FRIENDSWOOD, Texas—A 21-year-old Alvin man suspected in two Friendswood car burglaries is now facing child pornography charges. Friendswood police said Thomas Brantley Collins and an accomplice went from house to house in the Forest of Friendswood subdivision on the night of February 1, checking for unlocked vehicles.
Investigators said two cars were burglarized that night, and the stolen items included an Apple iPhone, some cash, credit cards and textbooks.
Police said the suspects then went to a local department store to make purchases with the stolen cards. The license plate of Collins’ black pickup was caught by surveillance cameras there, and police were able to identify him as a suspect.
A warrant for burglary of a motor vehicle was issued for Collins in Galveston County.
Two weeks later, on February 14, a tipster notified police that Collins was visiting his valentine at Alvin High School. Officers tracked him down and arrested him. Police said Collins had the stolen iPhone with him when he was booked into the Friendswood jail, but the phone had been modified for his personal use.
Credit: AIR 11 A fire at Enterprise Products in Mont Belvieu was burning out of control more than an hour after witnesses heard multiple explosions.
by Michelle Homer / khou.com khou.com Posted on February 8, 2011 at 1:05 PM Updated today at 1:39 PM
MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Several explosions at a Mont Belvieu plant were followed by flames that could be seen from miles around. The explosions happened at Enterprise Products at 135 Sun Oil Road around 12:25 p.m.
Witnesses reported seeing workers fleeing from the Chambers County plant. Other workers were being told to stay inside. The company hasn't released any details about injuries. An employee, who didn't want to be identified, said at least one contractor has not been accounted for.
The employee said the explosion happened in a subsection of the plant. Chambers County officials say there's no known threat to the public at this time.
They have not called for evacuations. State Highway 146 is closed near the plant.
The fire was still burning out of control nearly an hour after it began. The flames could be seen 25 miles away in Houston.
A Houston caller named Pat said she was talking by phone to a relative inside the plant when the first set of explosions happened. There were three more explosions while they were still on the phone. "Anywhere from eight to 11 explosions," according to Pat.
KATY, Texas – One person was dead and another in the hospital Monday after a driver crashed into a tree in Katy.
Police said an Infiniti was traveling north on Katy Hockley Road near Pecan around 2:30 a.m. when the driver failed to make a turn in the road, struck a curb and crashed into a tree.
Police said the car burst into flames, severely burning the passenger, who died at the scene.
The driver, a 26-year-old male, was found lying on the ground upon officers’ arrival. He was airlifted to the hospital in unknown condition. Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash. It was not known whether charges would be filed.
(CNN) -- Houston's mayor and police department were on the defensive Friday, two days after graphic video came out showing several police repeatedly kicking and beating a 15-year-old burglary suspect as he lay on the ground. An internal police investigation of the incident last March led to the firing of seven police officers, said spokesman John Cannon of the Houston police department.
Two successfully appealed and returned to their jobs, said Houston NAACP President D.Z. Cofield.
Five other officers were disciplined in other ways, Cannon said. And a Harris County grand jury indicted four of the officers this summer, based in part on the video. Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos opposed the video becoming public and felt doing so might prejudice potential jurors and force the indicted officers' trials to be moved out of the county.
Quanell X, a local activist, got hold of the surveillance tape showing the scene outside a storage facility and gave it to the media. He said he had every right to obtain the footage and make it public.
"I will show my people what they deserve to see, and let the public see what you don't want them to see," Quanell X said. Mayor Annise Parker said the police leadership and city acted properly.
"I resent any implication that we were trying to hide the tape," she said. After viewing the footage, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland Jr. fired the seven officers and a grand jury called for misdemeanor charges against four of them in June.
Lykos told reporters Thursday there was not sufficient evidence to pursue more serious charges, such as aggravated assault. "Without revealing what was presented to the grand jury, in order to have aggravated assault you have to have serious bodily injury or impairment or use of a deadly weapon," she said. "None of that was apparent in this case."
The tape, first shown Wednesday on CNN affiliate WTRK, shows the 15-year-old boy -- being chased by police and falling to the ground after being upended by a moving police car. He then falls face first and places his hands on the ground.
A disciplinary letter from McClelland, dated June 23 and posted online less than two weeks later by CNN affiliate HTRK, says that the boy had his hands behind his head and neck area, in an obvious position of surrender.
Then, the letter adds and the tape shows, Officer Raad Hassan "then ran toward (the boy) and kicked him a total of 15 times," then later kicked him more times in the groin area even after he "was handcuffed and no longer a threat."
