ADVERTISEMENT 2
ADVERTISEMENT 3
Error: No articles to display
ADVERTISEMENT 1
ADVERTISEMENT 4
HOUSTON (AP) —
Houston police say a man driving a stolen pickup truck has died when he jumped into a bayou and tried to swim away but never resurfaced.
Police on Friday did not immediately release the name of the man, whose body was recovered from Sims Bayou. Authorities ordered an autopsy.
Harris County deputy constables were pursuing the suspect on Thursday when he drove the vehicle, which was reported stolen, down an embankment and partly into the water.
The man got out, tried to swim across the bayou and went under. Deputies tried to rescue the fleeing man, but could not immediately find him in the water.
Divers later recovered the body.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas—
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Gateway International Bridge arrested a Harlingen man in connection with an attempt to smuggle alleged narcotics worth $526,000.
“Our CBP officers have done an outstanding job in keeping these hard narcotics from crossing our borders,” said Port Director Petra Horne, Port of Brownsville. “By intercepting and keeping these dangerous narcotics from entering our communities, our frontline officers demonstrate their commitment to safeguard our nation.”
The narcotics seizure occurred on Sept. 24, after CBP officers working at the Gateway International Bridge encountered a 19-year-old male United States citizen, arriving from Matamoros driving a maroon 2009 Dodge Caliber. A CBP officer referred the vehicle to secondary for further inspection. During the inspection and with the assistance of a canine, officers discovered six packages hidden within the vehicle that contained 14.64 pounds of alleged heroin, which have an estimated street value of $398,400. Officers also found four packages containing 9.13 pounds of alleged methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $127,778.
CBP officers seized the narcotics along with the vehicle, arrested the male traveler, and turned him over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents for further investigation.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) —
A Texas high school football coach acknowledged he directed two of his players to hit a referee during a game early this month, according to the school's principal.
In an internal school district statement, John Jay High School principal Robert Harris said assistant coach Mack Breed told him he directed the students to hit the referee because the ref had used racial slurs and had missed calls. Details from the statement were first reported Wednesday by ESPN.
The referee, Robert Watts, has denied using any slurs.
The coach "wanted to take full responsibility for his actions. Mr. Breed at one point during our conversation stated that he should have handled the referee himself," Harris wrote in his statement.
The two suspended students, Michael Moreno and Victor Rojas, appeared Wednesday at separate disciplinary hearings, which were closed to the public. Both were ordered to complete 75 days in alternative school before becoming eligible to return to their regular classes Jan. 15, according to their attorney, Jesse Hernandez. Their punishment had ranged from assignment to an alternative school to expulsion.
Speaking with reporters after Wednesday's hearing, Hernandez cited the Breed statement, saying that if the two players hadn't been directed by the coach and if the referee hadn't used such language, "they wouldn't have done this and they regret it."
Hernandez and Breed, who remains suspended from the district, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
During an appearance last week on ABC's "Good Morning, America," Moreno said he regretted hitting Watts and wanted to apologize. Rojas said he was just doing what he was told.
The two were suspended from the John Jay High School football team in San Antonio in the aftermath of the Sept. 4 game at Marble Falls. Video from the game shows Rojas blindsiding Watts and Moreno diving on top of him. Watts was the umpire on the defensive side watching a play along the line of scrimmage.
Northside is scheduled to present the findings from its investigation at a meeting Thursday in Round Rock of the state executive committee of the University Interscholastic League, which oversees Texas high school sports, said school district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez.