Community Outreach, Delta District

Road Closures Announced for Beach to Bay Relay Marathon

Source:  Kim Womack, City of Corpus Christi Public Information Director

City Announces Street Closures with Scheduled Weekend Events For Beach To Bay Relay Marathon and Discover Downtown Festival 

The City of Corpus Christi Traffic Engineering office advises residents that beginning on Friday, May 18, 2012 through Saturday, May 19, 2012, various street closures will be implemented for both the Discover Downtown Music and Film Festival and the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon. 

Road closures will begin on Friday, May 18, 2012 through Saturday May 19, 2012.  All motorists traveling south bound Shoreline Boulevard are advised to use Water Street. Detours will be in place on South Bound Shoreline to guide motorist around the road closures. The following streets will be closed to traffic during this time: 

  • South bound Shoreline Boulevard between Kinney Street and Furman Avenue.
  • North bound Shoreline Boulevard between Buford Street and Coopers Alley
  • Kinney Street between south and north bound Shoreline Boulevard.
  • Born Street between Water Street and south bound Shoreline Boulevard.
  • Broadway Court between Water Street and south bound Shoreline Boulevard.
  • Park Avenue between south and north bound Shoreline Boulevard. 

The Beach to Bay Relay Marathon will consist of various lane closures beginning on Saturday, May 19, 2012: 

  • The JFK Bridge will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
  • East bound Park Road 22 will be reduced to one lane between the JFK Bridge and Access Road 6.
  • Waldron Road will be closed between SH 358 and N.A.S. Drive.
  • Northbound Ocean Drive will be reduced to one lane between Ennis Joslin and Louisiana Avenue.
  • Northbound Ocean Drive will be reduced to two lanes between Louisiana Avenue and Morgan Avenue  

Traffic control devices will guide traffic throughout the event site.  Motorist should expect delays in this area and should seek alternate routes.  Motorists are advised to observe all advanced warning signs and barricading for their safety and that of the event participants.

A barricading contractor will provide access to all commercial and residential driveways during the event.

Delta District

Four Teens Arrested Following Assault, Pursuit of Stolen Vehicle

Occurred: 5/16/2012   2:34 AM       Assault/ Stolen Vehicle/Evading Arrest       1205160012, 0016, and 0021

Four juveniles are in custody at the Nueces County Juvenile Detention Center after they were arrested by police following a short pursuit of a stolen SUV early Wednesday morning.  At about 2:30 AM Wednesday morning, Patrol Officers responded to Port and Tarlton Streets to investigate a reported assault.  Two men in their early twenties told officers that they were assaulted by four teenage boys in a black Nissan Rogue.  The victims told officers that they were standing in the parking lot of a convenience store in the 3000 block of S. Port Avenue when the four teens drove up in the Nissan, got out of the vehicle and began punching the two men.  The four then got back into the vehicle and fled the area prior to police arriving.  Officers checked the license plate given by the victims and discovered the Nissan had been reported stolen on May 5th.

Officers searching for the Nissan later spotted it in the 700 block of Duncan Street.  When officers attempted to pull it over, the driver led them on a short pursuit that ended in the 2900 block of Marguerite Street where the vehicle crashed into a parked Ford Escort.  All four occupants then fled on foot, but were quickly rounded up by responding officers.  The four teens face a variety of serious charges including Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Evading Arrest, and Assault.  The two victims of the assault were not seriously injured and did not require medical attention.

Bravo District

Police Officer Injured in Collision

Occurred on 5/16/1/2, 5:42 pm  Major Accident  1900 Rodd Field Road   C1203760 

An Officer en route to minor accident was traveling southbound in the 1900 block of Rodd Field Road when he was struck by a maroon 1993 Chevrolet pick-up truck which pulled out from a private drive.  The 37-year-old driver who had been waved thru by other drivers did not see the police car in the center lane.  The man and his 5-year-old son were uninjured in the accident. 

