Get that flu shot! Houston area flu cases spike!

THE CHRON: If you've been putting off your annual flu shot, don't delay any longer: Texas is already being hit hard this flu season.

Houston-area hospitals have seen a spike in the number of emergency room visits for flu-like symptoms, said Porfirio Villarreal, spokesman for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services. During the week of Nov. 18, about 1,580 visits to emergency rooms were attributed to flu-like illnesses, compared with just 249 visits during the same week last year, Villarreal said.

Influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization or even death, the CDC says.

Every flu season is different, and even healthy people can get very sick from the disease and spread it to others. From 1976 to 2007, estimates of U.S. deaths each year due to flu ranged from 3,000 to 49,000.

"Flu is predictably unpredictable," said Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Texas Children's Hospital and pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine. "There's no cause for alarm but cause for action. People should get themselves vaccinated so it doesn't get any worse."

National Influenza Vaccination Week, a campaign established in 2005 to counter the notion that December is too late to get a vaccination, ends Saturday. Once a vaccine is administered, it takes about two weeks to develop immunity.

Although the influenza season usually peaks in February, 48 states and Puerto Rico have reported cases, with rates rising quickly nationwide, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.

Along with Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are also reporting high levels of activity.

In Houston, Texas Children's Hospital has seen an early start to the season with 123 confirmed cases of Type A influenza and 32 cases of Type B, compared with just two Type A cases in the same span last year, Demmler-Harrison said.

Everyone who is at least 6 months old should get a flu vaccination, but the CDC says it's especially important for these groups:

» People at high risk of developing serious complications like pneumonia if they get the flu, including those with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and chronic lung disease.

» Pregnant women.

» People 65 years and older.

» People who live with or care for others who are at high risk of developing serious complications.

Shell plant releases hydrocarbons

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Shell Oil Co said a product storage tank emitted a release of hydrocarbons early on Thursday at the company's manufacturing site in Deer Park, Texas.

"Our emergency response personnel arrived on the scene and quickly stabilized the tank," company spokeswoman Kayla Macke said. The size of the release was not known.

The company said it does not expect any offsite impact from the incident.

The facility houses Shell's 327,000-barrels-per-day joint-venture refinery.

The Deer Park refinery is the 11th largest in the United States and is a 50/50 joint venture between Mexico's national oil company Pemex and Royal Dutch Shell Plc's U.S. unit Shell Oil Co, which operates the plant.

Woman points gun at kids in Deer Park ...

By Andrew Horansky / KHOU.com

Posted on October 12, 2012 at 9:46 AM

DEER PARK, Texas — A group of kids were recently greeted at a Deer Park home by a woman wielding a handgun.

From the outside, the Reyes’ appears to be inviting. There is a little league sign beside the front door.

“Any time you point a loaded handgun at somebody there is always a chance of somebody getting shot,” said Detective Jason Meredith, with the Deer Park Police Department.

It was the second time the kids had rung the bell at the home on Wynfield on a Saturday night and run off, in a juvenile prank known as “ding dong ditch.”

According to police, there were five boys between the ages of 9 and 14. The woman’s 14-year old daughter followed them to a park with a bat.

Mom was not far behind.

According to an affidavit, she allegedly told one of them he “was lucky she didn’t shoot his head off.” She allegedly told another if he ran “she would shoot him and beat up his parents.”

The boys said she had a gun in her hand. Police said there was no indication she was on any kind of substance.

Records show the woman is 39-year old Cherry Reyes, and she has been charged with the felony offense of aggravated assault.

Some neighbors said they feel better knowing that.

One unidentified woman said the boys rang her bell and ran too, but that they are good kids.

“I didn’t even worry about it,” she said. “Because I can look out and see them in the yard, I knew they were just playing around.”

Yet another neighbor believes homeowners can never be too careful.

“She could have been scared,” Scott Czerwonka said. “You have to look at all the situations.”

