Department of Public Safety Authorities and Child Protective Services are combing the YFZ Ranch, near Eldorado, Texas, in search of evidence that a 16-year-old girl was forced to marry and have a baby by a 50-year-old man.
Authorities obtained a search warrant after the girl told authorities that she was being physically abused.
Authorities say that the unnamed girl was forced to marry at 15, which is illegal under state law.
Police are searching the ranch for records, including marriage liesences and birth certificates, as well as Dale Barlow, whom the girl allegedly married when she was 15.
Buses from the local school district and churches were used to bus the children away from the compound, belonging to the reclusive Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches polygamy to its members as a means to obtain higher salvation, in accordance with a court order issued by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther.
Nearly 200 women and children were taking out of the compound and are being interviewed by authorities.
CPS was later granted temporary custody of 18 children.
The children, 96 boys and 71 girls, range in age from 6 months of 17 years.
The children, who are taught to have no contact with the outside world, held their coats against the buses’ windows as they were taken away.
CPS is trying to determine if the parents of the babies are among the young girls they took into custody, or if the parents even live at the YFZ Ranch.
Law enforcement officers sealed of all the roads, leading to the YFZ Ranch late in the afternoon of April 3, 2008. The lawmen demanded entry to the ranch just before midnight that evening and they escorted CPS workers on to YFZ property without incident.
Lawmen were also hoping to serve an arrest warrant and a search warrant while on the compound. It is unknown if either were successfully executed.
Meanwhile, the roadblocks continued at press-time as lawmen were told to prepare for another long and chilly
night.
The group purchased the property near Eldorado in late 2003. The following year they began construction of numerous dormitory style buildings and a massive white limestone temple. Since that time a small town has been built on the property.
FLDS leader Warren Jeffs was convicted last year on two counts of Rape as an Accomplice for his role in arranging and performing marriages between one of his male followers and his underage cousin.
Jeffs is facing similar charges in Arizona as well as a federal charge of Unlawful Flight to avoid Prosecution.
He was on the FBI’s Ten Most W anted Fugitives list until he was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2006. San Angelo Police Make Arrest in South San Angelo Murder
San Angelo Police have arrested Dwayne Chadwick, 25, in connection with the murder of 49-year-old Kim Burton whose body was found at her home in south San Angelo in March.
Police found Burton dead and lying on the couch at a her residence in the 3300 block of Cornell Avenue.
A witness said that she had last seen Burton when they went out for dinner. The witness said that she had not been contacted by her friend for several days, and went to check on her. Finding the front door locked, she entered the residence through a window and discovered her body.
The department said that it appeared that Burton had been dead for several days, and that there were signs that foul play involved.
Preliminary autopsy results from the Medical Examiners Office in Lubbock, Texas, indicate that Burton's death was caused by a blow to the head with a blunt object.
Chadwick is being held in the Tom Green County Justice Center on $500,000 bond, in addition to a $25,000 bond for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
San Angelo Business Owner Indicted in Federal Court
A local business owner has been charged with wire fraud and making false statements in federal court.
The owner of American Halal Meat Processors, Inc., in San Angelo, Texas, Mohammed Fayyaz Hayat, has was arrested March 17.
The indictment charges Hayat with four counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting and two counts of making a false statement to a bank and aiding and abetting.
The federal indictment alleged that Hayat devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises to convince three potential lenders in Minnesota to provide financing and lines of credit to him to supposedly expand his automotive repair business in Minnesota and make improvements to the Minnesota property.
However, he then used these proceeds to fund renovations at his property in Texas.
He also used materially false and fraudulent representations and documents to convince two additional lenders that he had sufficient collateral and income to repay the financing he was seeking when, as he well knew, he didn’t have sufficient collateral or income to repay the financing.
Hayat was charged with wire fraud for the wiring of the money from the banks in Minnesota and then for making false statements to the banks for the loans he received in Texas, as outlined in a federal indictment returned by a grand jury, according to U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.
Hayat made his appearance in federal court, and was released on $50,000 bond. In June 1999, Hayat and his wife, Roohi Fayyaz, incorporated American Halal Meat Processors, Inc., in San Angelo, Texas, to operate a halal slaughtering business.
Halal butchering is the Islamic ritual in which an animal’s throat is cut to allow removal of all blood.
Hayat purchased a closed meat processing plant located on 1529 North Bell Street in San Angelo, paying $50,000 at closing and signing two promissory notes, totaling $625,000 to the seller.
Halal and his wife also owned an auto repair garage business in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in the late 1990's, lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Concho Chocolate Festival Draws Crowd at Sunset Mall
By Thelma Feuge
More than 200 people gathered at Sunset Mall February 9, 2008, for the Concho Chocolate Festival.
Major sponsors included Olive Garden, Chick-Fil-A, IHOP, Albertsons, HEB, McDonald’s, Sam’s Club, Double Dave’s Pizzaworks, Sunset Grill, Henry’s Diner, and Ramirez Cake Shop.
The event was organized by the San Angelo Symphony and Right Choice for Youth.
