Man Helps Shooting Victim Get Medical Attention

HUMBLE, Texas - Investigators say a good samaritan picked up a woman who had been shot in northeast Harris County and drove her to a convenience store to get help.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies say the shooting took place at approximately 11:45 p.m. Sunday at The Park at Stone Creek apartments on Mesa Drive near Audubon Forest Drive.

The woman was apparently driving her car out of the complex when someone opened fire on her. She was shot at least twice and crashed her car at the main entrance of the complex.

The good samaritan found her at the entrance, put her in his car and drove her to a convenience store at the intersection of Beltway 8 at Old Humble Road to call 911.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in serious but stable condition.

Investigators have not revealed if they were able to find any witnesses to the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Marijuana farm shut down.

PORTER – Members of the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office discovered and dismantled a large hydroponic marijuana operation and arrested two people Saturday night at a home in the 22000 block of Woodmoss Court off Cumberland Blvd., south of FM 1314.

Roger Sanchez Klein, 40 and Elizabeth Lucia Vallatos, 34, were arrested and charged with 3rd degree felony possession of marijuana, greater than 5 pounds but less than 20 pounds.

“Acting on a tip, Cpl. Art Looza and Deputy Eric Mchugh went to the residence where they discovered Miss Vallatos had an outstanding warrant for an unrelated violation,” Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden stated in a media release. “Mr. Klein stated he had some marijuana upstairs. The officers were given consent to search the residence and found two second-story rooms used to grow, harvest and dry marijuana.”

Deputies Beau Boudreaux and Josh Bergland, investigator Buck Clendennen, Lt. Mark Seals and Hayden assisted in the investigation. From the adjoining rooms, officers removed 114 marijuana plants of various sizes, along with mason jars filled with cut and dried marijuana, grow lamps, water pipes, scales, cigarette papers and other items.

“The smell of marijuana was almost overwhelming inside the two rooms but was confined, thanks to an elaborate filtration system in the attic, which was also dismantled and removed,” Hayden said, adding he was proud of his night-shift deputies for taking the initiative and discovering the illegal operation.

“Our officers continue to prove that the war on drugs must be fought not only on the freeways but in our neighborhoods, in the areas where our children play and go to school,” he said. “One by one, we will find and arrest those responsible for illegal drug activity and the crimes that go along with that in East Montgomery County.”

Investigation continues after firefighter’s injury

By Brad Meyer in The Conroe Courier
Heavy smoke and reduced visibility contributed to an accident that caused a Montgomery firefighter to lose a portion of his hand Monday morning. The Montgomery Fire Department responded to a commercial warehouse fire on Commerce Row in Montgomery at 4 a.m. Monday. A firefighter using a saw to gain entrance through a metal door came in contact with a fellow firefighter, resulting in the accident, Montgomery Fire Department Chief Brian Edwards said.

The victim, Josh Cockrum, was transported by ground to Memorial-Hermann-The Texas Medical Center in Houston, where doctors are attempting to salvage his hand, Edwards said.

“They’re doing all they can,” he said, “but it’s too early to know for sure what will happen.”

Cockrum, a full-time firefighter, had been with the fire department for only three months, Edwards said. He attributed the accident to the reduced visibility caused by dense smoke. Assistant Fire Marshal Scott Burlin, of the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office, said officials were on the scene of the accident and continue to investigate the circumstances. A preliminary report is expected to be released later today.

Firefighers are making plans for a benefit in support of Cockrum, but they have not been finalized.

Man throws puppies off of Port Arthur sea wall.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) - Three rescued puppies are recovering after being thrown over a seawall and on to some rocks in Port Arthur.

Firefighters rescued the crying pups and placed the creatures with animal control.

KFDM-TV reports the man who tossed the animals on Sunday was heard saying he was "turning them into soldiers." A bystander noticed the abandoned puppies and summoned help.

Pat Lavergne with Port Arthur Animal Control says the puppies, with health problems such as mange, were at the shelter Tuesday and available for adoption. She described them as a retriever mix.

The owner of the dogs, who was not immediately located, could face animal cruelty charges.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Speaks at LSC-University Park Event - Kingwood

The symposium was hosted by ProfilesHouston.com Magazine, along with the North Houston Association, the Houston North Economic Forum, and the Greater Tomball Area, Lake Houston Area, Houston Northwest and Houston Intercontinental chambers of commerce.

"Although Texas leads the nation in so many positive categories - from Fortune 500 companies to job creation - we owe it to our citizens to strive for more," Perry told the breakfast group. "We need to stay ahead of our country's tough economic situation by adhering to proven conservative fiscal disciplines.

"People still want a few basic things from their government, starting with freedom," he said. "They want to live their lives free of oppression to make a dollar and the ability to keep more of what they earn and have a safe place to live.