Police said Reyes followed one of the boys home to speak to his parents. They said she did not have a gun when she went.

Deer Park woman accused of beating her son - injuring him.

DEER PARK, TX (KTRK) -- A Deer Park mother is accused of causing serious bodily injury to her young son while beating him.

Court documents state on August 17 Melissa Nicole Gibbs punished her 10-year-old son for not doing the dishes by hitting him in the buttocks and upper thigh with a wooden paddle and spanking him with her hand. Police say the boy had extensive bruising to those areas, which was documented with photographs.

After the incident, the boy told two witnesses who took the photos and reported the alleged abuse. The boy told police the bruises were painful.

Investigators say Gibbs admitted that she hit the boy with a wood paddle and her hand and that the punishment was excessive.

Gibbs, 29, is charged with injury to a child.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Deer Park family talks of canine home invasion

KENS5 HOUSTON – For the second time in three weeks, a Deer Park family has been victimized by a canine home invasion.

The latest case happened Monday night in Deer Park. Darlene Trahan says she was cooking dinner with her 4-year-old grandson at her side when she heard a sound at the back door. Upon investigating, she says she found one of her neighbor’s pit bulls in her utility room.

It had come in through the doggie door.

"He was growling," said Trahan. "I shut the door and went back in the kitchen. I wasn’t going to deal with it."

The first time it happened, the couple’s 11-year-old dachshund was attacked and required more than $1,000 in vet care.

The Trahans want something done about their neighbor’s pit bulls.

"The city says they can’t do nothing about it," said Mike Trahan. "Bureaucratic bull crap I guess."

Deer Park’s City Manager says the owner, Jason Colvin, has been fined $150. The city also deemed one of his dogs dangerous, requiring it to be restrained or in a secured enclosure. Colvin must now carry $100,000 in liability insurance.

After the first incident, Colvin defended his pets.

"They’re people dogs," said Colvin. "They’re friendly. "They’re going to go into your house."

Mike Trahan says if the pit bulls go into his house again, they’ll be dead dogs.

Deer Park teen charged with manslaughter speaks out ...

DEER PARK, TX (KTRK) -- A teenage mom accused of manslaughter in a car crash that killed her friend speaks out about the charges against her. She's being prosecuted now, more than a year after the crash, after what the Deer Park Police Department called an incomplete investigation.For the first time the suspect in the deadly Deer Park wreck is speaking publicly about that night, her own injuries and about the charges against her.

"Honestly, that night... I don't remember anything from that night," Taylar Braden said. "Literally almost nothing."

This is the Taylar Braden you likely don't know.

"I'm a single mother of a two and a half year old son," she said.

The candid 19-year-old is still recovering from her own injuries in the wreck 12 months ago that killed her 18-year-old friend Andreaka Bell and has her charged with manslaughter.

"Andreaka is gone. I can't even put it into words or even begin to describe how I feel," Taylar said. "Regardless of how the family feels toward me, I still pray that they'll come to peace with this, because it is hard. I can't even begin to explain how they feel, because I don't know."

Taylar says she sustained brain injuries that have left her with a poor memory. Prosecutors say she was drunk and behind the wheel after leaving a party with two friends. Now she's worried about going to jail for something she doesn't remember."I don't even know if what they're saying is even

 true," she said.

The case against her is somewhat unusual in that Deer Park police admittedly failed to investigate the wreck properly when it happened in August 2011. The community cried foul, saying that police didn't value Andreaka Bell's life.

Officer Thomas Goodwin resigned from the force after his superiors determined he never completed the initial investigation. Her family, who did not want to respond to our interview with Taylar, called for justice and wants Taylar behind bars.

"Taylar is being prosecuted and to some extent she is being persecuted by the community," said defense attorney Paul Houston LaValle. "People are hating on her. They're sending her death threats. This is a very remorseful, very scared, very spiritual person."

