Occurred on 7/24/12, 8:36 am  Forgery of a Government Instrument/Money/Securities   701 N. Staples     1207240031 

Officers A. Thurman and J. Luera responded to the Stripes Convenience Store at Staples and Leopard Streets for a Hispanic trying to pay with a counterfeit $100 dollar bill.  Rene Tanguma (08/16/81) was detained in the parking lot by Officer Luera. 

Officer Thurman contacted the store cashier who reported Tanguma stepped up to the counter to pay for beer and a cigar valued at $3.01 with a $100 dollar bill.  The cashier told Officers the bill felt odd and it had not been cut correctly.  She checked for the watermark and could not find one. 

Tanguma was asked to wait while she got his change and police were called.  Tanguma paid for the merchandise with a $5.00 dollar bill and walked out of the store when he was detained by police. 

He was taken to the Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and interviewed by Financial Crimes Detectives.  Tanguma was arrested and charged with Forgery of a Government Instrument/Money/Securities which a 3^rd Degree Felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Financial Crimes Unit recommends you visit the Secret Service website at http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml to guard yourself against counterfeiters.

Occurred on 7/19/12, 8:21 pm Robbery 2200 Agnes Street 1207190149

Police en route to a local department store for a robbery were provided with additional suspect information. Lt. B. Ward and Senior Officer M. Ayala detained a man matching the suspect description given as he walked eastbound on Laredo Street.

Officers contacted the victim he told them he was sitting at a bus bench showing his phone to another male when a green Chevrolet pulled up to the curb. A man got out of the car and approached him. Both men who were strangers to the victim began assaulting him, punching him in the face. The men took the victim’s phone and backpack. The suspect who took the backpack returned to the vehicle and drove off, leaving the other suspect to flee on foot.

Gilberto Reyes (03/18/63) who was detained by Officers was positively identified by the victim and a witness as one of the robbers. Reyes was also found to have the victim’s phone in his pant pocket and arrested. Reyes was charged with Robbery.

The second suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 5’6” to 5’7” feet tall and last seen driving a green four door Chevrolet.  Anyone with any information on this crime is asked to call Crime Stop Stoppers at 888-TIPS or submit a tip online at www.888TIPS.com.  Tipsters can earn a cash reward if the second suspect is arrested.

The victim sustained minor injuries which did not require medical treatment. His phone was recovered and returned to him.

Occurred on 7/22/12, 11:43 pm   Major Accident    400 N. Shoreline       C1205543/1207230011 

Officers responded to a submerged vehicle at the Lawrence Street T-Head shortly before midnight. Upon their arrival, Officers found two of the concrete pylons along with the guide wires had been damaged.  Officers report bubbles rising from the surface, but the white 2001 Ford Expedition was no longer visible. 

Police were told contradictory accounts of the accident by the driver and the five occupants who told Officers a “dog” ran in front of them causing the driver to lose control as he swerved to avoid it.  The driver jumped the curb, struck the pylons and guide wires landing in the bay. 

The 23-year  driver was issued a citation for Unsafe Change from a Direct Course, but the charge was changed to Reckless Driving when Marina Patrol provided surveillance video of the accident.  The video showed the SUV following another vehicle with both of them swerving from side to side as they traveled eastbound on the T-Head.  The driver of the Expedition lost control and either fell or jumped out the moving vehicle.   The SUV continued on and landed in the bay with its five passengers still inside.  All passengers, three females, 16, 19, 36  and two males 14, 18 were able to safely get out of the car before Officers arrived. 

The Corpus Christi Police Dive was called to assist and marked the SUV’s location with a buoy to prevent any boating accidents.  At 9:00 am this morning the Dive Team was able to retrieve the submerged vehicle with a Light Vehicle Recovery System which enables Dive Team members to move the sunken vehicle closer to the surface and shore.

Occurred on 7/18/12, 7:37 pm  Assault  714 Lily  1207180137 

Officers arrived to find the 37-year-old victim shouting in the front of his home.  The victim who had several scratches to both sides of his face told Police he had been assaulted inside his home.  He reported a male and a female walked into his apartment looking for a female who assaulted their sister. 

The victim asked the brother and sister duo to leave and began to push them out of his home.  It was then the pair began assaulting the victim punching him in the face, while the female scratched his face.  A dispute at a funeral prompted the victim’s assault.

The suspects left in a red Ford Expedition westbound on Leopard Street.  The male is described as a bald Hispanic male, 20 to 30 years of age, 5’3” feet tall, and weighing 200 to 225 lbs.  He has a tattoo of “Corpitos” on his chest.  The female is described as a heavyset Hispanic female, 20 to 30 years of age, 5’6” feet tall and weighing 200 to 230 lbs. 

Anyone with any information on this crime is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS or logon online at www.888-TIPS.  Tipsters will receive a cash reward if the suspects are arrested.