Freak shooting claims boy

HOUSTON – KHOU A tragic accident has claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy in Southwest Houston.

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It happened on Wednesday evening.

Police say a telephone was ringing inside of his family’s home on Blanchard Hill Lane and the boy was trying to find it.

He tossed his mom's backpack to the floor and a pistol that was inside the backpack went off.

The boy was shot in the head and died.

Police say at this time it does not appear any laws were broken. The gun was in the home legally

Pearland man helps passengers on Continental flight 128

By Kevin Reece and Jeremy Desel / 11 News
HOUSTON – Passengers aboard Continental flight 128 arrived in Houston Monday with a terrifying tale to share.

As emergency vehicles rushed to the plane on the Miami tarmac, catering truck elevators were used to rescue injured passengers.

Diego Saavedra was on the plane. He said passengers and flight attendants were flying inside the cabin.

“All of a sudden, the plane like takes a dip and rises up and you see people going off their seats, people screaming,” said Saavedra. “One lady, she just came out of her seat and flew over the middle row, hit her head on the wall and landed on her back.”

Passengers took pictures inside the plane that show items falling out of the ceiling and cracked plastic.

The damage was caused by flight attendants and passengers hitting the ceiling, said John Norwood who was also on the flight.

“People who weren’t belted in flew up and hit the ceiling, so their faces and heads hit the plastics and broke the plastics all at the top,” said Norwood.

Celi Defaria hit the roof too. She has a scar that runs the length of the right side of her face.

“All of a sudden it came down. Everybody bumped heads twice because it came down again," she said. "It was terrifying. It happened in one faction of a second."

The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. while most passengers were sleeping.

“I’ve never seen turbulence like that. I really thought we wouldn’t make it,” said Giovani Loss.


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Feds Bust Medicare Fraud Ring In Houston Area

HOUSTON—Federal authorities arrested 27 people in Houston Wednesday in a major Medicare fraud bust that spanned across the country.

Medicare fraud raid

Investigators claim the suspects were scamming Medicare by falsely billing for medical items that were not needed or never used.

Arrests were also made in New York, Boston and Louisiana. In all, 32 people were taken into custody.

More than 200 agents worked on Wednesday’s $16 million bust, which included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area.

One of those businesses was Memorial Medical Supply on Dairy Ashford and I-10.

Shocked employees were met by federal agents when they arrived at work.

Federal agents raided several locations in Houston after a nationwide investigation into Medicare fraud.
The agents confiscated paperwork and a computer.

They were also seen removing boxes of evidence from the business.

Federal authorities say the businesses were giving patients “arthritis kits,” which were nothing more than expensive orthotics, including knee and shoulder braces. Patients told authorities they were unnecessary, and many never used them. But health care clinic owners billed $3,000 - $4,000 for each kit.

Houston’s other scam involved billing Medicare for thousands of dollars worth of liquid food for patients who can’t eat solids. Authorities said clinic owners never distributed the food to patients. In some cases, clinic owners billed patients who were dead when they allegedly received the items.

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UPDATE: Wrong-way driver dies in Friday accident Kingwood Observer News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

An elderly man is dead and a woman was hospitalized with severe injuries after a major accident at U.S. Highway 59 at Townsen around 1:30 p.m. July 24.

“We received a call about a red minivan driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 59,” said Accident Investigator Bryan Waldroup of the Humble Police Department. “A minute later, we got another call that the minivan had hit an oncoming black sedan going the right way on Highway 59.”

Waldroup said the 79-year-old driver of the older model minivan was dead at the scene. The woman was transported via Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital downtown. Her injuries did not appear to be life threatening according to initial medical assessments at the scene.

Police have not released the names of the victims.

Waldroup said it is unknown for how long the elderly driver was traveling against traffic or what caused him to do so.

“We may never be able to find out,” Waldroup said, adding that underlying medical conditions, physically or mentally, could possibly have contributed to the accident. “Further information is pending a report by the medical examiner’s office.”

The accident and the resulting investigation caused a traffic gridlock on and around Highway 59 for several hours. All lanes of traffic were closed for more than four hours, forcing afternoon and evening commuters to find alternate routes into the Humble, Kingwood and East Montgomery County areas.