Taylar said, "I pray about it, that maybe it'll just get better, people will see my side and they'll understand more."

Taylar Braden tells us she has apologized to Andreaka Bell's family. The family tells us they're not interested in anything other than Taylar being punished. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years behind bars. But her attorney believes prosecutors will have a difficult time convincing a jury that Taylar is guilty of any wrongdoing.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Deer Park Teen charged with manslaughter

by Andrew Horansky/KHOU and Nikki Metzgar/KHOU.com

khou.com

Posted on August 3, 2012 at 11:33 AM

Updated Friday, Aug 3 at 5:52 PM

DEER PARK, Texas—A Deer Park teenager has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly causing a crash that killed Andreaka Bell and injured another passenger almost one year ago.

Taylar Braden, 19, is accused of causing Bell’s death by driving her car at an excessive speed, failing to maintain proper lookout, failing to control the speed of her car, failing to maintain a single lane, consuming alcohol unlawfully and speeding above the posted speed.

The investigation into the accident fell apart when the Deer Park Police Department revealed it had failed to interview witnesses or to test Braden’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash.

The family of 18-year old Bell knew that without information from the scene, it would be difficult to file charges.

They launched an online petition to bring attention to their case, which finally went before a judge on Friday.

Prosecutors determined that there was enough evidence to move forward with manslaughter charges against Braden.

Investigators say that Braden drove her friends Bell and Ashley Broussard to a house party on August 13, 2011.

Bell stayed in the back seat of the car to sleep, Broussard said to police.

She also said that they played drinking games before Braden got involved in a fight with another male guest. Witnesses say that when Braden threw a beer at the man, the owner of the house asked everyone to leave.

That’s when Braden allegedly got into the driver seat, with Broussard on the passenger side and Bell still asleep in the back.

Broussard told police that Braden sped in order to catch up with the young man she had fought with earlier.

Braden lost control of the car, which flipped onto its roof, ejecting both Braden and Bell on the 4300 block of West Pasadena Boulevard.

They were flown to Memorial Hermann, where Bell later died.

Broussard suffered from fractures on both sides of her hips, compressed discs in her spine and cuts and bruises, according to court documents.

In an interview with police, Braden said that there were alcoholic beverages at the party and that she was the person driving the car, but that she did not remember if she drank anything.

Investigators reconstructed the scene of the accident and believe that Braden was driving at least 88 miles per hour where the speed limit was 40.

Braden’s mother denies that her daughter was drunk.

"I had two nurses minimal in that hospital, I asked ‘was there anything in her system?’" Cynthia Bienvenue said. "They said no."

She said that her daughter has two-year old son and is considering going back to school. If convicted, Braden could spend anywhere from 2 to 20 years in prison and pay up to a $20,000 fine.

The Deer Park officer in charge at the time of the investigation is no longer with the department

Deer Park family's dog mistakenly euthanized.

By Tiffany Craig / KHOU 11 News

DEER PARK, Texas — A dog owner in Deer Park is trying to make sense out of how her dog was euthanized.

It happened last week when a note was left at her door. It read, “Dog was loose and attacked mail carrier please call.”

So, Rosalyn Pichon called Deer Park Animal Control.

“I said, 'I’m the lady that you left the card in the door,'” said Pichon. “I said,  'What happened?' He said, 'Well he attacked the mailman, but he didn’t bite the mailman.'”

Pichon says her 10-year-old chow and pit bull mix named Newt wasn’t aggressive and questioned what really happened.

Nonetheless, her dog was picked up on Monday and she called first thing Tuesday about picking him up. She called again on Wednesday and agreed that between her work schedule and the pound’s hours, that Friday would work best.

That was, until her phone rang on Thursday.

“The supervisor called me Thursday morning at work and there was a mix up,” she recalled from the conversation. “We euthanized your dog, and I said, ‘What do you mean? I was coming to get him.’”

