Jenni Lee's Blog

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The past two and a half weeks have been nothing less than hell for a 76-year-old man who lives in Westlake. A charge of indecent exposure was formally dropped against Ting Yuan Wednesday. He was charged with the class B misdemeanor after a strange string of events August 2nd.
According to Yuan, he had just finished a routine swim at Barton Springs Pool (he swims 5 times a week...he is a two time gold medalist from the 2004 Senior Olympic Games) and went to his car which was located at one of the parking lots off Robert E. Lee. He was sitting in his car when two men approached. The one at the driver side window started yelling, "You're stark naked!" and the second man at the passenger side window, started demanding his wallet, and car keys. Yuan said no so the man demanded change that was sitting in plain view. Yuan scooped up some and gave it to him. That man demanded more. Yuan gave him more change. He took off but the man who was yelling ended up calling police and reported that Yuan was masturbating in his car.
The officer came out and took Yuan's account of the robbery and the other man's account of the indecent exposure. Yuan and his attorney say if that officer would have just asked a few questions, he would have realized Yuan was telling the truth and the other man lying. Attorney Stephen Tolland gave evidence to the prosecutors that showed Yuan cannot physically do the things that he is accused of and that the person making the accusations has a long criminal history.
The two men are not in custody and have not been charged with any crime. (That is why we are not using the name of the man who filed the report.)
APD's Public Information Office did not have an official comment for the story.
What do you think should happen next? Should anything happen to the officer?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH STORY.

Linda Yeatts, an outspoken resident of Southeast Austin, says the recent announcement that additional funding will go toward fighting crime in Downtown Austin is unfair.  Especially since she lives in historically, one of the most crime ridden parts of town, the South Central Area Command.  She says there needs to be more officers in her area because there is more crime there.  She says the only reason the downtown area is getting attention is big business which equals big bucks to the city.
In all fairness, Chief Art Acevedo unveiled new crime stats Tuesday night that show violent crime is down in the South Central Area Command.  He says there are initiatives in other parts of the city that are taking place as well.
What do you think?  Should there be more cops where crime is higher?
See my story for reference.

Violence is escalating in South Ossentia, a province of Georgia.  Russian and Georgian troops are clashing and unconfirmed reports put the death toll at 1500.

Georgia is a strong US ally but does that mean the US will send military help? 

Should the US do so since many say, Russia is only doing this because of the US.

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Police say 28-year-old, Money Sterling, lied about a man holding her at knifepoint and making her drive her route 19 bus to Southwest Austin Monday.  Police launched an air, land, and canine search for the man.  The next day, she confessed to police that she made the whole thing up.
She faces two charges, perjury and making a false report, which could land her in jail.
No one is saying who, if anyone, will cover the thousands of dollars it took to search for an imaginary suspect.  That's thousands of dollars wasted in an economy that is not doing so well.
She told police she was depressed and wanted something bad to happen to her.  Police say she needs to seek counseling.
What do you think should happen to her?  And should she be held accountable for the dollars wasted?
See my story for reference.

The Travis County Sheriff's Office is trying to hire more women for all roles with the dept.  They are anticipating losing 76 officers and other employees to retirement the next few years.  The dept has about a 30 percent rate of women working for it.  But other depts, like Tarrant and Dallas counties, have about a 55 percent. 

Is it a good idea to specifically hire women or should the dept look for the best candidate, regardless of sex?

See my Crimewatch for reference.

The grand opening of Texas State University's Forensic Research Facility is in Sept but researchers gave Fox 7 an exclusive first look inside Tuesday.
One of now three body farms in the country-the largest in the world-this open air site allows researchers to study human decomposition in different scenarios and in different weather conditions.  What they learn ultimately helps law enforcement solve cases, like murders.
One body is already there buried.  Researchers say they have about a dozen pledges and even many more promises of donations.
Researchers say this is an environmentally friendly facility.  It does not pollute anymore than a deer decomposing outside.  If you think about it, this is the most natural way to dispose of a body.  Burials include chemicals pumped into corpses that leak back into the earth and it involved burying a big wooden or metal casket in the earth.  This doesn't cost the family a dime.  Researchers will even come get the body.  And they treat the bodies with respect because they know that's why the facility is even there. 
So for those of you who consider yourself environmentally friendly, this is the ultimate test to see how green you really are.  Would you donate your body to the facility? 
See my story for reference. 

This is a plug for Zilker Hillside Theater's production of Beauty and the Beast, running now until Aug 9th.  I had no idea and was not expecting anything great since it is free but I was absolutely amazed how talented this crew is!  They were nice enough to invite some media members (myself included) to be in the play.  Nothing big, just  a walk on role as a townsperson. 

Get there early to get a good spot and bring a blanket!

