What have we been up to here at Lytle PD? Well last week we handled 60 service calls and our officers issued a whopping 9 Class C citations. With only 9 citations written I guess our staff doesn’t realize that Christmas is the “season of giving”. We had 10 vehicle lockouts this week, which has to be close to a record. No complaints from me, I love vehicle lockout calls because normally everybody leaves happy.
We had three arrests this past week. Officer D. Lopez had two of them which included a DWI arrest (suspect also had a Bexar Co. Warrant) off of a traffic stop on the access road. He also made a public intoxication arrest from a report of a person walking in and out of traffic. Good job David! Sgt. Hanson followed up on the pool/outdoor chair thefts at Best Western Plus and cited a subject for the theft of two of the chairs. What happened to the two chairs? They were taken to SA and sold for scrap (they are aluminum) for an amazing $8 each. So if you figure what gas cost him and if he stopped for lunch, he most likely broke even or lost money. Most of our thieves don’t have a proven successful business plan.
We only had two property crimes reported, both were criminal mischief cases. A vehicle was “keyed” at the Pumphouse Car Wash and a vehicle’s door was damaged on First St.
The call of the week goes out to Captain Reyes. Last Friday, he spent 5 ¼ hours at the intersection of FM 2790 & the IH-35 access road directing traffic. A large piece of oilfield equipment on a trailer “shifted” and blocked part of the roadway. Lytle Public Works also assisted. He tells me he never took a bathroom break or got anything to eat; I’m still investigating those claims as that doesn’t sound like him.
Most of our excitement happened just outside of town last week where we provided an initial response to a couple critical incidents. Last Tuesday, Captain Reyes and I responded to assist the Atascosa Co. Sheriff’s Office with “burglars in action” in the Southwind subdivision. We helped search for 4 suspects and assisted with maintaining a perimeter. A DPS helicopter assisted too. By the end of the night all of the suspects were in custody. It got really cold and I sure was glad I had my jacket. On Friday, Sgt. Hanson and I responded into Bexar Co. to assist TXDPS with a Trooper that had been assaulted and the suspect was on the loose. The suspect was cornered in a residence on IH-35 just South of Lucky Rd. We stood by until a whole boat load of Troopers and Bexar County Sheriff units arrived, the DPS chopper was helping out too. I then opted to depart knowing it was getting cooler, could be a long night and I forgot my jacket at the office. I was later told a SWAT team made entry and found the guy hiding in the attic.
I take my job seriously and try to do my best but occasionally I fall short. Last Thursday was one of those times, I sat at home watching the snow fall and realized I wasn’t prepared and I had let the city down. My fleet didn’t include a single snowmobile or for that matter even a sleigh. I wondered how if the snow continued I would even get to work. Luckily we weren’t “snowed in” because my back up plan was tying two old tennis racquets to my boots and hoofing it to the police station. You may have heard that I have a lot of experience dealing with blizzards. Yes, before they closed the Dairy Queen down I would tackle a blizzard on a much too regular basis.