-old girl has also been charged for her alleged involvement.According to police, officer Henry Canales of the auto-theft division, who was working undercover, was negotiating a deal to buy stolen property from Xiomara Rosales Mendez, Andres Maldonado Nava, Roberto Pedroza Carillo and the teen. Suddenly, Carillo pulled out a gun while Mendez and Nava tried to s

  June 26, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Honey, There's A Dead Guy In The Bathroom

  A couple living at the Shadow Ridge Apartments at 5810 Fondren awoke form a peaceful sleep early Sunday morning to the loud boom of gunshots. They bolted upright and saw two men running out of their apartment, according to Houston police. The couple then got out of bed and began looking around their home. They found a dead man on the floor of their bathroom, riddled with gunshot wounds.Police are investigating and say they are on the lookout for the suspects, described only as two Hispanic men i

  June 30, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Guy Walks Into A Bar...

  It sounds like something out of the movies: from out of nowhere an unknown man in dark clothes storms into a bar, guns blazing. But according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, that was the scene at an after-hours club early Thursday morning. Deputy Thomas Gilliland tells Body Count that at about 5:20 a.m. a Hispanic man dressed in a black button-down shirt, blue jeans and a white t-shirt draped over his face like a mask walked into the Eclipse club at 960 W. FM 1960 shooting. Witnes

  July 6, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Trouble Out On The Roads

  It's said that at 3 a.m. there are just a few basic types of people on the road: those leaving a bar, those who are up to no good, and the cops who are trying to catch them both. That seemed to be the situation early yesterday morning when a case of road rage turned deadly. Alfredo Vasquez and a group of his friend were driving home from the El Chaparral Club near the intersection of 290 and 610 in a black Ford F-150 when suddenly the driver of a white Ford F-150 was overcome by road rage

  July 7, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: They're Finding Dead Bodies Everywhere, Including The Jail

   A 33-year-old man was driving southbound along the North Freeway near Patton when suddenly a hail-storm of bullets rained through his car. Police say the man drooped over into the passenger seat, losing control of his car as it smashed into a concrete barrier wall. The car then lost its right front tire, rebounded off the wall and came to a stop. Witnesses of the crash last Friday at about 1 a.m. ran over to the vehicle and saw that the man had been shot several times. Police have no de

  July 24, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: A Cold Case Solved

  ​After 15 long years, Houston police detectives believe they've finally found their man. Michael Deshawn Winfrey, 36, has been charged with capital murder for allegedly shooting a man who was protecting his son at a pay phone at 6603 Fuqua on April 24, 1994.Police say Jeffrey Brown, 30, was driving along with his daughter, 8, and son, 7, when he pulled into a parking lot to use a pay phone. As he was stepping out of his car, Winfrey appeared and allegedly pointed a gun at Brown's son, telling

  July 28, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Don't Mess With A Cop's K-9

  ​You don't mess with a man's dog. Especially if that man is a cop. At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, Houston police officer W.G. Smith made his way to an apartment complex at 7100 Renwick to check out a burglary that was supposedly going on. As Smith was heading up to the apartment, one of the people who lived there got home to find his TV was on, that his front window was broken and saw what he thought was someone inside his place, police say. When Smith arrived at the residence, a man, who is be

  July 29, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: World's Vaguest Murder

  courtesy of HPDThe two suspected knife men​Houston police are looking for a pair of men suspected of stabbing 22-year-old Vicente Ramirez to death early Saturday morning. Police say Ramirez and some friends were at a bar at around 4:30 a.m. at 5901 Hillcroft when they got into a fight with a bunch of unknown men. During the fight Ramirez and his two friends were stabbed, police say. Ramirez died and the other two were taken to Ben Taub General Hospital so doctors could treat their multiple wo

  August 5, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Son Kills Mom, Heads To Mexico

  ​Laura Palacios of Houston died with her son at her side. Though it was hardly a comfort to the 51-year-old woman: It was her son who allegedly killed her. That's the story told by Harris County Sheriff's homicide detectives who have charged Jose Palacios, 24, with murder. But he is not behind bars. Instead, he's believed to have fled south across the border into Mexico, eluding the relatively short arm of Texas law enforcement. On August 3, detectives began investigating the death of a woma

  August 10, 2009

• Bayou Body County: Bloody Weekend In Houston Town

  ​It was around 2:30 a.m. Sunday when Mayra Renteria called the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Her estranged husband, Tomas Carreon, had just walked into her parents home on the 19400 block of Tree Orchard Drive, where Renteria was staying, and began shooting. He killed her mother, Marina Schaerer, 42, father, Robert Schaerer, 49, and their son, Salvador Renteria Jr., 14, authorities say. Carreon, 29, then fled. Mayra Renteria told deputies what Carreon looked like and they broadcast the des

  August 17, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Weekend Leftovers, Including River Oaks

  ​During the past few days, Houston-area police and sheriff's deputies have dealt with an unusually high number of murder-suicides. Sunday nearly capped off the week with another. This one, however, was thankfully less successful and had the added element of attempted patricide. Eugene Hawk, 59, and his 21-year-old son, Raymond Hawk, were at their home at 3437 Ella Lee Lane on Sunday afternoon when they started arguing, police say. When the elder Hawk called police, his son yanked out a gun

  August 18, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Don't Mess With The Step-Father

  ​They say there's nothing so powerful as a father's love. Well, Leroy Lewis, Jr. is making a pretty good case for step-fathers, too. He may even go to prison for trying to prove it. Lewis, 32, is charged with murder for allegedly shooting his step-daughter's boyfriend in defense of her, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Kedric Money, 19, the boyfriend, was chatting on his cell phone Monday afternoon at 21623 Trilby Way, investigators say, when he got into a fight with his gir

