Lytle Police activity for last week included 49 calls for police service. Officers also conducted 35 traffic stops, which resulted in 25 drivers receiving citations and 10 ended up with either verbal or written warnings.
We had two arrests last week. Ofc. Sergio Pena was dispatched to the Whataburger drive thru lane (do you see where this one is going?). Yes, an intoxicated fellow was passed out behind the wheel. He was arrested for DWI and booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. A few days later Ofc. Pena repeated the scenario! It’s like the drive thru lane up there is a “trotline” for intoxicated drivers, so I guess you could say it is baited with hamburgers.
Our property crimes last week included a little bit of everything, which is never a good thing. We had two thefts of motor vehicles. On Monday we took a report of a stolen white 2000 Ford F250 P/U from Quicksilver Automotive on Main St. On Sunday, a little after noon, a similar vehicle was taken from the H.E.B. Plus. This was a white, 2004 Ford F250 P/U. The video shows it was taken at 12:19 PM, and it also showed Cpl. Robison and I patrol through the parking lot just 2 minutes prior to the theft!
Officers also responded to two shoplifting events. The H.E.B. C-Store reported that a female with purple hair walked out of the store without paying for a bag of beef jerky, a bag of burritos, and a chocolate milk. Who in the world drinks chocolate milk with burritos? The correct accompanying item to shoplift with chocolate milk is clearly powdered donuts. The Dollar General reported that a male suspect ran out of the store with four packs of Gain detergent pods, wow! That’s a fellow who really cares about clean clothes. Surprisingly, Gain just barely made the top 10 list of detergent pods for 2020 (they were #9 on the list I found; Tide had a variety in the top 10).
We also had rare (for us) business burglary. At about 4:55 AM on Saturday morning, two suspects busted out the front glass door of the Star Food Mart on Main St. (also known as the Chevron). Once inside, they went straight to the loose packs of cigarettes and loaded up. They knew what they were after; they didn’t mess with cash, snuff, or any other valuable items. The officer was alerted because of an alarm, but by the time he got there our crooks were gone.
I’m sad to report that Ruble Farmer, our current District 5 City Council Member passed away last week. He was a wonderful man and a retired school teacher. He had such a huge, positive impact on so many people in our community. He would have turned 90 in June. He was laid to rest on Saturday, and when people say “they don’t make them like that anymore”…Mr. Farmer was the kind of person they are talking about.