Thunderbirds Wow San Angelo at 2008 Air Fiesta
San Angelo residents gave a hearty welcome to the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.
The U.S. Air Force Demonstration Squadron, Thunderbirds, played to more than 14,000 gathered at San Angelo Regional Airport - Mathis Field as part of Air Fiesta 2008 March 15.
The Thunderbirds performed several of their trademark maneuvers, including the diamond, the arrow, the crossover break, the knife-edge pass, high-speed flyovers, several loops, back to back flying, and passes in review.
The demonstration Thunderbirds include team Commander/Leader Lt. Col. Greg Thomas, Left W ing Maj. Chris Austin, Right W ing Maj. Kirby Ensser, Slot Pilot Maj. Scott Poteet, Lead Solo Maj. Samantha Weeks, and Opposing Solo Maj. T. Dyon Douglas.
Several other acts and static aircraft displays also wowed the crowds, including planes from the United States Air Force, along with war planes from the Commemorative Air Force.
Suspect Arrested in Angelo Convenience Store Robberies
Raymond David Baldredge 33, of Kyle, Texas, has been arrested and charged with aggravated robbery in the robberies of three San Angelo convenience stores in February.
Police apprehended Baldredge, who also goes by the name of Raymond Vasquez, after receiving tips from the community through Crime Stoppers.
Baldredge is accused of robbing two Town and Country and one Valero convenience store within the five day period.
He is currently being held in the Tom Green County Justice Center on $50,000 bail. West Texas Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Robert Lee
Three major wildfires burned thousands of acres February 25, forcing the evacuation of Robert Lee.
Residents were evacuated in advance of the fires, part of string of fires which burned nearly 200,000 acres.
Robert Lee County Judge Roy Blair reportedly gave the evacuation orders after that fire, believed to have started on the Spade Ranch, just a few miles outside of Robert Lee.
More than 1,400 resident were forced from their homes.
Several barns and hunting cabins have been destroyed by the fire. In addition, dozens of sheep, goats, cattle, and other livestock were also lost in the fires.
A shelter for Robert Lee residents was set up at Bronte Elementary School in nearby Bronte, Texas. It was not needed.
Angelo State News
ASU to Host International Business Symposium
Dr. Pietra Rivoli, award-winning author and professor of finance and international economics at Georgetown University, will be the keynote speaker at Angelo State University’s 10th annual International Business Symposium April 22 on the ASU campus.
Rivoli will speak on “The Global Economy: Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade” at 9:30 a.m. in the ASU Houston Harte University Center’s C.J. Davidson Conference Center. Her presentation is open free to the public.
The symposium will also include a seminar on “Business Opportunities in China and Mexico” hosted by Dr. Antonio Ruiz Ramirez, dean of graduate research and development at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The seminar will run from 2-4 p.m. April 22 in the University Center’s Nasworthy Suite 203/204. Cost of the seminar is $10 per person.
Rivoli is the author of “Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade.”
For more information on the International Business Symposium or to register, contact the ASU Small Business Development Center at 942-2098 or sbdc@angelo.edu.
Angelo State Adds San Antonio Recruiter
As part of its ongoing efforts to attract more students from along the I-35 corridor, Angelo State University has created a new full-time admissions counselor/minority recruiter position that will be based in San Antonio.
Nick Garcia, currently an admissions counselor in the ASU Admissions Office, will take on the new role in San Antonio starting April 7.
His duties will include attending regional college fairs and other events in San Antonio and the surrounding areas to expose prospective students to the advantages of attending ASU.
He will also engage in community service activities that will demonstrate Angelo State’s commitment to involvement within the San Antonio region.
“It is an honor to be the first regional representative for ASU,” Garcia said. “It is a great way to get more students from the San Antonio area. I think it is also important in our efforts to become a Hispanic Serving Institution.”
A native of Fort Stockton, Garcia has worked in the ASU Admissions office since obtaining his bachelor’s degree in communication from Angelo State in December.
Prior to that, he was a student worker in the office for about a year and a half. As a student, he also made the Dean’s List and was involved in the Rambassador Program.
At his new posting, Garcia also plans to attend graduate school at either Incarnate Word or the University of Texas-San Antonio.
ASU Student David Trevino Wins Tejano Grammy Award
David Trevino, a sophomore music major at Angelo State University, picked up a Grammy Award in February as a member of the Tejano band "Little Joe y La Familia."
Trevino played saxophone on the group’s TDI Records album "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," which won the Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend the ceremony due to his ASU class schedule, but his hardware is coming in the mail.
"It’s really exciting," Trevino said. "First, they will send me the medallion that says I was a nominee. They got those the night before the Grammys. Within six weeks they are supposed to send me my statue."
A San Angelo native, Trevino was part of the five-horn section Los Hot Horns put together by former ASU student John Ontiveros. The group played with several local bands before being picked up by Grammy-winning artist Chente Barrera. When Little Joe’s horn section left him last January, he brought Los Hot Horns into his band. Trevino also toured with Little Joe y La Familia through nine different states last year before leaving the band to return to school.
At ASU, Trevino plays baritone saxophone for the Wind Ensemble and tenor saxophone in the Jazz Band.
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