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.

Severe weather expected today in Houston area

KRPC: You can see a wall of heavy rain," KPRC Local 2 meteorologist Anthony Yanez. "From 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock is the time to watch for these dangerous storms."

"Do not take these warnings lightly. Typically, whenever we get these and see a pattern like we had this morning, we'll see a handful of tornadoes," Yanez said.

Gusty winds and scattered showers moved through the area at 2 a.m., knocking out power to 30,000 CenterPoint Energy customers. As of 6:30 a.m., approximately 18,000 people remained without electricity.

"Earlier this morning, we had wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph," Yanez said. "That's what knocked down some of those trees and power lines. We could still see some 60 mph straight-line winds, hail and lots of lightning."

A low-pressure system is responsible for strong storms in central and northern Texas, which are expected to drench the Houston area most of the day.

"There's a couple of lines that we're tracking. The strongest one will arrive in Houston around noon. It's a concern for this morning until early afternoon. The radar is picking up a lot of twisting winds," Yanez said. "It's going to be wet from 8 o'clock all the way through 2 o'clock. By 5 p.m., this storm system will be in our eastern counties."

Yanez said south of Interstate 10 is not expected to see the strongest storms.

"It's a lot more scattered and not as well put together," Yanez said.

Power outages caused problems for some southwest Houston businesses.

Whataburger on the Southwest Freeway near Weslayan had to turn away customers when employees could not prepare food for the morning rush.

"Their lights just came back on (at 6 a.m.), but they weren't ready to serve yet," customer Carol Bennett said.

Many Houstonians were worried about flooding after severe weather left its mark on Jan. 9.

Houston firefighters performed about 140 water rescues when people became stranded in high water.

Officials warned drivers to "turn around, not drown" if they approached rising water.

Flooding is the most common hazard in Houston and many times, individuals are not able to judge the depths of water along roadways and find themselves in perilous conditions.

Officials said 6 inches of water can cause tires to lose traction and begin to slide, and 12 inches of water can float many cars. Two feet of rushing water will carry off pickup trucks, SUVs and most other vehicles.

Water across a roadway may hide a missing segment of road or a missing bridge, officials said.

In flash floods, waters rise so rapidly they may be far deeper by the time you are halfway across, trapping you in your vehicle.

Be especially cautious at night, when it's even more difficult to gauge the amount of water in a roadway.

The safest option is to simply avoid driving over water and find an alternate, safer route, or wait until the danger has passed.

Rare treat: Houstonians can watch as Space Station crosses Moon

A slice of Houston will have a chance to view a rare treat this evening.

Not only will the International Space Station make an incredibly bright, six-minute track across the sky tonight, some observers will be able to see the orbital laboratory blink across the moon.

Beginning at 6:28 p.m. the station will rise above the northwest horizon in Houston, and disappear just above the southeast horizon some six minutes later. Skies are forecast to be partly cloudy.

Along this path, for some parts of Houston all the way to Galveston, the station’s track will bring it across the face of the moon.

The following map, made by Steve Clayworth of Observable Universe, shows the approximate area from which this will be visible.

Houston ship channel shut due to collision

By Bruce Nichols

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Houston Ship Channel, the busiest U.S. petrochemical port, was shut indefinitely on Tuesday after two vessels collided in heavy fog, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

There were no injuries or fires after a tanker and a cargo vessel collided at about 8 a.m. CST near the Texas City Dike, which is in the lower end of the channel between Galveston and Texas City.

There were no oil or chemicals spilled during the collision on the 53-mile (85-km) waterway that routes vessels from the Gulf of Mexico to the huge complex of refineries in Houston and Texas City, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The tanker was believed to be carrying the chemical acetone, a cleaning solvent, the spokesman said. It was not known what the cargo vessel was carrying.

The vessels involved were the tanker Charleston and the cargo vessel Harvest Sun, both about 50,000 tons dead weight and about 600 feet long, the Coast Guard said.

The Charleston was northbound, headed to Houston. The Harvest Sun was southbound, headed from Houston to Texas City, the Coast guard said.

Both vessels anchored safely outside the channel, awaiting investigators, the spokesman said.

Houston Pilots had stopped boarding vessels due to the fog prior to the accident, the spokesman said, and it was unclear when the fog would lift or boarding would resume.

Houston refineries along the ship channel are Lyondell Basell's 268,000 barrel-per-day refinery, Pasadena Refining's 100,000-bpd refinery, Valero Energy Corp's (VLO.N) 83,000-bpd refinery and Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L) joint-venture 327,000 bpd refinery in Deer Park.

Exxon Mobil Corp's 560,640-bpd refinery in Baytown, the country's largest, also receives crude via the waterway.

The refineries in Texas City supplied by the ship channel are BP Plc.'s 437,080-bpd refinery, Valero's 214,000-bpd refinery and Marathon Petroleum Corp.'s 76,000-bpd refinery.

(Editing by Chris Baltimore and Andrea Evans)

Widow of Navy Seal searches for lost wedding ring ...