The Officer was taken to Bay Area Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.  The driver of the truck was cited for Failure to Control Speed and Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility.

Adam District, Patrol Division, Traffic Safety Division

Corpus Christi Participates In Mock Contraflow Exercise

The Corpus Christi Police Department will participate with the Texas Department of Public Safety in an exercise Thursday to practice the state Contraflow hurricane evacuation plan along Interstate 37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio.

The Texas Department of Transportation has partnered with the law enforcement agencies to conduct a mock Contraflow exercise to prepare for hurricane season. The Contraflow plan is that southbound lanes of Interstate Highway 37 would be reversed to carry two lanes of traffic northbound from Corpus Christi to San Antonio to help move people from Corpus Christi to San Antonio out of harm’s way during a large scale evacuation.

Transportation and law enforcement agencies will stage barricades for the mock exercise at the entrance and exit ramps along Interstate 37 in Nueces, San Patricio, Live Oak, Atascosa, and Bexar counties. The exercise is expected to begin at 8:00am and end around noon. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers will drive south to perform mock flushing of southbound traffic to clear Interstate 37 for contraflow traffic. Law enforcement is assigned to direct motorists to keep traffic flow moving. TxDOT and D.P.S. do not anticipate any disruption of traffic during the exercise.

All participants will meet at the TxDOT Corpus Christi District Office Thursday afternoon for a post-exercise review.

Contraflow will be considered only when the Corpus Christi area is threatened by a major hurricane and mandatory evacuations are issued. A decision to reverse I-37 will be made by local authorities working with the District Disaster Chairman (i.e., DPS) based on the strength of the storm and projected landfall.

The 2012 hurricane season will begin June 1 and extends to November 30. The public may view the contraflow brochures on the Texas Department of Transportation website at www.txdot.gov.

Criminal Intelligence Unit, Delta District

Man Charged with Murder after TV Confession

Arrested on 5/15/12, 11:04 pm  Murder Warrant 3200 Houston Street   1205130064 

CCPD Homicide Robbery Detectives were able to obtain an arrest warrant for Dennis Longbine (09/26/55) on May 15, 2012 after Longbine was implicated in the May 13, 2012 murder of his daughter’s 30-year-old boyfriend.  Longbine’s daughter Chasity Longbine had been arrested and charged with Murder shortly after the death of  her boyfriend.

Dennis Longbine was arrested May 15th, after he was pulled over in the 3200 block of Houston Street.  He was taken to the police department to be interviewed and then booked.  Longbine was charged with the outstanding Murder warrant, $250,000 Bond.

Bravo District, Patrol Division

Patrol Officer Swims To Save Kayaker In Distress

Occurred Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 11:20 am, Open Water Rescue Event #1205019456

A 20 year old man was rescued at the beach Tuesday by Corpus Christi Police Officer John Shultz.

A 20 year old man went out in the water on a kayak and was knocked off the kayak by a wave. The 20 year old man was unable to get back into the kayak. The man’s brother was on shore at Beach Marker 99 near access road 2 and called for help.

Patrol Officer John Shultz put on his life vest and entered the water to provide help. Officer Shultz said the 20 year old man was fatigued and unable to get on the kayak without help. Officer Shultz said he held the kayak stable while the man got on the kayak. Officer Shultz said he held on to the kayak while the man paddled them both to shore. Officer Shultz and the man made it back to shore at about 12:07pm.

Bravo District, Criminal Investigations Division

Daycare Auto Burglar Sought

Occurred on 5/15/12, 7:43 am    Burglary of a Vehicle  1317 Flour Bluff Drive   1205150023
Occurred on 5/15/12,  8:03am    Burglary of a Vehicle  1354 Rodd Field Road   1205150030

Two Mothers morning trip to drop off their children at daycare found their purses stolen from their vehicles.  Both women told Officers they left their vehicles unlocked and their purses inside their vehicles along with their purses. 

