Central Texas Digest: Man found dead with suspected gunshot wound in car
Gatti's Pizza employee shot in South Austin robbery.
Man shot, found dead in car
Police found a man dead in a car Thursday afternoon with a suspected gunshot in the parking lot of the Mountain Ranch Apartments in Southeast Austin.
Authorities were searching for a person of interest known as Lil' Free who was believed to be driving a green Dodge Intrepid with tinted windows.
The man was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with a red shirt, a baseball cap and blue jean shorts, police said. The man is black, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and is in his mid-20s.
The victim, who was not identified and was in his 20s, was found in the passenger seat of a white vehicle, Cpl. Anthony Hipolito said.
Gatti's Pizza employee shot
Austin police were searching Thursday for a man who shot an employee at a South Austin pizza restaurant during a robbery Wednesday night and has been linked to two other recent robberies nearby.
Police said that in all three occasions, the man walked in, fired his gun and demanded cash. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said.
On Wednesday, the man shot an employee at a Gatti's Pizza on West Gate Boulevard near West William Cannon Drive about 9:45 p.m., police said. The employee's injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said.
The man is also suspected of robbing a Shell gas station at 5401 Manchaca Road about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 22 and an Austin's Pizza on South Lamar Boulevard on March 3, police said.
91 trucks stolen to date this year
Car thieves have stolen 91 trucks in Austin since the beginning of the year, and police are warning truck owners to be aware of the trend.
Police said thieves are targeting large pickups such as Ford F-250s and F-350s as well as Chevrolet and Dodge trucks. The trucks have become "favorites" among smugglers, who remove the back seat to hide people.
Police suggest that owners hide or lock valuables inside their trucks and invest in theft prevention devices such as a steering wheel lock, alarms or an ignition kill switch.
Officer suspended for 90 days
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo has suspended an officer for 90 days after he said the officer was rude to a citizen and initially gave misleading statements to investigators.
According to a disciplinary memo, officer Brian Laggos was patrolling on his motorcycle when he stopped a driver for speeding on Interstate 35 near Rundberg Lane.
"During the encounter, Officer Laggos failed to act professionally and was discourteous to a citizen," the memo said. The document does not elaborate.
Laggos provided misleading statements to investigators during a February interview, the memo said.
Man dies after motorcycle crash
A Kyle man died Thursday morning when the motorcycle he was driving struck a parked Travis County sheriff's office vehicle on Interstate 35, police said.
Ernest Timothy Marshall, 45, died as he was being taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge after the crash, Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said.
The crash forced the shutdown of southbound Interstate 35 near FM 1327 in Buda for more than three hours and snarled traffic in the area. Marshall's motorcycle hit the parked sheriff's vehicle, which had its lights on, Travis County sheriff's office spokesman Roger Wade said. The deputy had parked the vehicle to assist another wreck that had occurred moments earlier, Wade said. The deputy was not injured, he said.
Death penalty sought in killing
Prosecutors have filed notice that they will seek the death penalty in a capital murder case involving the 1975 killing of a San Marcos woman.
Willie Roy Jenkins, 57, has been charged with capital murder and is in custody at the Hays County Jail. Prosecutors said last week that they will seek execution if Jenkins is convicted. His trial date has not yet been set.
Jenkins was indicted in November in the 1975 killing of 20-year-old Sheryl Ann Norris, who at the time was a secretary at the Texas Crime Prevention Institute at what is now Texas State University. Police said Norris was sexually assaulted, strangled and drowned in her apartment.
The case went cold for 35 years. Last April, new DNA evidence led police to Jenkins, who was in custody at a state hospital in California under a civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. He has been convicted of four sexual assaults in California and Texas.
Dead soldier identified
Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who died at Darnall Army Medical Center after collapsing while standing in formation on Tuesday. The cause of death is unknown, and the incident is under investigation.
Sgt. 1st Class Randy Richard, 40, of Mamou, La., joined the military in February 1991 and had been assigned to Fort Hood since November.
Richard was deployed to Iraq from April 2003 to July 2004 and from August 2008 to October 2008.
Assistant city manager hired
Laurie Hadley, acting city manager in Prescott, Ariz., has been selected as Round Rock's assistant city manager. She will begin work May 3.
She replaces Assistant City Manager Cindy Demers, who announced last week she was resigning to take a position with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.
Hadley is the second city manager from Prescott to accept a job in Round Rock. She was appointed by Round Rock City Manager Steve Norwood, whom she worked under for five years in Prescott before replacing him a few months ago.
Authority seeks Gonzales water
Officials with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority announced Thursday they had signed a letter of intent with Texas Water Alliance Limited for the use of groundwater from Gonzales County.
GBRA serves Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, Lockhart and Luling. Virtually all the water in the river authority's main reservoir, Canyon Lake, is reserved, so to meet expanding demand, the river authority needs to buy water from other sources.
The letter of intent, effective through Aug. 1, is a prelude to a possible water supply agreement that could send 13 million gallons of water a day.
Texas Water Alliance, a subsidiary of California-based SJW Corp., is still seeking permission to pump the water from the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District. Gonzales County is about 60 miles south of Austin.
Previous letters of intent involving the GBRA over the past couple of years with other water providers have expired without any water deals.