No one from Deer Park Animal Control would talk on camera, but did provide information on this case by phone. A supervisor admitted a mistake was made when an employee didn’t pass the word that the owner had called and planned to pick up the dog. 

Disciplinary action is being taken against that employee.

In the meantime, a supervisor did offer Pichon another pet.

“He said, 'If you want to, you can come and get a puppy,'” said Pichon. “I said, 'No way.' What would I get a puppy for? That’s not supposed to make me feel like everything is OK.
”

Historic rain hits Houston area

CBS/AP) HOUSTON - Historic rainfall levels that drenched the Houston area this week flooded dozens of homes and caused widespread street flooding, but the rain also is likely to result in the end of drought conditions in Southeast Texas, officials said Friday.

Officials estimated that fewer than 100 homes were flooded after Cypress Creek, located in the northwest part of the Houston area, rose above its banks after getting about 14 inches of rain over the past couple of days, said Francisco Sanchez, a spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

County officials were still trying to reach flooded neighborhoods oan Friday to better assess the damage, but initial reports had homes affected anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet of water, Sanchez said.

"Some areas along Cypress Creek got more rain in the last 24 hours than in Hurricane Ike (in 2008) or from major flooding in 1998," Sanchez said.

CBS Affiliate KHOU reports it will be mostly dry Saturday morning, but there is a 60-percent chance of rain beginning in the afternoon.

A flood warning is in effect until 8:50 a.m. Sunday for northwest Harris County and Montgomery County. A flood warning is in effect until 10 Sunday night for the Spring Creek area of Harris County.

In northwest Harris County, a good portion of the subdivision called the Enchanted Valley Estates was only accessible by boat. Homeowners could be seen using canoes, pontoon boats and even a jet ski to navigate around the area.

Firefighters rescued several families from the Norchester subdivision near Cypress Creek Friday when two to three feet of water seeped into their homes overnight.

Several people also had to be rescued early Friday morning after driving into high water.

Gary Whitaker Jr., who lives in one of the areas affected by Cypress Creek, said street flooding in his neighborhood had started to recede on Friday but a nearby subdivision still had streets that were impassable. Water from the creek was flowing "like a waterfall" across one street and into a golf course, he said.

"Quite a few people in our subdivision couldn't go to work today. They couldn't get out (due to flooded streets). It was pretty risky," he said.

Whitaker, 36, who lives in Cypress, an unincorporated area in northwest Harris County, said there were no reports of flooded homes in his neighborhood.

The American Red Cross in Houston sent out workers Friday to affected neighborhoods to assess the flooded homes, said spokesman Cameron Ballantyne. The agency had not opened any shelters.

In Montgomery County, located just north of Harris County, officials reported seven to eight flooded homes.

A shelter had been opened in Montgomery County at Living Stones Church in Magnolia, but church secretary Linda Arnold said no residents had used the facility.

Victor Murphy, a climate expert with the National Weather Service, said one rain gauge on the border of Harris and Waller counties recorded 10.3 inches of rain in a 10 hour period.

Murphy said that amount of precipitation within that short period of time suggests that area experienced a "100-year rainfall event," which caused Cypress Creek to overflow.

Other areas in Southeast Texas also got large amounts of rain, including just west of Bay City in Matagorda County, which received about 18 inches this past week.

"Rainfall in the entire (Southeast Texas) area this week was in the 8 to 10 inch category," he said. "The average weekly rainfall for this time of year is about 1 inch or so."

While the current U.S. Drought Monitor shows some parts of Southeast Texas as being abnormally dry, that does not include this week's rainfall totals.

"When the next U.S. Drought Monitor comes out Thursday, there will not be any drought in Southeast Texas," Murphy said. Most of the rest of the state was expected to remain in drought conditions.

Even if Southeast Texas only experiences average rainfall or dry weather the rest of the summer, drought conditions should be kept at bay until at least the fall, Murphy said.

