Category: Tid Bits by Richie Priest

Lytle P.D. news for the week ending Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, … Your officers conducted 71 traffic stops, resulting in 35 citations and 36 warnings. Officers handled 46 calls for service. Our overall call numbers have remained on the low side. While, in general, our call numbers are a good indicator the real “Are we busy?” is the seriousness of the calls you receive. Fortunately, we haven’t had an increase in serious calls. Serious calls are the type of calls that require a lot of time for investigation and preparation for filing.
Our only property crime was a lost/stolen cell phone at the H.E.B. Plus. The complainant reported he left an iPhone 15 behind in a shopping cart.
Officers had two arrests last week. #1 – Officers were dispatched to Lytle H.S. for a report of a student with an active burglary warrant out of Atascosa Co. Medina Co. Sheriff’s SRO Rick Valdez released the student to Capt. Dear, who transported him to the Atascosa Co. Juvenile Detention Center in Jourdanton. #2 – A traffic stop for speeding resulted in the arrest of a 21-year-old male for possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail.
In other news … officers transported two adults from the Camino Real to San Antonio area hospitals. One on a mental health warrant and another on a transfer of an emergency detention. Ofc. Reyes responded to H.E.B. Plus for a report of a “baggie of drugs” left at a self-checkout. I bet that even if the owner reads this, he won’t come in to claim it.
On the personal side, my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last Saturday. Man, time sure does fly.

Welcome to my first weekly email of 2025! Your Lytle P.D. Officers handled 48 calls for service (we have been trending low on call volume) and conducted 125 traffic stops. Of those 125 stops, 78 resulted in citations and 47 resulted in warnings.
We didn’t have any property crimes reported last week! Wow, that is music to my ears.
Officers managed 5 arrests last week: #1 & #2 – A traffic stop for speeding on Benton City Road resulted in the arrest of a 33-year-old male. He had an active warrant out of Bexar Co. for DWI. Another occupant, another 33-year-old male received a citation for Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia and was released. The D.W.I. warrant “guy” was booked in the Atascosa Co. Jail. #3 – Officers responded to a suspicious female knocking on a door in the 18600 Blk. of Wisdom Rd. The 42-year-old female was arrested for Public Intoxication and booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #4 – A traffic stop on Main St. for speeding resulted in the arrest of a 44-year-old male for an active warrant out of Bexar Co. for Assault W/Bodily Injury (Family). He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #5 – A traffic stop on McDonald St. resulted in the citation and release of a 28-year-old male for possession of drug paraphernalia.
New Year’s Eve was quiet; we were not dispatched to any calls for fireworks. I did receive one voicemail complaint about them though. I went to bed early, but the people I talked to and the officers working said that fireworks usage was down from years past.

Continue reading “Report suspicious activity to your local law enforcement”

For the week ending Dec.29, 2024 … Lytle P.D. officers managed 43 calls for service and conducted 59 traffic stops. Of those 59 stops, 32 were citations and 27 were warnings.
Officers made 6 arrests last week. #1 – Officers responded to a two-vehicle accident at the Taco Bell, the investigation resulted in the arrest of a 54-year-old male for D.W.I. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 – A 27-year-old male turned himself in at the police department. Capt. Dear had obtained 3 warrants for his arrest, each one for Sexual Assault of a Child. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail with bonds totaling $225,000. Capt. Dear and Sgt. D. Lopez worked tirelessly on this case. Our suspect, who was not from the immediate area, met our victim online. Due to the extremely sensitive nature of this case, we can only release limited information. Rest assured that we will use all our resources to keep our children safe. # 3 – A traffic stop on Main St. resulted in the arrest of a 32-year-old male, he had an active warrant out of Medina Co. for Possession of Marijuana. He was booked into the Medina Co. Jail. #4 & #5 – A traffic stop on Main St. resulted in the citation and release of an 18-year-old male and an 18-year-old female for possession of drug paraphernalia. #6 – A traffic stop on Main St. resulted in the officers determining that a domestic assault had just occurred on FM 2790. N. A 24-year-old female was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail on a charge of Assault Causing Bodily Injury (Family).
We only had two property crimes reported last week! #1- A resident in the 14800 Blk. of Star Cross Trail reported that his 2023, 16-foot, flat-bed trailer was taken from his residence on Christmas Eve. I originally hoped that Santa had an emergency and needed to borrow it for his big night, but I was wrong. Cameras showed a pick-up hook up to it, not a sleigh pulled by Reindeer. Capt. Dear went to work on the case and on Friday he was able to use information from a hidden GPS device to track the trailer to a residence in San Antonio and recover it. #2 – A resident on Live Oak St. reported that someone attempted to kick in the front door of his house. There was damage to the frame. Luckily, he had a deadbolt, and it was an older, well-built home. The unknown suspects were not able to gain entry.

