You likely remember Ethan Couch, the then-16-year-old boy who, while drunk and stoned on Valium, drove his car into four people, killing them, and then got 10 years probation because of his privileged upbringing that the judge termed “affluenza”? Yeah, pretty sure you remember him. Well: His father, Fred Couch,…
Last week, Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins announced the formation of a new Civil Rights Unit, a two-person team that will investigate shootings by officers independent of the police department. Chief David Brown supports the unit. “You can’t have enough oversight when it comes to police-involved shootings,” he said at…
Zion Hayes, 14, stopped wanting to become a police officer last month. Until then, he had so much enthusiasm that he had his mom, Audrey Hayes, threw him a police-themed birthday party. But a run-in with a real Dallas officer changed Zion’s career goals. Following a noise complaint at the…
In the wake of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins tonight will hold a 7 p.m. town hall meeting at St. Paul United Methodist Church, where he says he hopes to start a conversation about police shootings to avoid in Dallas what has happened in…
On their surface, the claims made by Douglas Leguin in his 911 call last Monday are almost comical. His name is Dougie Doug, and he has seceded from the United States established Doug-e-stan, an independent republic, because “shit’s too screwed up.” That he’d taken over a house that wasn’t his…
When questions arise about how investigators handled a suspicious death case, or when they appear to have possibly caused the death themselves, they usually don’t comment about what happened because the investigation is ongoing and it will take a very long time to solve. It’s a logical enough explanation in…
In Ferguson, Missouri, this week, as police officers began to look more like soldiers, and as the lack of transparency about the Mike Brown shooting continued, a police officer in Dallas took to his smartphone. Major Max Geron heads the Dallas Police Department’s Media Relations Unit, Community Affairs and Planning…
In the wake of violent clashes in Ferguson, Missouri, a candlelight vigil has been planned for the Continental Deck Park tonight at 6 p.m. As part of what’s being called a “National Moment of Silence,” attendees will observe a moment of silence, then be given the chance to speak out…
In Texas, we already knew there was plenty of work to be done to alleviate the tired and overburdened public mental health care system. In Dallas, we know that we have the same stretched resources that are reported statewide, but in addition we have also not received the majority of…
Around 10:30 this morning, Dallas police received a call about a “cutter” on Espanola Drive near Dallas Love Field. Soon after, 8-year-veteran Kevin Gladden arrived at a red-brick house with a basketball hoop in the front driveway, according to police. Eighteen-year-old Jose Manuel Gonzalez had a knife in each hand…
Guns, most people seem to agree, should be handled carefully. Drunks, most people seem to agree, are not generally known for their powers of caution. But at least one DFW gun club has decided that, hey, you know what would be a nice addition to Texas gun shows? Booze. Alcohol…
Off-duty Dallas police officer Antonio Hudson shot and killed Andrew Scott Gaynier, who was unarmed, in an Oak Cliff street on Sunday night after the Gaynier apparently charged the officer, according to police. A little after 6 p.m., Hudson responded to a 911 dispatch about a man “walking up and…
Wednesday, when it returns from its month-long July hiatus, the Dallas City Council will be briefed on Mayor Mike Rawlings’ proposal for increased limits on where Dallas’ registered sex offenders can live. The city’s only current restriction forbids supervised sex offenders — those on probation or parole — from living…
It’s perfectly legal to film people who don’t want to be filmed as long as it’s all happening in public. If you’re trying to provoke an asshole into kicking your ass without breaking the law yourself, getting a camera and the courage to overzealously use it may just be your…
Because he has sickle cell anemia, Michael Phillips sat in a wheelchair Friday morning in court, his lawyer at his side. At 57, his black hair was in a short afro, his scraggly beard white. Today, he was being officially exonerated for a crime for which he served 12 years…
There are, out of the tens of thousands of homes and apartment units in the city of Lewisville, a total of 466 places where a registered sex offender can legally reside. Theoretically. In reality, since all or almost all of these homes, which fall outside the city’s 1,500-foot sex-offender buffer…
The Colony has steadily moved up in the prestigious ranks of best DFW suburbs, and it’s been designated as a “Playful City USA,” which means the Humana Foundation thinks there are lots of playgrounds here. But the suburb’s idyllic veneer was cracked this week when 14 johns, seven escorts and…
As they’ve been doing on each third Saturday for months, advocates for the open carrying of firearms gathered — semiautomatic weapons in tow — at Dealey Plaza over the weekend. As usual the demonstrators, who call themselves Come and Take It Dallas, handed out literature and preened with their armaments…
The Fort Worth Police Department has come a long way since 2009, when it marked the 40th anniversary of the landmark Stonewall riots, sparked by the ill-conceived, poorly executed raid of a New York gay bar, by conducting an ill-conceived, poorly executed raid of the Rainbow Lounge. The department reprimanded…
Fidel Akagbusu, a Lake Highlands gas station clerk, was talking to a customer late Monday night when the pop-pop of gun fire pierced the quiet. His head snapped to his right, across six lanes to the strip mall on the corner of Audelia Road and Forest Lane. He saw a…
The Mary Kay convention has been gracing Dallas for the last 40 years, and by now the lipsticked ladies have become a staple of the Dallas summer, known for pumping millions into the local economy. The money just doesn’t spill into servers’ wallets. Over the decades, the Mary Kay attendees…
Many homeowners on Swiss Avenue have been victims of patio furniture theft this summer. Exactly how many items of furniture were stolen, who the criminals are and who complained about it remain a mystery. There are no reports. We just know there were patio furniture thefts because people are saying…
