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Friday, February 3, 2012
Police break up Occupy Austin encampment
UPDATE 12:45 A.M.: City officials confirmed seven people were arrested tonight, all on charges of criminal trespass.
In a surprise move tonight, Austin police officers began breaking up the Occupy Austin encampment, moving protesters who for nearly four months had set up sleeping bags, signs and a makeshift library in front of City Hall.
Armed with city policy adopted Thursday that bans people from the public building during overnight hours, officers began clearing the protesters about 9:30 p.m. They said that they were enforcing new rules that also ban sleeping, camping and storing sleeping equipment on the plaza, mezzanine and amphitheater — the sites that the group has called home since Oct. 6.
Although the effort started peacefully, the mood began to get heated about 10:45 p.m. as members gathered to discuss what to do next. Many yelled “Shame!” and “Freedom of Speech!” at officers and city staff.
A young woman has suffered minor injury in what appeared to be a scuffle with police.
Protesters have now left City Hall, which is completely surrounded by officers. Protesters appear to be marching north on Lavaca Street. A police motorcycle is diverting traffic in front of the the plaza.
About five people were arrested on criminal trespass charges, a city official said.
One member, Michelle Millett, called the police response “inhuman.”
“The city has failed continuously with its homeless issues. Our homeless population grows by the day. Just because they sweep them off the staircase that doesn’t mean they’ll disappear,” Millett said. “Give us a day at least to come up with a plan. That’s the common-sense thing to do.”
Officials in recent months have contended with the rising costs of police overtime and maintaining cleanliness at City Hall as 30 to 40 people slept there for many weeks.
In mid-January, police officials said the cost of constant police patrols had climbed to about $110,000 to $115,000 every two weeks. City officials estimated Friday night that the movement has now cost taxpayers about $800,000 over the last few months.
Occupy Austin members said the 24-hour patrols were not warranted, but police officials have disagreed, saying 118 people have been arrested there between October and mid-January.
Police have said most of the previous arrests have involved criminal trespass or having outstanding warrants. Others have been arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, fighting, exposing themselves or other crimes.
For months, city officials said they had no plans to vacate the protesters because they were engaging in peaceful assembly protected by the First Amendment.
Photo: Jay Janner/American-Statesman
No injuries in shooting involving police at Northwest Austin apartment
Update Sat. Feb. 4, 6:32 p.m.
FROM AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT
The subject from last night’s officer involved shooting and SWAT call out at 7201 Wood Hollow has been identified as: Evan Schaffrath, White male, (D. O. B. 01-28-78). He has been charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer. Bond is set at $20,000 for each count.
The suspect was shot once resulting in a non-life threatening injury. As is standard procedure the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Friday night: No injuries were reported after an officer fired at a man who shot at police at a Northwest Austin apartment complex, police said.
Police had few details about the incident.
Austin police Lt. Kevin Leverenz said officers had responded to a “check welfare” call before 11 p.m. at 7201 Wood Hollow Drive. The department’s SWAT team also had been called to the scene.
Collision closes two lanes on I-35
The two southbound inside lanes of Interstate 35 are blocked while crews work to clean up a collision between two commercial vehicles, officials said.
The collision happened just north of U.S. 290 on Interstate 35, officials said.
There were no injuries in the collision, but one of the vehicles was leaking fluid — likely radiator or transmission fluid — so a hazmat team was called to the scene, officials said.
Permalink | Categories: Collision
Texas Gas Service: January house explosion caused by gas main leak
An explosion that killed the owner of a North Austin house in January was caused by a natural gas leak from a pipe running along the street, not because of a gas leak that the homeowner reported in November, officials from the Texas Gas Service said today.
Company officials said they have completed their investigation into the explosion at 1712 Payne Ave. on Jan. 9 that killed 43-year-old Renald Ferrovecchio, who was remodeling the property.
Though Ferrovecchio contacted the Texas Gas Service on Nov. 25 about a leak, it was a different gas line that leaked on Jan. 9, causing the explosion, company president Kari French told the American-Statesman.
“A small leak reported in November 2011 did not cause this incident,” French said.
Neighbors told reporters that Ferrovecchio had been complaining of a natural gas leak for several weeks.
The report says the explosion was caused by the ignition of natural gas that escaped from a break in a 4-inch, cast-iron gas main running parallel to Payne Avenue and through the front yards of Ferrovecchio and his neighbor.
The explosion was reported around 8:30 a.m. that day. Ferrovecchio was found dead in the smoldering wreckage of the home. A 55-year-old neighbor whose home was damaged by the blast was hospitalized after suffering inhalation burns.
The source of the ignition is unknown, the report said.
The November gas leak came from a small line segment located in the driveway, French said.
A letter summarizing the report also attributes the cause of the main break to “shifting soil due to severe drought conditions followed by rainfall.” French said such an incident is “very rare.”
Texas Railroad Commission spokeswoman Ramona Nye said their investigation into the explosion is ongoing.
Murder charges filed in Avery Ranch-area shooting this morning
A man who police say shot another person three times outside his home in the Avery Ranch area early this morning has been charged with murder, according to jail records.
Fred Yazdi, 47, is in the Williamson County Jail this afternoon on $250,000 bail. Police say Yazdi shot Enrique Recio, 23, who had crashed his car minutes earlier near Yazdi’s home in the 11300 block of Stakes Plains Drive, police have said.