Continue reading “Hanson retires after 20 years of service”

Lytle P.D. responded to or handled 52 calls for service and conducted 60 traffic stops. Of those 60 stops, 28 were citations and 32 were warnings.
We didn’t have any property crimes reported last week! Let’s keep that streak going.
There were four (4) arrests last week. #1- While officers were attending training at the Horace Fincher Annex (Priest Blvd.), an 18-year-old male stopped and said he was lost. He provided the officers with a paper with his DL on it when they ran it, he came back with an active warrant out of Comal Co. for tampering with evidence. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 – A traffic stop on N. Benton and Laredo St. resulted in a 19-year-old female being cited for possession of drug paraphernalia. #3 – Ofc. Initiated a traffic stop for speeding on Main St. (88 in a 55!). A short pursuit ensued, and the driver of the motorcycle was arrested for evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle and unlawfully carrying a weapon. The 26-year-old male was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #4 – A disturbance at the Stripes C-Store resulted in the arrest of a 31-year-old male for public intoxication. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail.
As the fireworks season approaches … remember fireworks are prohibited in Lytle by city ordinance. It is dry and fireworks pose a significant fire risk. Our officers will be out and about, and we will take enforcement action if needed. The other side is that I am not naive enough to think that a few officers on patrol will eliminate the “popping” of fireworks. It is all about safety, I will leave it at that.

Continue reading “Hayride and Downtown Activities a Success”

Lighting and Santa’s Hayride this Saturday

Calls were up a bit from last week when we only had 32 calls. This week we made it to 47, that’s still low but 32 is “rock bottom” low. Officers conducted 82 traffic stops. Of those 82 stops, 31 were citations and 51 were warnings.
Only one property crime was reported again this week! A 2018 Ford F250 was broken into at Best Western Plus. Nothing was taken, but the damage was estimated at $600.
Only one arrest last week! It only made it into this week’s report by 35 minutes. Ofc. R. Garcia stopped a vehicle on Wisdom Rd. on Sunday at 11:25 PM. The passenger was found to be in possession of a controlled substance, the 48-year-old female was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail.
We recently assisted our Lytle I.S.D. campuses with lockdown drills. As always, they do a fantastic job safeguarding our children. It’s nice to see a well-oiled machine in action.
It’s time! This Saturday, Dec. 14th, is Lytle’s Annual Christmas Lighting and Santa’s Hayride. The event will be held at the Lytle Community Center located at 19031 Priest Blvd. We will start loading the trailers at 5:30 PM. Admission is $1 per person or 1 canned good. There will also be activities in downtown Lytle. Stop by the Shops at Lytle to visit Santa’s Workshop with events for the kids including an Ornament Workshop, North Pole Post Office, and Gingerbread Bakery. Other businesses in the DLEADD (Downtown Lytle Entertainment and Dining District) will be having events, food, or other activities. For now, it looks like the Bakery Pub, Tommy Joe’s BBQ, and the 702 Tejas will be the hot spots that evening. So, make the rounds and check them out. They are all within walking distance. Disclaimer, DLEADD is something I made up so don’t expect to find any info about it on the web. I’m sure somebody can produce something better.
Did you know that a recent change in the law made Texas Peace Officers’ licenses and training records available online to the public? You need to register, and you can access them from the TCOLE main website, https://www.tcole.texas.gov. You can search by name or agency, and you can see what the training and tenure of your local peace officers are like. Transparency is good, and this is a neat tool.

When it comes to the holidays, it is usually very busy or very slow. Normally there is not much in between. Last week we landed on the “very slow” side, and we don’t have any complaints about that. Officers only handled 32 calls for service! Your officers conducted 59 traffic stops; those stops resulted in 23 citations and 36 warnings.
Only one property crime was reported this week! A complainant reported that an envelope containing $2,400 was taken from his vehicle. He had stopped at a business, and when he got back in his vehicle it was gone. We believe some crook got a Christmas bonus.
There were two arrests last week. Both were DWI arrests, a 25-year-old female and a 33-year-old female. Both were stopped for speeding on Main St. Ofc. John Cortez made both arrests, excellent job John! Thanks for keeping our streets safe.
Ofc. Anthony Lopez and Ofc. R. Garcia completed a 40-hour police bicycle patrol course. This was put on by the San Antonio College First Responder Academy, which is located just a few miles north of us on IH-35. These are physically demanding classes; they peddle a lot of miles and learn all kinds of skills. This included firearm training as well. November is a good time since it is normally cooler. Taking this class during the summer qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. Good job guys! Welcome to our bike patrol team.