Sanchez said officials were hopeful Cypress Creek, which was still rising Friday, would eventually recede if the area was not inundated with more rain. Water levels at two other nearby creeks which had also flowed out of their banks, had started to fall.

Rain was forecast for this weekend but the chances of showers were expected to be lower than earlier this week.

Deer Park Police get grant to curb drunk drivers

DEER PARK POLICE DEPT. RELEASE

The Deer Park Police Department has been awarded the Impaired Driver Mobilization Grant through the Texas Department of Transportation. The grant is in conjunction with the states “Drink. Drive. Go To Jail” campaign which will allow the department to provide extra staffing hours between June 30, 2012 – July 8, 2012 with the sole purpose of locating and arresting impaired drivers. To accomplish this we will be saturating the high risk areas with extra patrol to ensure compliance through visibility and enforcement.

In addition Deer Park Police will be working with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to obtain search warrants for blood specimens in support of the Statewide "No Refusal" process, when a suspected drunk driver refuses to provide a breath specimen.

Through these efforts we hope to make Deer Park a safer place for you and your loved ones.

High Voltage team takes first place in robot competition

Forty-four students and 12 sponsors from Carpenter Elementary, Bonnette Junior High, Deepwater Junior High, Deer Park Junior High, Fairmont Junior High, and Deer Park High School-South Campus loaded up a charter bus to head for the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) State Robotics Contest in Irving to compete April 13-14 against 185 other teams.

DPHS-South Campus’ team placed second among 32 other teams in Advanced Inventions. The team’s winning entry was “The Fire Storm,” a robot that searches around the forest looking for wildfires. Team members were Kyle Smithson, Josee Records, and Gary Lei. Cynthia Smithson and Scott Carroll were sponsors.

Deer Park Junior High’s “High Voltage” team of Cody Scarcella and Dawson Duncan placed first against 56 other teams in Intermediate Arena, while the school’s “J-Squared” team of Jacob Henson and Jacob Dyer placed fourth. Sponsors were Stacy Phillips and Leisa Davidson.

Carpenter Elementary students Brent Russell, Damian Caballero, Trevor Gibbs, and Joshua Mize placed 13th in the Intermediate Arena category, while the team of Danny Armendariz, Ethan Smith, Alex Coatney, and Wyatt Hale placed 27th. Carpenter sponsors were Terri Armendariz and Lindsey Taylor. Fifty-seven teams competed in the event.

TCEA’s Area 4 Robotics Competition for schools in the Houston area took place at Fairmont Junior High on Jan. 15. In addition to the aforementioned teams, many other Deer Park students qualified for state competition, including DPHS-South Campus students Cameron Alexander, Taylor Black, and Aminadab Morales, who competed in Advanced Arena. Another group from South Campus---Matthew Walmsley, Cameron Manley, and Holden Berryhill---advanced to state competition in Advanced Inventions.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE 

Teacher’s aide resigns over concerns of mistreatment.

THE CHRON:

A teacher’s aide in Deer Park schools whose concern about the mistreatment of special education students led to the resignations of two teachers last month has quit her job, citing the school district’s refusal to fire the teachers, a school district official confirmed.

Whitney Bertrand, the former special education aide at Fairmont Junior High School, turned in her resignation March 21, said Matt Lucas, spokesman for the Deer Park Independent School District.

Bertrand’s reports of mistreatment of special education students at the hands of a teacher prompted that teacher to resign, as well as another teacher who failed to report the incident to officials.

Bertrand told Houston’s Fox 26 News that she quit in protest of the district’s refusal to fire the teachers.

I’m not going to work for a district that does not have the best interest of the kids. I just won’t do it. … When I heard the screaming and the crying, I just couldn’t listen to any more of it. … It ripped me apart. I just couldn’t handle it.

Parent Sheri Graham said that she and her husband were shocked to learn of how the special ed teacher treated their 13-year-old son at Fairmont.