The family of Rachel Jackson is very upset after the 21-year-old died in the Travis County Jail Monday morning.  But they are not just upset because of the death but also because they say they can't get a straight answer about how Rachel died.  They claim a detective, a corrections officer, and a victim services counselor gave them three different causes of death.  One said Rachel died in her sleep, another said she had an overdose of medication, and a third said she had a cyst in her brain.  The family is also upset that they weren't notified of Rachel's death until 6 hours later.

There are 3 investigations underway from the Travis County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, TCSO Internal Affairs, and from the TC Medical Examiner's Office.  No one will know anything until the autopsy report comes back in about 8 weeks.

The family is also fearful that corrections officers didn't know Rachel was schizoprenic and bipolar.

If it's discovered someone did something wrong, what should happen?  What if it was an honest mistake?

See my story for reference.

 

 

 

UT freshman, Jack Phoummarath, died of acute alcohol poisoning during initiation at the Lambdi Phi Epilson house in Dec 2005.

Tuesday, his family settled with three members of the fraternity for 4.2 million dollars and they had to take part in making an educational video, warning others of the dangers of binge drinking and hazing.  Those three are the pres, pledge captain, and hell master.

The family is understandably upset but hope others learn from Jack's death. 

The woman in charge of UT's Health Services says 30 to 40 percent of college students binge drink, which means having at least 5 standard size drinks at one sitting.  She also says it takes an entire community and about 8 years to change the culture surrounding drinking on college campuses.

Is that a reachable goal? 

See my story for reference.   

 

 

On Saturday, the San Marcos Police Dept sent the media a press release saying they were looking for a man wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, and a white hoodie because he broke into a home and assaulted a child.

On Monday, they came out with more info, this time, saying the child was a 9 year old girl and the suspected sexually assaulted her.

Police say they wanted to wait to give the victim, already, traumatized, more time to heal.  If the media did not find out from the mother of the victim on Sat., chances are police would not have released the sexual assault part for a while.

Do you think that's right?  Keep part of the investigation private for the sake of the victim?  Or should they release as much info as they can to find the suspect?

 

 

Senior Patrol Officer Daniel Eveleth left his loaded Glock on a slide at the Circle C Metropolitan Park at Slaughter Creek around 5:00 Monday morning, near the end of his shift.  Eveleth says his dog jumped on him,  unlocked the restraining strap to his holster, and that's how the gun fell out. 

Today, the dept suspended the use of those special holsters worn by canine officers.

Eveleth is being investigated to see what policies have been violated, including a department policy that requires officers to have their duty weapons with them at all times when they are working.  There may be a criminal violation if Eveleth is found guilty of making a firearm accessible to a child.  That's a class c misdemeanor.

We spoke to the mother who found the gun and she says that is not a harsh enough punishment because something bad could have happened.

What do you think?  It was an accident so should Officer Eveleth be punished?

See my story and Foti's story for reference.

The man who the FBI says is responsible for at least 14 bank robberies in Texas (there is a good chance there are several more) since 2004, struck again Monday.  This time, in San Marcos at what police there call a mom and pop bank.  It was the same MO...fake beard, same straw hat, displayed a dark colored handgun (semi automatic in the San Marcos robbery), made all the employees go in the restroom or vault, and took off in a late model passenger car.
The FBI really wants this guy.  They say he is good, experienced, and dangerous.  It is only a matter of time before someone is killed because his take down style of bank robbing.
His hit before San Marcos was in Marquez in mid May.  He has robbed banks in Round Rock, Georgetown, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Abilene, Lindale, and more.  Many were located close to I-35 for  a quick get away.
This guy is good.  He knows what he is doing.  Each time he hits a bank, he gets better.  As one cop told me, this is on the job training.
So my question is, do you think he will get caught?  If so, do you think it's sooner or later?
See my story for reference.  

There are some people, (including the Austin Police Association and cops,) who say APD Chief Art Acevedo made a mistake by firing Commander Larry Oliver and Detective Mason Feinartz.  The commander for failing to report a discriminatory comment to his chain of command and the detective for insubordination.  
They say these aren't bad apples, and the punishment does not fit the crime.
Now the waiting game starts for the commander.
Do you think he will get his job back?

And do you think Chief Acevedo has gone too far?

Fox 7 Crimewatch first told you about Chief Art Acevedo's plans to train more officers to become phlebotomists during a DWI stop when the suspected drunk driver refuses a breath test.  A search warrant is needed.  Right now, nurses do it but the Chief says officers doing it will expedite the whole process. 

The Texas Civil Rights Project came out Tuesday and said it violates civil rights.

What do you think?  

 

...when there are youth activities taking place.  That was the decision made by the Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday.
Some people say they understand this and like the ban.  Others say, this is government over reaching once again.
County officials have not hammered out details like how far you have to be from the field to smoke...and ...if this ban affects just games or practices too. 
What do you think?
See my story for reference.