The auto burglaries occurred within 20 minutes of one another, but it is unknown at this time whether they are related. The first auto burglary occurred at the Lord of Lutheran Church Day Care Center, 1317 Flour Bluff Drive.  Two purses were taken along with several credit cards and some money.  The second auto burglary occurred at the Kinder Care Day Care Center, 1354 Rodd Field Road.  One purse was taken in this burglary which had the victim’s personal documents and a couple of bracelets.  Anyone with any information on this crime is encouraged to call Crimes Stoppers at 888-TIPS or you can also submit a tip online, visit the www.TipSubmit.com website to submit a secure e-mail tip.  The information provided could earn the caller a cash reward. 

A vehicle is burglarized in Texas every 2 ½ minutes.  The Corpus Christ Auto Theft Task Force and the Texas Auto Burglary & Theft Prevention Authority feel the best way to keep thieves from stealing items from your car is to leave it in the same condition as when it rolled off the factory floor:  nothing inside except the parts that comprise it.  This includes laptops, GPS systems, satellite radios, gym bags, address books, and purses and wallets that contain credit cards, checkbooks, and money.   Following are a few of the more important prevention tips to keep in mind:

  • If you must leave belongings, hide them from sight.
  • Never park in unattended or poorly lit parking lots.
  • Do not keep your vehicle registration in your car.
  • Do not carry vehicle insurance documents or personal papers in your glove box.
  • Do not leave outgoing or incoming mail in your car, especially where visible.
  • Avoid leaving the garage door opener in your car.
  • Never leave your vehicle or house keys in your car.
  • Beware of suspicious persons, call police.
  • Never leave your vehicle unlocked.

Avoid becoming a victim by following these crime prevention tips, remember to Hide, Lock, and Take.  For more prevention tips and information, please contact PaulKay Olivarez, Auto Theft Task Force Public Awareness Coordinator at 361-886-2872.

Community Outreach

CCPD Traffic Enforcement Initiative Seeks to Reduce Accidents, Save Lives

If you think you’ve seen an increase in traffic enforcement on the city’s major thoroughfares in the past weeks, your eyes are not deceiving you.  Corpus Christi Police Department Traffic Officers are focusing traffic enforcement in those areas where speeding and other traffic violations have resulted in rising crash numbers.

Following the same Comp Stat philosophy that attempts to identify increased crime trends and patterns and then directs officers to those neighborhoods; the increased traffic enforcement initiative is directing traffic officers to those areas of the city where officers have identified an increased number of accidents, multiple complaints from the public, or just obvious visual evidence of speeding, such as the freeway system.

Newly appointed Chief Simpson became alarmed at the high number of speeders and traffic fatalities soon after taking over.  Just driving around town to familiarize himself with the city, Chief Simpson noticed a high number of drivers obviously exceeding the speed limit, tailgating other drivers, changing lanes without signaling and committing other dangerous traffic infractions-the type of infractions that frequently lead to crashes.  Simpson noted that the 35 traffic fatalities last year far exceeded the city’s total number of homicides.

Crash statistics from the first three months of this year support Chief Simpson’s position.  Compared to the same three-month time period, total crashes are up approximately 7%, from 2224 in 2011 to 2378 in 2012.  Although alcohol related crashes are down 14% from the same time period last year, the percentage of alcohol related traffic fatalities is currently at 37%, up from 29% last year.  DWI arrests, however, show a 15% decrease since last year, from 318 to 270.

Based on these numbers and his own anecdotal evidence, Chief Simpson directed his Traffic Division to come up with a plan to bring the numbers down.  The increased traffic enforcement initiative includes several tactics, including enlisting the assistance of patrol officers to conduct traffic enforcement on their beats for short periods, increased radar enforcement on the freeways during rush hours, and the use of “decoy” cars to slow traffic.  Officers will continue to change tactics to nab speeders until the crash and fatality numbers begin to show a significant, long-term decline.

