Cop calls: Has Georgetown learned? No scams reported this week

The following information was provided to the Sun by the Georgetown Police Department on October 7 as a record of recent arrest and call reports in Georgetown. Anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty.

No headlights attract officer’s attention

Two men were charged with Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 and Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon at 10:30 p.m., September 29, in the 2200 block of Creekside Lane. The arrest began with a patrolling officer noting a vehicle traveling with no headlights. The officer drove towards the vehicle, whose driver turned on its lights when spotting the officer, and then made movements to avoid the officer. The officer initiated a traffic stop during which the driver was slow to stop, but eventually pulled over.

Approaching, the officer noted the vehicle was occupied by two men. Asked for identification, the driver opened the glovebox to retrieve his passport and the officer saw a magazine for a handgun inside. The driver did not speak English, but the passenger did. The officer asked the passenger if there was a gun in the vehicle to which he answered there was not. They had just found the magazine while at work, he said. The passenger handed the officer the driver’s passport which identified him as a 22 year-old from Mexico. The passenger was later identified by his Mexico consular card as being 37 years old. The officer noted he was avoiding eye contact and was shifting back and forth in his seat.

The officer was concerned when the second man continually had his left hand behind his leg on the seat of the car, and ordered him to put his hands on the dashboard. Additional officers arrived, and they found a second magazine in the door storage pocket. Both occupants were ordered to exit the vehicle, and officers also summoned a Spanish-speaking officer. The driver told that officer that there was a gun in the car and that officers could search the vehicle.

Upon searching, they found a Ruger pistol with more magazines and ammunition. Officers also found a second pistol, a Smith and Wesson where the second man had been sitting — and a large bag of powdered cocaine, tools used to package and distribute the cocaine, numerous baggies for individual sales, a scale, marijuana, and several smaller bags of cocaine.

Both men denied knowing anything about the second gun or about the drugs. Both were arrested for Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 and Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon.

Youth blames parents for empties

Officers were dispatched to a reckless driver call in the area of Interstate 35 and Williams Drive, September 30 at 9 p.m. Callers had stated that a silver Chevrolet was unable to maintain its lane, had almost collided with other vehicles, and had pulled into the Bush’s Chicken parking lot off Williams Drive, driving over curbs.

Officers located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop, during which they identified the 20-year-old male driver. Once the man was out of the vehicle, he was unable to stand on his own and smelled strongly of alcohol. Officers asked him where he lived to which he replied, “Georgetown.” However, he currently believed he was in Cedar Park. Officers asked him what he was doing in Cedar Park, to which he stated that he was going to the library to study for his college class.

When asked if he had consumed any alcohol, the man said that he had not. Officers questioned him about numerous empty beer cans they saw in the back seat. The young man said his parents were in the car earlier, and the cans were theirs.   The youth participated in sobriety tests and was determined to be impaired due to alcohol and/or drugs. He was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Woman stashes Xanax pills in herpes prescription bottle

Georgetown officers arrested a 55-year-old woman for driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 3 at 9 p.m., September 30. A caller had reported a gray BMW on the frontage road in the 1500 block of North IH-35. The driver, the caller 
said, “looked out of it.”

Looking into the vehicle, officers noted she was trying to hide an orange pill bottle. Once outside, she was unsteady and swaying side-to-side, and officers noted her speech was very slow, slurred and sentences were incomplete. They checked the pill bottle and saw that it was prescribed to the woman and was medication intended to treat certain infections caused by the herpes virus.

But looking inside the bottle, they saw the pills were not the pills named on the label. Instead, the pill bottle contained 137 tablets of Xanax. The woman participated in field sobriety tests and was arrested.

Criminal trespass call evolves into drug arrest

A criminal trespass call in the 3300 block of Williams Drive turned into a drug possession arrest at 7:30 a.m., October 1. Arriving officers located two men after a caller stated that he had two unhoused males sitting in a vehicle outside his business. Officers ran their information and learned that one man had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Pflugerville for larceny. Upon searching the man, they found in his pocket a small baggie of methamphetamine. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1 and his warrant served.

Macheting-wielding man arrested …

Officers arrested a 41-year-old man with a machete at 2 p.m., October 2, in the 200 block of South Interstate 35. Callers had stated the man was swinging a machete and hacking trees. An arriving Wilco Sheriff’s deputy observed the man with the machete and was able to detain him until Georgetown Police officers arrived and identified him. They noted he slurred his words and smelled of alcohol. The man told them he had been released from jail the previous night and, that morning, had drunk a Four Loko malt beverage, purchased the machete, and wanted to practice “fencing skills.” He was charged with public intoxication.

… and another man brandishes a machete

At 4 p.m., October 2, officers, dispatched to the 3300 block of Williams Drive in reference to a man inside a building with a machete, found the 45-year-old man. The man said he was homeless, and had just gotten out of jail for criminal trespass. He said, however, he had permission to be in the building to do renovation work. He stated that he was also using a handsaw to cut all the bark off four oak trees on the property because the trees were “infected.” He said he believed that, by shaving the bark off the trees, he would prevent the infection from spreading. Because he had a criminal trespass warning for the property, he was arrested for criminal trespass again. The property owner stated that the loss/replacement of the trees was $500 each, thus $2,000, and the amount of damage to the business’ door was $500. The man was also charged with criminal mischief, a state jail felony.

Woman unknowingly purchases stolen car on Facebook

A woman driving a vehicle without a license plate was stopped by an officer at noon, September 30, in the 1000 block of Rivery Boulevard. The driver told the officer she had purchased the 2004 GMC Envoy in July on Facebook Marketplace for $2,500. She said she removed the plates until she was able to get the vehicle registered. The officer ran the vehicle’s VIN and it returned as stolen. The driver was advised of the stolen status and gave officers information on the seller. The vehicle was towed from the scene to be returned to the rightful owner.

Police seeking scooter bandit

At 2 p.m., October 1, officers were dispatched to a theft in progress at a store in the 600 block of IH-35. The caller said a male on a motorized scooter was stealing numerous items but had already left the scene. The man had entered the store on the scooter and traveled up and down the store aisles. As he did so, he took items and hid them in his hoodie, his pants, and beneath his posterior. As employees tried to confront him, he exited the store on his scooter but discarded all the stolen items and fled on the scooter. Officers were able to obtain video footage and said they know the identity of the scooter thief. The investigation is ongoing.