Continue reading “Lytle’s Annual Hayride event Saturday, Dec. 14”

Happy Thanksgiving week! Last week your Lytle P.D. officers handled 45 calls for service and conducted 68 traffic stops. Of those 68 stops, 40 resulted in a citation and 28 were warnings.
Our officers made one arrest last week. Ofc. J. Cortez was dispatched to the Stripes C-Store for a report of a person eating food without paying for it. When all was said and done, a 45-year-old male was arrested for theft, public intoxication, failure to ID, and felony possession of narcotics. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail.
There were three property crimes reported last week. Two, once you take off the above theft at Stripes. #1 – A complainant at H.E.B. Plus reported that an unknown person “keyed” their 2012 GMC Pickup. #2 – Family Dollar reported that a female shoplifted a basket full of merchandise.
Not too many arrests, not too many property crimes. That’s good if you are a resident, but not so good if you are looking for material to make your weekly report enjoyable.
Here is some vital information if you are a City of Lytle Waste Management customer: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, Waste Management will pick up your trash on Friday versus Thursday. Please have containers out by early in the morning on Friday as they will start picking up trash in the early hours. This might be the most useful information that I provided this week.

Continue reading “Tid-Bits”

Your Lytle P.D. Week in review … Officers handled 41 calls for service and conducted 94 traffic stops. Of those 94 stops, 52 of the stops resulted in citations, and 42 were warnings. 25 citations were for “speeding,” and 11 were for “no insurance”.
There were no arrests this past week, and only two property crimes were reported! Stripes C-Store reported the theft of 952 gallons of diesel fuel, and a Main St. business reported giving a contractor $2,800 for an AC replacement, but they never did any work.
In other news … I was a busy fellow last week. It started on Tuesday with my attendance as a witness in Federal Court. It was an insurance fraud case we were involved with over 8 years ago! They say, “The wheels of justice turn slow”. I guess that statement has some truth to it.

Continue reading “Tid-Bits”

Last week, Lytle P.D. officers managed 56 calls for service and conducted 82 traffic stops. Of those 82 stops, 33 resulted in citations and 49 were warnings. A lot more warnings than citations, there must be a “nicest officer” poll on social media somewhere and our staff is competing.
Only one arrest was made last week. Officers were called to the Outlaw Seafood and Bar & Grill for a report of an intoxicated male. A 68-year-old male was cited for public intoxication and released to a responsible adult.
Officers took reports of three property crimes last week. #1 – H.E.B. Plus reported that someone made off with a hanging basket and a tree with a total value of $55. I have learned through the years that for every item, no matter how big or small, there is someone out there who will steal it. #2 – A complainant reported that their wallet was stolen from their shopping basket. #3 – A complainant reported that $1,000 worth of tools was stolen. He had taken them out of the bed of his truck so he could drive his truck through the new car wash. When he came out somebody had taken off with them, imagine that! Lt. Dear and Ofc. Mendez had a vehicle description; would you believe while on patrol they saw the suspect vehicle at a house? They made contact and recovered the tools; the owner didn’t want to file charges.
I have included three messages from Mayor Ruben Gonzalez, this is some “good stuff to know,” so please pay attention:

Continue reading “Tid Bits”

It’s time for your weekly dose of Lytle P.D. activity … Officers responded to 49 calls for service and conducted 58 traffic stops. Of those 58 traffic stops, 28 resulted in citations and 30 were warnings. The “warnings” nudged out the citations by a mere 2 stops.
There were two arrests made last week, both were a result of the same traffic stop. Ofc. L. Diaz (assisted by Ofc. R. Garcia) stopped a vehicle on Main St. for a defective headlight. The driver, a 26-year-old male, had an active warrant out of Bexar Co. for theft. Officers were going to release the vehicle to the passenger, a 27-year-old female, but, when they checked her driver’s license status, she came back wanted out of Bexar Co. as well for a burglary of a building charge. We call that a “double play”, and both were booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. The vehicle was released to the registered owner.
Three property crimes were reported last week: #1 – A complainant reported that their mini-storage unit (19200 N. Somerset St.) was broken into. They were unsure of what was taken, which is often a common denominator in mini-storage burglaries. #2 – A N. Prairie St. resident reported that an unknown person struck his fence, damage was estimated at $200. #3 – A complaint reported that an iPhone 14 valued at $730 was stolen from the Lytle I.S.D. fieldhouse on 9/26/2024 between 5 and 10:30P.

Continue reading “Lytle PD makes 2 arrests, searching for robbery suspect”