“We were notified by three aides in the classroom that on Dec. 5 (2011), the teacher taunted, mocked and put my son in time out almost all day long,” said Graham, whose three children attend Deer Park schools.

Graham said the teacher sprayed her son in the face with a water bottle and forced him to fold towels repeatedly. The mother also accused the teacher of ridiculing her son for not being able to tie his shoes and told him he could not come out of time out until he could.

Lucas, of Deer Park ISD, said the school district conducted an investigation that included input from the teacher’s aide and the teachers. “Ultimately,” he said, “the (Deer Park Independent) School Board ruled in favor of the district, which affirmed the decision not to terminate those two teachers.”

Bertrand told Fox 26 that district officials launched a cover-up when news of the incident was reported in the media. Lucas sees it another way.

“She (Bertrand) was asked not to speak to anybody at the beginning of the process because allegations were being made and it’s important for people not to talk to other people while the investigation is taking place,” he said.

“Later on, as it broke in the media, she was told that we have a district spokesman,” Lucas said. “There was never any kind of retaliation or drawbacks from talking to the media.”

Meanwhile, several parents have filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency against the school district in the case.

Theft charges dropped on local cop

DEER PARK, TEXAS — Theft charges have been dropped against a suburban Houston cop accused of stealing co-workers' food from the police station refrigerator.

A sting operation by the Deer Park Police Department netted Officer Kevin Yang. Police Chief Greg Griggs had said surveillance cameras caught Yang repeatedly stealing colleagues' food and drinks from the refrigerator in the station's break room.

Yang was charged with misdemeanor theft and suspended for 30 days without pay. According to a statement issued by the city, Yang agreed not to sue the city over the investigation if the class C misdemeanor charge was dropped.

Yang is back on duty after his 30-day suspension, which cost him $4,500 in lost pay. A class C misdemeanor conviction would have meant a fine of no more than $50

Iconic deer sculpture missing ...

THE WOODLANDS, TX (KTRK) -- There's something missing from The Woodlands -- life-size sculptures of wildlife, swiped right from the Woodlands' entrance. Residents are outraged.

The deer sculptures didn't run off by themselves. Investigators believe they were taken by scrap metal thieves and the artist who designed them wants them returned.

Those stolen deer statues are part of a large collection. Deputies say they don't know who the thieves are, nor when they are striking.

Many folks call the bronze deer sculptures the signature of The Woodlands.

"The deer represent The Woodlands, I think," said resident Karen Draeger.

But recently some suspicious thieves have stolen two pieces of the heavy outdoor art -- a buck weighing 400 to 500 pounds and a 100-pound sculpture of a fawn.

"Well, that's terrible," said resident Mehdi Nasvri. "Woodlands has done their best to make this area look beautiful and in harmony with nature, and people just coming to do this type of vandalism really is not acceptable."

A spokeswoman from The Woodlands Development Company says it appears a group of thieves severed the buck's leg around March 1 at State Highway 242 and FM 1488. All that's left is a stump.

There's just a platform where the fawn stood at Creekside Park until it was taken last week. Neighbors call the crime suspicious.

"They cannot sell them," said resident Alfredo Hassuy. "Who could they sell them to? So, they melt them or they sell them for scrap.

Local artist Edd Hayes designed 27 of the deer sculptures on display around The Woodlands. He told me the stainless steel platforms are set in 400 pounds of concrete. He says stainless steel rods connect the deer to the platform. Hayes says the bronze statues are easily identifiable with his name etched inside the hind leg.

"They had a lot of help," theorized resident Charles Tomasek.

For now, neighbors are hoping the thieves are caught.

Local scrap metal dealers say bronze is being sold right now on average from $1.50 to $2.50 per pound.

Anyone with information about the stolen deer statues is encouraged to call the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Two Harris County cops fired - one for suspected child molestation.

THE CHRON: March 03--Two Harris County sheriff's deputies were arrested Friday, including one accused of molesting a young girl on multiple occasions.

