Crime

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Credit card skimmers are becoming more sophisticated and that is going to call for consumer vigilance, according to the Marble Falls Police Department (MFPD).

Police say a skimmer was found Tuesday, April 24, inside a pump at the Kwik Chek Exxon, 1003 Ranch to Market Road 1431 in Marble Falls.

“We have been asking people to look on the outside for skimmers installed there before they pay with a card, but the last two or three discovered in this area have been inside the pumps,” said MFPD Capt. Glenn Hanson. “Sometimes pumps are accessed by a key and the thieves may be coming up with a master key,” he said. “We don't know yet how much time it takes to install one, but it must be quickly and discretely.”

Hanson said to combat the problem the department has been urging gas stations and convenience stores to check their pumps regularly.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

As tempting as it may be to clear up every bill from 2017, don't feel tempted to respond to an email asking you to clear a debt with the Marble Falls Library Thrift Store.

Someone is “spoofing” the local thrift store and using that ID as bait for “phishing,” the term for cyber ne'er-do-wells out to capture your username, passwords and account information or money for their own gain.

Thrift store manager Virginia Cervantez says that twice recently customers have reported received email notices headed: Purchases 2017 that instruct the receiver to remit a Thrift Store balance by PayPal to atlantaprecisionpianotuning.com/Invoices-Overdue/.

By Managing Editor Lew Cohn, Sports Editor Richard Zowie and Glynis Crawford Smith

The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Criminal Investigation Division is welcoming information about the Thursday night road rage incident on Ranch to Market Road 1431 in which an Austin Police Department (APD) rescued family and wounded their assailant.

Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd said the incident appears to have stemmed from a road-rage situation which occurred in the 1200 block of RM 1431 west of RM 1174 and about eight miles east of Marble Falls at around 10 p.m. Thursday.

“At 10:11 PM, the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call regarding shots fired involving an off-duty Austin Police Department officer,” said a press release from Boyd Friday morning.

A Marble Falls man who ran over a Marble Falls police captain with his boat was sentenced by District Judge Allan Garrett on Oct. 19 to 10 years in prison, but then had his sentence probated for 10 years after an agreement was reached between the man's attorney and the Burnet County District Attorney's office.

James “Hank” Fry must spend 120 days in the Burnet County Jail as a condition of his probation for his conviction for intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury to a peace officer, a second-degree felony.

On July 4, 2015, Fry's boat collided with a MFPD patrol boat piloted by Capt. Ted Young, running over Young, striking him and sending him into the water. The force of the collision broke Young's shoulder and several ribs, fractured a vertebrae in his spine, lacerated his spleen and caused bleeding on the brain.

By Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

A Granite Shoals man suspected in an aggravated burglary in Louisiana was taken into custody by a Marble Falls Police officer during an act of kindness this week.

Xavier Tyler Haynes, 18, was arrested on Monday, Oct. 10, after a police officer spotted him walking down the road.

“He was walking in a traffic lane down (Ranch to Market Road) 1431,” said Marble Falls Police Capt. Glen Hanson, when the young man was spotted by Marble Falls Police.

“The officer offered to give him a ride, and asked him where he was going. He said he was on his way to Granite Shoals,” Hanson said.

During the trip, the officer checked Haynes' identification and dispatch reported the young man was wanted by the State of Louisiana on felony charge of aggravated burglary.

According to the Burnet County Jail database the charge was issued following an incident in that state on May 22.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Marble Falls ISD has been listed on an Instagram account of schools that comprise some vague “hit list” for alleged “creepy clown” activity.

The Instagram account “killer.clown.666” has listed under the name of the account “Killer Clown Hit list: Johnson City isd: marble falls isd, Harper isd, centerpoint isd.”

While Marble Falls ISD officials do not believe the threat may necessarily be credible, they have gotten local law enforcement involved and will be monitoring the situation, said Superintendent Dr. Chris Allen Friday.

“Like other Central Texas school districts, Marble Falls ISD has been mentioned as one of four districts noted in a 'clown' post. No specific Marble Falls campus, student, or facility has been named as part of this post,” Allen said in a statement.

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH/HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS

A Marble Falls man was shot in a home while laying in bed on Thursday night, Marble Falls Police confirmed.

A 27-year-old man was laying in bed in a home in the 400 block of Avenue R at approximately 11:22 p.m. when he was shot twice in the torso, police said.

Witnesses told officers that two masked men entered the house, ran into the bedroom, and shot the victim. The man was then transported to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center and is reportedly in stable condition.

It is unclear at this time whether the man was a resident of the home.

As of 9 a.m., officers were no longer at the scene. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.