"Here in Texas, we believe that the government's job is to stick to the basics, sustain a competitive culture, and then get out of the way," Perry said.

Other speakers at the event, in addition to Gov. Perry, included: State Sen. Dan Patrick, District 7: State Rep. Patricia Harless, District 126; State Rep. Debbie Riddle, District 150; Jerry Eversole, Harris County Commissioner, Pct. 4; Craig Doyal, Montgomery County Commissioner, Pct. 2; and Dr. Richard Carpenter, LSCS chancellor .

Commissioner Eversole told the attendees that Harris County is in a financial stretch for the first time in 20 years. At the same time, Eversole was optimistic. "Things have bottomed out and should be moving upwards in 2010," he said.

Eversole praised college officials for the new facility at LSC-University Park and said it would "go down in history" as one of the most important things to happen to the northwest Harris County area.

Texas Sen. Patrick said that the entire nation would be looking at LSC-University Park. "This is a model for the United States, and definitely for Texas," Patrick said.

LSC-University Park opened in January with about 4,000 students, and in addition to two-year degrees, will offer four-year degrees later this year through a partnership with multiple four-year universities.

"I believe that within less than 10 years, there will be 16,000 to 20,000 students on this campus," Patrick said.

The symposium at LSC-University Park was held to analyze the greater north Houston area's economic issues and to allow the participants to create shared visions for the future, along with innovative strategies to accomplish the visions set.



SEE ORIGINAL POST AT KINGWOOD.COM

Man charged with murder in former area resident’s death

A Texas man has been charged with capital murder in the death of a former Whitfield County resident who was living near Houston.

Luis Eduardo Guzman, 31, was taken into custody on Wednesday by the Montgomery County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office and is being held without bond in the Dec. 21 home invasion death of Lisa Lynette Whitt-Ulloa, 34, who formerly worked as a real estate agent in Chatsworth and Dalton. Guzman was arrested without incident in the Waller County city of Brookshire at his place of employment as a welder, according to The Courier newspaper of Montgomery County, Texas (www.hcnonline.com).

A press release following the invasion said two masked men entered the home through an unlocked door and bound and assaulted family members with wooden clubs, including Whitt-Ulloa’s husband, Michael, 26, and her 18-year-old daughter. A son was staying with nearby relatives. The husband and daughter were taken to a hospital with injuries, but Whitt-Ulloa died by strangulation, according to a forensic report.

Whitt-Ulloa and her daughter were from Georgia, investigators said. Robbery is suspected as a motive.

Realtor Velma Ray recalled Whitt-Ulloa, whom she knew as Lisa Brock, as “bubbly” when they worked together at Peach Realty in Chatsworth.

“She was always a happy-type person,” Ray said. “I had not kept up with her, but it’s just so sad. She was so young, too.”

Mike Doran, owner and broker at Re/Max Select Realty in Dalton, also knew Whitt-Ulloa.

“She was very likable, and a hard-working person who did well,” he said. “She did a lot of new construction (real estate) with her late husband, Danny Witt. I was glad to see on the Internet posting where the guy who did it was arrested.”

Danny Witt, a Whitfield County contractor, died in August 2008 from what authorities determined was a self-inflicted gunshot to the abdomen.

Whitt-Ulloa was listed as an agent with ERA Trinity in an area real estate listings magazine in November 2006, and as working with Re/Max Select Realty in March of 2007 in a similar publication.

Officials with the Montgomery County sheriff’s office and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office declined comment on whether either department had additional suspects in connection with the home invasion, the newspaper reported.

Capital murder is punishable by life without parole or death by lethal injection in Texas. Prosecutors did not say whether they would seek the death penalty.

Condemned Montgomery Co. killer loses DNA appeal

By RENÉE C. LEE Houston Chronicle

After nearly a decade on death row, Larry Swearingen has hit another roadblock in his fight to prove his innocence in the murder of a 19-year-old college student in 1998.

The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the trial court's decision in January 2009 to deny Swearingen's motion for DNA testing of evidence in the capital murder case.
In the unanimous decision, the appeals court agreed that some evidence had already been tested and that Swearingen could not prove other evidence contained biological materials that could be tested for DNA. The law says there must be biological material present for a defendant to pursue post-conviction testing.

“In light of the overwhelming evidence of the appellant's guilt, even if we were to grant appellant's request,” the court said, Swearingen cannot show the test results would create at least a 51 percent chance that he would not be convicted.
In November, a federal district judge denied Swearingen's petition of actual innocence.
Despite Swearingen's numerous petitions and two stays of execution, he has not yet exhausted the appeals process.
His attorney, James Rytting, said he plans to file an appeal with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Houston attorney said he believes the state appeals court is trying to close the gate on Swearingen by engaging in “political murder.”

“They're greasing the skids toward execution of an innocent man,” Rytting said. “I will fight up to the last minute.”

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