Eleazar Gongora, Jr., was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a felony. He was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies, the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force.

The girl, 9, knows Gongora. According to the criminal complaint against him, Gongora, 41, assaulted her between June 2009 and October 2011 at the homes he was living at in Houston and Pasadena.

The investigation that led to Friday's arrest began after the girl told her mother what happened in late December, according to the complaint.

Hired in 2000

"My employees are expected to obey the law in their private life as well as their public life. We at the Sheriff's Office see no boundary between them when it comes to protecting the community," Sheriff Adrian Garcia said in a statement following the arrest.

Gongora joined the Sheriff's Office in March 2000 and had been assigned to the Harris County Jail's mental health unit.

His employment status is under review as a result of the charge, authorities said.

He is being held without bail at the Harris County Jail.

Also on Friday, another deputy was arrested after internal affairs investigators accused him of falsifying records of his whereabouts while at work.

Jimmy W. George, 38, was later charged with felony tampering with a government record.

A woman who answered the front door at his home in Spring declined to comment about the arrest.

On Dec. 9, George was sent to investigate reports that someone in a Ford pickup was driving erratically along Brightwood Drive near Falling Creek in northwest Harris County.

Records show that George logged in at the scene on his patrol car's computer.

"We had surveillance on him. We knew he wasn't there," said Christina Garza, a Harris County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Sheriff comments

"There were other instances where he said he was at a certain location and we know for a fact that he wasn't there," Garza said.

Citing their investigation, Garza declined to say where the internal affairs investigators believe George was at the time he was supposed to have been at work.

"This case is isolated and does not represent the hard work being done by the rest of our crime fighters, especially patrol deputies who are dealing with an increasing number of emergency calls," Garcia said.

George was released from the Harris County Jail after posting bail set at $2000.

George was fired from the sheriff's department where he had worked since December 1996.

Deer Park Cop caught stealing on video ...

DEER PARK, Texas -- It's something that happens at some workplaces -- items suddenly come up missing from the company fridge. But it has happened so often at the Deer Park Police Department that they decided to watch the refrigerator with a surveillance camera. And now a police officer faces charges.

The police chief told us someone had been stealing lunches, drinks, even 60 pounds of deer sausage out of the break room fridge for about a year and police employees were pretty mad. So, the chief authorized a sting operation on the refrigerator.

According to Deer Park police, on November 19 last year Officer Kevin Yang was caught on video taking an unopened Monster energy drink out of the break room refrigerator. That drink was marked with 'MSA', a detective's initials. Yang told investigators he took it upon himself to keep the fridge clean.

"A lot of times we clean up the community refrigerator like once a week, everything take by Friday or certain date or everything gets thrown out, which we don't do here," explained Deer Park Police Chief Greg Griggs.

But Deer Park police say it happened again and again. Officer Yang was reportedly caught again November 22 taking a bag from a local sandwich shop marked with a detective's initials. Then, on November 26, Officer Yang is seen taking a Monster drink and on November 27, he takes another drink, once again marked with initials.

The police chief authorized the video sting because he says the thefts had gone on for a while.

Chief Griggs said, "The conversations in the hallways and briefings and people's frustrations and aggravation with that occurring did not deter the events. In fact, they increased."

So investigators set up a hidden camera and put Monster energy drinks and some food in the fridge and waited.

"The same officer was taking the items each time," Chief Griggs said. "Nobody else was taking it during that three week period."

Officer Yang began a 30-day unpaid suspension on Tuesday and is facing misdemeanor theft charges now.

The chief says no matter what's stolen or where, theft is theft.

He said, "When you're not putting anything in and you're taking things out, it became clear to us he was taking things knowingly and against the law."

Officer Yang will be reinstated from his 30 day suspension March 22. Even if he is convicted of the misdemeanor theft charge, he will be able to return to the job, because it's not a class B or above offense.