Police were first called to the area at 2:57 a.m. after Recio crashed his car nearby. At 3:06, they were called to Yazdi’s home after receiving reports of a possible homicide, the document said. When officers arrived, they found Recio lying in the sidewalk about 100 feet from the home and Yazdi outside, it said.
Yazdi’s wife told officers that she heard voices outside the home, saw a man under her car and woke her husband, who went outside, the document said. Yazdi told police that he saw Recio outside the home and ordered him not to flee several times, the document said. He said he told Recio “If you flee, I’m going to shoot you,” the affidavit said. When Recio tried to run, Yazdi fired, it said.
Three shell casings were found outside the home, along with a 40-caliber semi-automatic Beretta, the affidavit said.
Ricardo B. Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Earlier:
Austin police officials had no immediate details regarding a suspect in the case.
Officials expect to release additional details in the case this morning.
Permalink | Categories: Shooting
Second fire of the day out in Round Rock
A fire that ignited in a Round Rock office building this afternoon is out, Round Rock spokesman Will Hampton said.
The fire, in an office building still under construction in the 1100 block of Louis Henna Drive, was accidentally started by a welder working on the roof, Hampton said.
“Guys were able to get up there and put it out within a half hour,” he said.
Damage is estimated at $50,000.
The fire was the second to spark in Round Rock Friday. A fire Friday morning destroyed the office of an automotive business in the 1800 block of Interstate 25 North. Damage is estimated at $25,000.
There were no injuries in either fire.
Victim, suspect identified in downtown hit-and-run
Update:
University of Texas athletics spokesman Nick Voinis said the woman who was critically injured in the hit-and-run in downtown Austin early Friday is Kylie Doniak, at right, a senior who played four seasons on the Longhorn soccer team.
In addition, police have identified the man suspected of driving the car involved in the incident as 22-year-old Nicholas Colunga.
Colunga, at right, was booked into Travis County Jail shortly after 5 a.m.on three charges and remained jailed this afternoon, according to jail records.
Colunga is facing two counts of failure to stop and render aid and intoxication assault, an Austin police official said.
Update:
A driver is in custody after witnesses said a vehicle ran a red light and drove into a crowd of pedestrians, critically injuring one woman, in downtown Austin, a police official said.
The driver is facing charges in connection with the incident after a witness followed him and tackled him until police arrived, said Austin police spokeswoman Veneza Aguinaga.
Witnesses said the driver of a Chevy Impala ran a red light around 2 a.m. while driving west on Eighth Street at San Jacinto Boulevard, Aguinaga said. At that time, several pedestrians were walking north in the crosswalk on San Jacinto crossing Eighth Street, she said.
The vehicle then struck three pedestrians, two women and a man, and left the scene, Aguinaga said. One woman was critically injured, another was treated at the scene, while the man suffered minor, non life-threatening injuries, she said. The critically injured woman and the man were both taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge, she said.
A motorcyclist who witnessed the incident followed the suspected hit-and-run driver for several blocks until the suspect stopped at 10th Street and Rio Grande, she said. The motorcyclist then tackled the suspected driver and detained him until police arrived, she said.
Alcohol is suspected in the case.
The driver could be facing several charges in connection with the case, including driving while intoxicated and failure to stop and render aid, she said.
The injured female remained in critical condition this morning, Aguinaga said.
Earlier:
A woman was critically injured this morning when she was struck by a vehicle in downtown Austin, while another pedestrian suffered minor injuries, officials said Friday.
The critically injured woman was struck around 2 a.m. near East Eighth Street and San Jacinto Boulevard, officials said.
The woman was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge, officials said. The call initially came in as a hit-and-run, however, the driver has since been detained, the official said.
A second person was also struck in an auto-pedestrian crash in the downtown incident and suffered minor injuries and was also taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge, an Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service official said.
A pedestrian attempted to chase down the driver of what was initially reported as a hit-and-run, and that driver remains in police custody, officials said.
Authorities expect to release additional details in the case later today.
Permalink | Categories: Hit-and-run
Williamson officers searching for sexual assault suspect
The Williamson County sheriff’s office is investigating reports that a woman was sexually assaulted in the Vista Oaks subdivision.
The incident happened at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Vista Oaks greenbelt at the end of Vista Isle Drive, according to the sheriff’s office. The subdivision is near Round Rock, off FM 1431 near Sam Bass Road.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 943-1300.
Permalink | Categories: Sexual assault
APD issues ‘no refusal’ enforcement Super Bowl Sunday
FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT:
The Austin Police Department will enforce a “No-Refusal” initiative for Super Bowl Sunday on February 5, 2012 from 7:30 p.m. - 5:00 a.m.
The DWI initiative is an effort to enforce DWI laws, keep the public safe, and to conduct blood search warrants on suspects who refuse to give a breath or blood specimen as required by law. A high number of DWI arrests are made in Austin each year. About 24% of last year’s traffic fatalities were alcohol related.
The 82nd Legislature passed HB1199 which implemented a higher class of offense for those whose blood alcohol concentration is at or above .15. Those found to have a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or above will be charged with a Class A Misdemeanor which carries a maximum sentence of one year confinement in jail and a $4,000 fine for the first time offenders. This law goes into effect on September 1, 2011.
APD is focused on saving lives on the streets and highways of Austin and making Austin roadways safe for everyone through education and enforcement.