  August 19, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Two Confessions And Two Mysteries

  Courtesy of HCSOFreddie Reyes & Hugo Lopez​A man's music is sacred. Even more so when he's blasting it stone cold through a night of boozing it up with friends. This is a lesson Turcious Villeda Marcial learned painfully well on Monday at 3043 Golfcrest when he was stabbed to death after telling his partying roommates to turn down the tunes at 8 a.m., police say. Freddie Orlando Reyes and Hugo Salvador Lopez are charged with murder. Police say that the two men were drinking and playing

  August 20, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Death At The Movies...And The Firehouse

  ​Damian Scott was restless. He woke up in his home at around 4:30 a.m. Friday, told his wife to go back to sleep and walked out to the garage. Then he hopped in his car, closed the door, turned on the engine and started watching a DVD. The garage door was shut. Back inside the house, at 10137 Inwood Hollow Lane, Scott's wife, Latrice Randle, her sister, Myshia Randle, and four children, were snug in their beds asleep. The silence was broken when a 7-month-old began crying. Myshia Randel rus

  August 24, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Dead Bodies In Cars, A New Trend

  ​At 3 a.m. this morning, a Harris County Sheriff's deputy was prowling the streets around Bammel North Houston and State Highway 249 looking to nail some drug dealers. Driving along, suddenly he thought he saw a deal going down. The deputy followed a suspicious car for a while, but when he tried to pull over the maroon Chevy Impala, the driver took off down Highway 249. Eventually, the driver stopped, jumped out of the car and ran away on foot, authorities say. But wait, that's not all. Afte

  August 26, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: A Case Of Bad Timing

  ​Some people simply don't have good timing.Such was the case for 35-year-old Christina Stonebarger.On Sunday, Stonebarger and her friend Michelle Stansel, 36, were hanging out in Stonebarger's room at a motel at 12600 South Main, where both women lived. For some reason, police say, the two friends started arguing at about 5 a.m. when suddenly Stonebarger grabbed a knife and plunged it into Stansel's chest, killing Stansel. Stonebarger then fled.As time clicked by, Stonebarger thought it migh

  September 3, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: They're Finding Dead Bodies All Over The Place

  ​For the past four days, local cops and sheriff's deputies have been finding dead bodies all over the place. From ditches and cars to living rooms and the middle of streets, they seem to be popping up everywhere.All the police have are just a few leads, no suspects, and a growing pile of cold bodies at the morgue.On Monday at about 5:30 a.m., Harris County deputies found a Hispanic man who had been stabbed to death lying in a ditch just near 13100 Reeveston Road. He looked to be about 25 to 30

  September 9, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Never Trust A Man With A Hatchet

  ​Throughout history, the term "hatchet man" has meant different things. In the 1880s, it was slang for a Chinese hired assassin. In the mid-1900s, it was used to describe a journalist who assassinated the character of a public figure.Today in Houston, it means something much simpler: someone who assassinates a man with a hatchet. And according to the Houston police, one of them is on the loose.On Monday morning, several workers at a business park at 5562 Gasmer were in the parking lot when the

  September 16, 2009

• Who's Setting The Heights On Fire?

  ​Houston's historic Heights neighborhood is under siege. In just two months, 12 suspicious fires at local residences have taken place, all within a couple of blocks of each other.The latest incident occurred in the dark hours of the morning on October 2. Around 2 a.m., firefighters responded a fire at 1030 ½ Ashland. One resident, Eliud Limon, was sleeping in the garage apartment when he woke up to a bang outside the apartment. He told the Houston Chronicle that he went outside and saw smoke

  October 8, 2009

• Repeat Subway Robber Hits the Same Sandwich Shop Three Times

  A disgruntled ex-Subway mascot, perhaps?​Fresh bread, healthy options, elaborate sneeze-guards -- some people just really love Subway. And Crime Stoppers and local law enforcement are asking for the public's help in identifying "The Repeat Subway Robber" -- a dude who's robbed the Subway at 2002 Runnels at least three times since September 22. According to Crime Stoppers, the thin black male "pulls up to the front of the Subway...and goes inside the sandwich shop. He jumps over the counte

  October 30, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: Amazingly, A Drug Deal Goes Bad

  ​Gotcha!That's been the news so far this week from the police and sheriff's office, whose detectives have been clearing old cases and racking up arrests.The Harris County Sheriff's office announced today that they've bagged a pair of dishonest drug dealers with a penchant for gunplay.Back in August, a deputy was scouring the area near the 10200 block of State Highway 249 looking for drug dealers when he got a call over the police radio that there was a dead body lying in the middle of the free

  November 4, 2009

• Bayou Body Count: A Police Shooting Over An Open Beer

  ​There is something to be said about the importance of solid doors, strong locks and a secure home. Think not? Well, the carnage over the past several days may change your mind.It was Friday evening, about 7 p.m., when 18-year-old Jubelle Serano was taking care of her 6-year-old sister at their home at 2539 South Camden Parkway. Suddenly, Serano heard some strange noises. Someone was trying to break into the house.Serano quickly called her boyfriend, who sped over to Serano's place. When he go

  November 9, 2009

• A Man Who Just Does Not Have The Patience To Rob A Bank

  Photo courtesy FBI​ See this dude here? Rocking the sunglasses and the shaggy locks?NOTE TO CRIMINAL OVERLORDS: Do not hire this guy to rob any banks for you. If you do, give him some Ritalin or something.Here's what the FBI has to say about this guy's attempt to rob the Chase Bank near 9300 Westheimer yesterday:At approximately 6:10 p.m., the lone white male entered the bank and approached the teller station. He pulled out a small black semi-automatic pistol and said to the teller, "You know

  November 10, 2009