Story Created:
Oct 15, 2008 at 6:40 PM CST
Story Updated:
Oct 15, 2008 at 6:41 PM CST
(October 15, 2008)
ALICE--Several wanted criminals are off the streets in Jim Wells County after sheriff's deputies went on a warrant roundup early this morning.
Authorities called this warrant roundup, Operation October Fright Fest. They captured criminals in Jim wells county for violating probation or failing to appear in court.
Call it a rude awakening. Jim Wells County authorities were knocking on doors, arresting Alice and Jim Wells County residents in a warrant round-up, but they can't say they weren't warned.
Letters and phone-calls went sent out about their legal problems. With this pre-warning, it was no surprise for Amado Ramirez when deputies came calling.
"They had told me they were looking for me so I was just waiting for them to go pick me up," Ramirez said
Albert Ruiz got a knock on his door on his birthday and ended up in jail. Investigators contacted him a month ago to talk about a theft case, but they said he refused to come in. So a warrant was issued.
"It was just a conversation," said Ruiz. "I didn't do anything. I wasn't going to come over here so they could arrest me. They just wanted to talk to me."
Investigators cleared nearly half of the warrants in this operation. The ones they couldn't find were either out of town or not at living at their listed addresses. So officers left messages with family members.
"We notify them as soon as he gets back to make contact with us, so it's important he get a hold of us," said Jose S. Martinez III, a Jim Wells County Sheriff's officer on the roundup operation.
After five hours of looking for suspected criminals, authorities arrested 18 people.
"We are happy," said Lt. Joe Martinez, a commander from the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department overseeing the operation. "Like I said, everything went smooth. We did take a lot of people into custody and a lot of warrants were cleared up."
--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com
Friday, Oct 17 at 2:11 PM ED wrote ...
ATTA MEN-WITH A STAR!! YOU GOTTER'DONE JOB WELL DONE!! MY HATS'OFF TO ALL OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Flag for moderation