Earlier this month a bride returned to her room at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas to find the room raided by burglars. They targeted the jewelry, including her engagement and wedding rings, as well makeup, credit cards, Gucci wallets and anything else that looked like it was worth stealing. “It will…
Members of both parties in the Texas Legislature are pushing bills to reform civil forfeiture laws in Texas. The state allows law enforcement agencies to file legal actions against property that the agency believes is owned by a criminal or otherwise connected to criminal activity. That way, they can seize property even…
Week four of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price’s federal corruption trial was a short one. Thanks to two scheduled days off at the end of the week, jurors who have already suffered through three weeks of repetitive government testimony got a break. The testimony they did hear, however, was…
If anyone knows John Wiley Price’s work on the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court, it’s Mike Cantrell. The two served on the court together for more than 20 years. Often, they’ve butted heads — Cantrell is the only Republican currently on the court, while Price is a stalwart Democrat — but…
Dallas Police announced Tuesday afternoon they’ve arrested an Oklahoma man for the March 18 hit-and-run death of Rachel Spelman on Cedar Springs Road in Dallas. Spelman, 23, died sometime after 2:10 a.m., when she was struck by a dark-colored sedan while attempting to cross the street. Witnesses at the scene…
Ethan Couch, the Tarrant County teen who killed four people while driving drunk in 2013, petitioned the Texas Supreme Court for early release from Tarrant County Jail late last week. Couch, jailed last year for violating probation, says that the judge who sentenced him to nearly two years in prison…
After nearly a month of searching, Dallas police announced Thursday afternoon that they’d arrested Ray Charles Keys. Police say Keys, known as “Cowboy,” beat a man to death on Feb. 17 because he believed the victim assaulted a woman. On Thursday, police got the drop on Keys. After receiving a suspicious…
A suspected drunk driver accidentally killed a man who stopped to help a motorist change a tire in Dallas last night. Dallas police say the man spotted the woman just after 10pm as she was struggling with a flat tire near the overpass where Walton Walker Boulevard meets Singleton Boulevard. He…
Two robots made debuts in Dallas last week, each promising ways to help humans with automation — or at least save them some legwork. One is called Knightscope, a police robot that serves as one part pack mule, one part guard dog. Stacy Stephens is a former Coppell PD police officer and co-founder of…
On Monday the Texas Senate passed a series of bills meant to remedy the problems cops and their families faced during and after Michah Johnson’s July 7 ambush on Dallas police. The bills, all passed on the first voting day for the Texas Senate in 2017, will potentially provide every patrol…
The president of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organizations’ greater Dallas chapter is on restricted Dallas Police Department duty as Mansfield ISD police investigate him for assault, DPD said late Sunday afternoon. Sgt. George Aranda, a 25-year DPD veteran, is assigned to DPD’s gang unit. He won’t be restored to full duty…
For the jury, the media and anyone else interested in a resolution to Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price’s public corruption trial, this week was a good one. Federal prosecutors finally picked up their pace, running through a significant portion of their witnesses. The jury, unlike the previous week, remained…
Three of Dallas’ police associations are claiming that Dallas Assistant Police Chief Christina Smith received special treatment when cops appeared at her Lakewood home in February. The Dallas Fraternal Order of Police, the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas and the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization also claim a follow-up investigation has only made…
Hakeem Griffin-White and Ashley Coleman are in Dallas County jail, Dallas police reported Monday, for allegedly murdering Drekeiston Alex last Thursday. The shooting was caught on a surveillance video. The pair allegedly discussed the crime on social media, and police found a deleted video in which the couple talked about shooting…
The SWAT team glide down a door-lined hallway in an abandoned juvenile center on the outskirts of Mansfield. Guns at the ready, they follow one another like soldiers on a sweep, sticking close to the walls, entering rooms two at a time. These are the guys police call when they…
Finally, after almost a decade of investigation, nearly three years of trial delays and a week of jury selection and indictment reading, the United States of America v. John Wiley Price, et al. began in earnest last week with opening statements. The Observer was there, as we will be throughout…
Up until yesterday, the prosecutors in the corruption trial of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and his chief of staff, Dapheny Fain, controlled the narrative. But on Thursday afternoon, thanks to a strong cross-examination from attorneys Shirley Baccus-Lobel and Marlo Cadeddo, the defense team began to make their own headway. Their…
What could the Northeast Police Department be working toward on any given day? Stopping sex trafficking? Pulling over drunk drivers? Pursuing strong arm robbers and drug kingpins? Making sure pesky teenagers and drunk college kids don’t steal those little orange number tents from Whataburger? The police department responsible for Cross Roads…
On Monday jurors heard the opening arguments in the corruption trial of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, his chief of staff Dapheny Fain. Codefendant Kathy Nealy, Price’s political consultant, will face a separate trial. Here’s what they heard from them and the case’s first witness. The Government’s Case Assistant U.S. Attorney…
Katie Jones, according to Cedar Hill police, didn’t get to enjoy the proceeds of her Wednesday robbery for long. On Wednesday morning, police say, the 60-year-old Dallas resident hit the Chase bank just off State Highway 67 in the southwest Dallas County suburb, demanding cash and driving away with an…
A Carrollton puppy is expected to make a full recovery after a heroin overdose in the parking lot of a Carrollton Home Depot. Nina Crawford, 38, and Thomas Romero, 46, left the dog in the floorboards of their truck as the went into the home improvement store to switch price…
The beatings lasted for hours, but Danny Cannon couldn’t see who was doing them. The three masked men placed duct tape over his eyes as they rummaged through his house, searching for cash and seeking bank account information. They used a handgun to threaten and pistol whip him. Cannon, who’s…
