4 May 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Crime
S KU L D U G GE R I E S of the MO NTH
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION A thief drove off in a Ford F150 from a parking area near the University Park Fire Department in the 3800 block of University Boulevard around 5:45 a.m. March 14.
GRINCH? A thief took two toy cars worth $400 that were given as Christmas gifts to children in 2019 and left unattended in Flippen Park in the 4400 block of Versailles Avenue before 11:44 a.m. March 21. The cars were later recovered.
TOO EASY How did a burglar snag a pair of $150 RayBan sunglasses, three other pairs of designer sunglasses worth $50 each, and a bag with $110 worth of makeup inside from a Toyota RAV4 in the 4700 block of Abbott Avenue overnight before noon March 28? The SUV was left unlocked. WANT TO READ MORE CRIMES? SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER peoplenewspapers.com/ e-newsletters/ peoplenewspapers.com/ category/crime/
‘D MAGAZINE ’ DIGS INTO HIGHLAND PARK DRUG RING
Investigation connects case to slaying of teen Pintucci By William Taylor People Newspapers
T
he tragic slaying of teenager Joey Pintucci intersects with “The Highland Park Drug Ring” in the April cover story for D Magazine, a sister publication of Park Cities People. The article by Peter Simek isn’t about the former Highland Park High School student but rather, as one subhead says, about, “How an odd cast of characters – including a mother of 10 and a cop – ran a deadly drug ring out of a Highland Park townhome.” Federal court documents accuse Gary Collin Bussell of leading the operation out of his townhome. Gina Corwin, of University Park, is the mother of 10. Frank Dockery belonged to the Plano Police Department. They were indicted along with eight others from Carrollton, Dallas, Garland, McKinney, and The Colony. “They were a motley crew, from divergent walks of life, but many were users who sold drugs to help fund their habit,” according to D Magazine.
MARCH 9
help with his ADHD. Haag became his guardian after Pintucci’s mother died when he was 7. Bussell’s daughter was in Pintucci’s white 2002 Lincoln sedan the night the 18-year-old was gunned down. They were waiting in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods in an empty parking garage at the Shops at Park Lane, where he planned to sell THC canisters, used for vaping, to students from Evolution. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is a compound in marijuana that gets users high. Pintucci may have been dealing for Bussell, or Bussell’s daughter may have taken the canisters without permission, according to D Magazine. Security video showed three men arriving at the garage on Jan. 24, 2019. They used guns to take the canisters without paying, and then one fired into the car, hitting Pintucci. Rene Eduardo Montanez, Jr., 24, was arrested two days later. Juan Antonio Cardenas, 19, one of Pintucci’s Evolution classmates, was arrested in December. Both face capital murder charges.
CRIME REPORT MARCH 9 - APRIL 12
A scoundrel shattered the passenger side rear window of a GMC vehicle parked in the 4200 block of Arcady Avenue before 5:15 p.m.
MARCH 10
A thief got into an unlocked Ford F150 parked in the 4500 block of Edmondson Avenue and took two iPhones, two phone chargers, and a tray containing about $20 in coins from inside overnight before 10 a.m.
MARCH 12
Thieves swiped bicycles from the 6400 block of Hillcrest Avenue around 4 p.m. and from the 8400 block around 6:16 p.m.
MARCH 13
Most of the defendants, who contained fentanyl, a powerful and were charged with seven counts of deadly opioid often used in coundrug and weapons-related offens- terfeit versions of medicines such as es, were expected to make plea deals oxycodone. with prosecutors, Simek said. Cor“Fentanyl is the drug that killed win pleaded guilty to possessing with Prince, Tom Petty, and Los Angeles intent to manAngels pitcher ufacture and Tyler Skaggs,” distribute 50 the magazine grams or more noted. of a mixture Prosecutors or substance connected fentanyl sold by containing Bussell’s ring to a detectable two area overamount of dose deaths. methamphetamine. P intucci ’s The magaentry into the zine describes story comes a Park Cities through his mom buying f riendship pot brownwith Bussell’s ies, restaurants daughter. The teens trading meals The April issue of D Magazine includes for pills, and photographs of Gina Corwin’s house met in middle an organiza- on Stanford Avenue and the late Joey school and retion that sold Pintucci with his aunt and guardian, mained friends tens of thou- Andrea Haag. (PHOTO: D MAGAZINE) even after his sands of fake aunt Andrea prescription pills. A Highland Park Haag moved him out of Highland woman slept for 24 hours after tak- Park High to Evolution Academy in ing what she thought was Xanex. It Richardson in hopes of getting more
An opportunistic burglar got into a home in the 3300 block of Bryn Mawr Drive via an unlocked back door and took jewelry, among
other items, around 4:33 a.m.
MARCH 14
A thief swiped a firearm from an unlocked vehicle in the 3600 block of Greenbrier Drive around 1:57 p.m.
MARCH 15
An opportunistic thief took purses, cards, checks, $300 in cash, and more from an unlocked Ford Explorer in in the 3800 block of Southwestern Boulevard before 12:05 a.m.
MARCH 18
MARCH 22
A crook swiped a bicycle from a back porch in the 3400 block of McFarlin Boulevard overnight before 9:50 a.m.
MARCH 29
A good neighbor found a jewelry box with two matching wedding rings inside while walking on Willow Wood Circle around 12:41 p.m. and turned it in to authorities.
MARCH 30
A dog bit a man walking nearby near the intersection of Armstrong Avenue and Cowper Avenue around 12:37 p.m.
A scoundrel scratched a Ford pickup parked in the 4600 block of Lakeside Drive while the owners walked in Lakeside Park around 7:30 p.m.
MARCH 19
APRIL 1
A burglar broke a window of the James Pearse store in Highland Park Village and took clothes around 5:52 a.m.
Thief stole your homework? A porch pirate pilfered packages containing about $300 worth of homeschooling supplies from a
home in the 3300 block of Beverly Drive. The incident was reported at 4:29 p.m.
APRIL 5
A thief drove off in a Chevrolet Suburban that was parked in the 4400 block of Westway Avenue between 1 and 4:30 p.m.
APRIL 11
A thief took a ring appraised at $6,800 from a handbag left at the Whole Foods in the 4100 block of Lomo Alto Drive between 4 and 4:30 p.m.
APRIL 12
A thief took two GMC Power Wheels replica electric toy cars, worth about $300 each, and a pedal-powered replica toy four-wheeler, worth about $100, that’d been left outside a home in the 4500 block of Westway Avenue between 1 and 3:30 p.m.