Elgin bus driver faces Texas drug charges after traffic stop
June 11, 2012 5:38PM
Updated: July 13, 2012 6:11AM
Splendora, Texas
Drug charges against driver: A bus driver who lives in Elgin was arrested during a major drug-trafficking seizure near Splendora, Texas, on Sunday, the Houston Chronicle newspaper has reported. According to the news story, a Montgomery County, Texas sheriff’s deputy noticed a defective tail light on a commercial bus driving along Texas Highway 59 in the Splendora area. The deputy pulled the bus over and his K-9 dog alerted him that he smelled illegal drugs. Sheriff’s officials told the Chronicle that a search of the bus then uncovered 7,261 grams (about 16 pounds) of cocaine, 3,355 grams (about 7.4 pounds) of heroin and 89 grams (about 3 ounces) of black-tar heroin, with a total value of some $1 million. The bus driver, 54-year-old Juan Vorrath of Elgin, and one passenger, Ramiro Trevino Jr., 29, from San Benito, Texas, were charged with possession of a controlled substance, money laundering and possession of a criminal instrument.
Elgin
Cut by robbers: A 27-year-old Elgin woman told police two men cut her and tried to rob her as she walked along Larkin Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Able to speak only Spanish, she told officers she was in a dark area on the south side of the street, somewhere between Airlite Street and Larkin High School, when the two men came up and grabbed her purse. She said she struggled with them until she had control of the purse again and they ran away. But after she got home, she noticed she had two severe cuts on her left arm, as if it had been slashed twice by a knife. She said she went to Provena St. Joseph Hospital and called police as her wounds were being stitched.
Beaten by robbers: A 57-year-old Elgin man told police he was beaten and robbed by two men as he walked along Crystal Avenue near South Street at about 10 p.m. Saturday. He said the men demanded his wallet and when he refused, one hit him in the face, they knocked him down and then they kicked him until he gave them the wallet. Bearing the words “Miller High Life,” the wallet contained his state ID card and credit cards. Paramedics said the man declined treatment.
Car break-ins: Omar Monroy, 19, of the 200 block of Morgan Street, Elgin, was charged with felony counts of theft. He is accused of entering cars Wilcox and Oak streets early Monday morning. He also was charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of burglary tools, criminal damage to property and possession of marijuana. According to police, Monroy removed the stereos from two cars, breaking the window of one of them to gain access. Bail was set at $30,000, and he was given a June 19 court date.
Cardboard theft: Orlandus Hill, 49, of 700 block of South Liberty Street, was charged with a felony count of theft. He is accused of taking four pallets of cardboard valued at more than $500 from Target, 300 S. Randall Road, early Monday. Bail was set at $25,000, and he was given a June 21 court date.
Not game time: Reginald D. Williams, 20, of Elgin, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after a police officer said he saw Williams carrying a baseball bat and walking down the middle of Bent Street near Grace Street at 11:20 p.m. Sunday. He was released on his own recognizance pending a July 27 court date.
Not just drunk: Police said a man they stopped for being drunk in Lords Park Thursday afternoon was found also to be a convicted child sex offender who is banned from being within 500 feet of a public park. Hilberto Urias of Elgin was charged with being in a park and released on $150 bond pending a July 24 hearing.
Geneva
Train victim identified: Police Monday identified the man killed by a train Saturday morning as a 40-year-old Geneva resident Patrick Flynn of the 500 block of Linden Court. The incident occurred about 12:45 a.m. Saturday and involved a Union Pacific freight train.
Hampshire
Missing a light?: A man who lives in the 100 block of Terwilliger Avenue told police on June 3 that someone moved a large ornament from his yard and put it on his porch, and also left a broken solar light, stuck through his door knocker. He said he has no idea where the light belongs.