A Navy SEAL widow traveling through Houston lost her late husband’s wedding ring and has launched a campaign to try to retrieve it.

Kimberly Vaughn lost the ring Saturday, somewhere between a Super 8 in Deer Park, a Thrifty rental car and George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

She describes the ordeal on a Facebook page that already has more than 4,000 fans:

Aaron Vaughn (US Navy SEAL) was Killed in Action in Afghanistan on August 6th, 2011. I (Kimberly) wore his wedding band as a constant reminder of our love. Unfortunately I lost it on October 1st while traveling from Houston, TX (Houston George Bush Intercontinental airport) through the Charlotte, NC airport on my way back to Washington DC. Hopefully someone will find it?!

My path of mayhem… Saturday morning, October 1st at 8:30am I left the Super 8 hotel in Deer Park, TX and then returned a rental car (Orange colored Kia Soul) to IAH from Thrifty Rental car.

I checked in for US Airways flight 1864 out of IAH (Houston George Bush Intercontinental) and then went through security boarding my flight at gate A19. I sat in seat 18E of flight 1864.

In Charlotte I switched planes boarding US Airways flight 1327 to DCA (Washington’s Reagan Airport) at gate C13. I did stop at a women’s restroom … hopefully it did not slip off my hand when I washed/dried them… Then a quick stop at TCBY and finally boarded at gate C13. I sat in seat 10A when the horrible realization hit me… I HAD LOST MY HUSBAND’S WEDDING BAND! A flight attendant took every step to help me find it aboard, but to no avail (even dismantling my seat to check every crevice!)

IF YOU HAVE SEEN OR FOUND MY PRECIOUS MEMENTO, PLEASE CONTACT ME, KIMBERLY VAUGHN AT NavySEALring@gmail.com

Deer Park woman killed by alleged DWI.

THE CHRON:

A car struck and killed a Deer Park woman and seriously injured a Cleveland man walking along the Galveston seawall before rolling onto the beach, police said.

Amanda Medlock, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene and Vincent Jeffus, 36, was taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch emergency room where he was in serious condition, Galveston police spokesman Cpt. Jeff Heyse said.

The driver of the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr, Felix Dominic Garza, 29 was charged with driving while intoxicated, manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

READ MORE HERE AT THE CHRON

Bastrop is burning ...

BASTROP

- The most destructive wildfire on record in Texas showed no signs of slowing down Monday, destroying 25,000 acres in Bastrop County and 476 homes, more houses than any single wildfire before and more than all other fires this year combined, according to the Texas Forest Service.

With more than 60 new wildfires raging across the state, Gov. Rick Perry left the campaign trail Monday in South Carolina to address the public and organize requests for more federal aid.

Closer to Houston, a fire in Magnolia burned 20 homes and more than 1,600 acres, and was threatening subdivisions in Montgomery and Grimes counties late Monday. It had moved southwest into Waller County last Monday.

It was one of several fires to hit the area, straining state and local resources as officials focused on the most dangerous blazes. One firefighter was injured and one fire engine burned in blazes in the Magnolia area, said Lt. Dan Norris, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities did not yet know how much of the most dangerous fire had been contained Monday, but planned to continue fighting it "as long as necessary," Norris said.

Strong winds and dry conditions fanned the flames and aided the blaze's rapid growth, forcing the evacuation of more than 150 homes. Montgomery County officials were encouraging evacuations from the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 1488, about 42 miles northwest of Houston, up to the Grimes County line, an official said.

Magnolia fire

The Magnolia fire, located off FM 1774 and FM 1488, jumped FM 1488 late Monday and forced further evacuations, although some families were being allowed back to their homes. The Magnolia Independent School District canceled classes today because of the fires. Evacuation shelters were being set up throughout the area, including at Magnolia High School.

Another fire in the area had burned 100 acres and was 80 percent contained, Norris said. It had destroyed one structure and caused no injuries after 50 homes were evacuated.

A fire covering about 100 acres was burning in Oak Ridge North late Monday.

A fire near Nacogdoches that started Sunday night raged to 300 acres Monday and forced 60 families to evacuate their homes, said Ralph Cullom, a spokesman for the Texas Forrest Service. That fires grew with strong gusts of winds and fed off of dry conditions on the ground.

"This drought we're having is just unprecedented," Cullom said.

No injuries have been reported in Bastrop, but two people were reported killed in a North Texas fire Monday. A woman and her 18-month-old child died when a fast-moving fire near Gladewater, east of Dallas, set their mobile home on fire and they were unable to escape.

The Bastrop County Complex Fire, pushed by strong winds and fed by plenty of dry grasses, shrubs and trees, steadily moved south Monday and expanded throughout the day. It jumped the Colorado River twice.

"We will be working days on end," said Mike Fisher, the Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator. "The fire is so dynamic we really have no idea where it is."

'Lives at stake'

Perry said the wildfire burning in the central part of the state is "as mean looking" as he's ever seen.