This is only the beginning of a long-term sustained plan to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and crashes on our city’s streets. Traffic and Patrol Officers have been directed to take a “zero tolerance” approach to speeders and motorists committing moving violations.  The best way to avoid being cited is to simply slow down, watch the speed limit and obey all traffic laws.  The Corpus Christi Police Department reminds you to “Slow Down. The life you save may be your own.”

Bravo District, Criminal Intelligence Unit

Macy’s Targeted by Shoplifter, Call 888-TIPS If You Know This Man

The Corpus Christi Police Department Property Crimes Unit is asking your assistance in identifying the suspect involved in the theft of a couple of thousand dollars worth of “Miss Me” Blue Jeans and “Miss Me” shorts. 

The suspect is described as 40 to 50 year-old man, possibly a Hispanic male, 5’10 to 6′ feet tall, and weighing 200 to 220 lbs.  He was last seen wearing a blue long sleeve-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with any information on this crime is encouraged to call Crimes Stoppers at 888-TIPS or you can also submit a tip online, visit the www.TipSubmit.com website to submit a secure e-mail tip.  The information provided could earn the caller a cash reward.

Delta District

Pay Up or Get Booted

CCPD Increases Collection Efforts of Parking Citations

Today the Parking Control unit of the Corpus Christi Police Department will launch a parking citation round-up of unpaid parking citations.  Parking Enforcement Officers will begin ‘booting’ vehicles with outstanding parking citations that have accumulated 3 or more parking citations that remain unpaid.

The front wheel of the vehicle will be fitted with a mechanical clamping device known as a Denver Boot, which secures the wheel making the vehicle un-drivable until removed. The device will remain in place until the vehicles owner pays all outstanding unpaid parking citations to any vehicles registered to that owner and an applicable boot and/or tow fee.

Beginning January 1 of this year any new parking citations became civil violations versus criminal violations. In just 3 ½ months 31 vehicles already surpassed the 3 citation mark, with some having up to 10 unpaid citations. Under the criminal parking citations’ falling under Municipal Court the ‘boot-list’ has 475 vehicles with over $2.6 million owed to the city since 2004. Even though all of those on the list had received notification of the intent to boot very few responded. 

The Office of Administrative Hearings which now adjudicates civil parking citations was launched in January with a real-time automated software system by Duncan Solutions that updates daily. The OOAH has seen the percentage of paid citations triple over the last 4 months with the multiple payment options and the ease of paying. However the same vehicle owners who ignored the citations under Municipal Court have continued to ignore citations under the civil system. Four of the first 31 vehicle owners on the new boot list cleared their citations after notification. 24 of the 27 remaining vehicle owners have citations under both systems with one person having over 88 tickets for almost $3000 in outstanding citations and several vehicle owners owing between $500 and $1000.  Seeing vehicles on the list with 20, 40 or 60 citations is not uncommon. 

Parking Control reports most of the unpaid tickets belong to individuals who own vehicles valued at $30,000 or more and have failed to pay their citations. Most vehicle owners have been issued at least three and upto eighty-eight citations.  According to Marc Denson, “less than 2% of the population owes $3 millions and that’s unfair to the other 98% who either abide by the parking regulations or pahy their citations.”

Prior to January of this year the city would send notices to those placed on the boot-list. Under the new system the city sends a notice for every unpaid citation on the 15th day and both a certified and first class notice when qualified to boot. Some of the names on the new list have received 12 letters in 4 months and still ignored them. CCPD and Municipal Court are working together moves to more effective collection practices that can’t be ignored and have proven effective in other cities.

Those with outstanding unpaid parking citations prior to January of this year are encouraged to contact Municipal Court and those with outstanding unpaid parking citations since January to contact the Office of Administrative Hearings to make arrangements to clear up those citations before they are booted or towed.   Booting adds $75 to the fines and towing if the vehicle is not redeemed by paying all outstanding citations by 4:00 pm the day the vehicle is booted adds another $153.

Corpus Christi Police Daily Blotter