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from The University Star
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
www.UniversityStar.com
FEBRUARY 14, 2006
TUESDAY
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 53
Blaze destroys office, clubhouse
‘Appropriate use of force’ by SWAT team to be investigated By Ashley Richards The University Star
vestigation of the incident. Williams said an outside investigator is needed because both the city Once completed, an investiga- and county are involved with the tion of the actions taken by the SWAT team. city and county Special Weapons “I’m responsible for getting And Tactics team that resulted in the information together and the death of Leslie Eugene Whited presenting it to the grand jury,” will be presented to a grand jury Ratliff said. “I’m investigating it to determine if the force used was and working with all the departappropriate. ments that were involved in it.” On Feb. 4, Ratliff’s findWhited, 35, was ings will be traveling on Inpresented to terstate 35 when a grand jury he struck a to determine woman’s vehicle whether the use and continued of force was jusdriving, police tified and legal. said. It was later Williams said determined that the incident the black Ford must be evalutruck Whited ated from both was driving was a legal and an stolen. administrative San Marcos standpoint. A Police Departcopy of the rement Chief port will be sent Howard Wil— San Marcos Police Chief to the sheriff, liams said the who will decide Howard Williams if the force used woman called police and rewas adminismained on the phone with them tratively appropriate, meaning as she followed Whited into San the police department must deMarcos. cide if the officers complied with “The lady had been telling us local procedures. he had a gun,” Williams said. Ratliff said he could not comPolice officers performed a fel- ment on whether or not a gun ony traffic stop and asked Whited was found in Whited’s possession to exit the vehicle with his hands and he cannot release informaout, but Williams said the suspect tion about the gunshot wound would not comply with the offi- because the information is evicers’ orders. dence that will be presented to the He said the hostage negotia- grand jury. tion and SWAT teams were called “I haven’t really even completto assist with the situation, and ed the investigation,” Ratliff said. nearly two hours after the initial “There’s still some things I’ve got stop, shots were fired. to finish before even writing it “At one point, he threw his ve- up.” hicle into reverse and started to Williams said the next grand run over the SWAT team that had jury is scheduled to meet durlined up behind him, and that’s ing the first week of March. Both when they shot him,” Williams Ratliff and Williams said they said. hope the report will be completThe officers first tried shooting ed to present to that grand jury. out the tires of the truck, Williams However, Ratliff said he does not said, but Whited still continued anticipate having the investigamoving toward the officers. tion completed by then. Texas Ranger Sgt. Tommy If the investigation is not comRatliff is compiling evidence to plete by then, another grand jury complete an independent in- will meet in April.
t one point, “A he threw his vehicle into reverse and started to run over the SWAT team that had lined up behind him, and that’s when they shot him.”
David Racino/Star photo SET ABLAZE: The Bishop’s Square apartments clubhouse sits dormant Friday afternoon after a fire destroyed most of the building last week.
No casualties reported in apartment fire
hen we first arrived, the fire was “W in the attic space already. Very shortly thereafter, it broke through the roof.”
By David Rauf The University Star Two Texas State students said they witnessed a man set fire to the clubhouse and office area of the Bishop’s Square apartments late Wednesday night. Lisa Stinson and Christina Fareri said they were sitting outside of their apartment smoking cigarettes when they noticed lights and strange activity coming from the clubhouse. Stinson, communication design sophomore, said she saw lights and shadows in the clubhouse around 11 p.m. She said they ran across the street and noticed an “orange glow” and saw
a man inside “lighting things on fire.” “I opened the door and was like ‘What are you doing?’” Stinson said. “We freaked him out. All of the sudden there were two girls in there while he was trying to do his business.” Fareri, interior design sophomore, said the building was full of smoke, and a man was inside running around frantically. “I told him I was calling the cops, and he said, ‘Go ahead, do it.’ Then he slammed the door and locked it,” Fareri said. “After he slammed the door in my
City councilman fields questions from ASG on transportation expansion By Clayton Medford The University Star
See ASG, page 3
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face, I noticed that the receptionist desk was on fire and the drapes were falling, and then it just went out of control. The fire was uncontrollable.” The fire was reported at approximately 11:10 p.m. San Marcos Fire Rescue crews arrived on the scene at 11:16 p.m. Assistant Fire Chief Len Nored said 25 firefighters battled the blaze and brought it under control in about an hour and a half. No one was injured in the fire. Nored said the primary concern was confining the flames to one structure. Residents
See BLAZE, page 3
UPD reports climbing number of bicycle thefts on campus By Leah Kirkwood The University Star A recent increase in bicycle thefts on campus has the University Police Department warning students to take extra measures to deter thieves. “We usually average about two bikes stolen each week.” said UPD Officer Otto Glenewinkel of the Community Awareness and Resource Team. “Two weeks ago we had, I believe, four or five.” Glenewinkel said the reports of stolen bikes came from all over campus, from Bobcat Village Apartments to Blanco Hall. The thefts are still under investigation, and the investigating officers could not comment on possible suspects, but Glenewinkel said there have been similar incidents of heavy bike theft in the past. “It’s usually large groups of individuals that come through and target various campuses, in general,” Glenewinkel said. “They go from campus to campus until they get caught or make the necessary money they’re looking for.” Last week, students received an email with UPD’s warning and some tips on bike locks and registration. The thieves targeted mountain bikes with cable locks, which can be easily cut and removed. UPD recommends using a cable lock only as a supplement to a U-shaped lock with standard key closure. The U-shaped lock is most effective when secured to the center or rear of the bike frame.
“The proper lock deters theft quite a bit,” Glenewinkel said. UPD also offers a free bicycle registration program. To register a bike, students should stop by the on-campus police station where a UPD officer will take down all information needed to help recover the bike if it is stolen. The bikes are marked with a registration sticker, which may help ward away potential thieves. “Last year, we recovered four bicycles that were stolen,” Glenewinkel said. “And that’s good considering most stolen property is never recovered.” Even those who aren’t concerned about bike theft may have good reason to register their bikes. “At the end of every spring semester, bikes not registered are picked up (by the UPD) if they are secured to campus property,” Glenewinkel said. “We do this for two reasons: One is to prevent theft over the summer, and two is to make bike parking accessible to incoming students in the fall.” The police department stores all collected bikes for a set amount of time so owners can retrieve them, but registered bikes are allowed to remain on campus. Brent Johnson, psychology senior, admitted he uses a cable lock on his bike. “They actually tried to cut through it three years ago at San Marcos Hall,” Johnson said. Johnson said he rides his bike to the Student Recreation Center ev-
Two-day Forecast Wednesday Partly Cloudy Temp: 82°/ 57° Precipitation: 0%
Thursday Partly Cloudy Temp: 86°/ 58° Precipitation: 20%
Mike Decker/Star feature photo
The Associated Student Government heard a presentation about area transportation projects by San Marcos City Council member John Thomaides at Monday’s meeting. The senators took advantage of the councilman’s presence to question him on a variety of topics such as single-family zoning and extending the local bar closing time from midnight to 2 a.m. Thomaides, who represents San Marcos on the Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District board of directors, told the senators about the potential impact of the Austin-San Antonio commuter rail project on San Marcos. The proposed rail system would run between the two cities with a planned stop in San Marcos. “The rail will be a way to relieve traffic on I-35 and local streets and roads,” Thomaides said. “But more importantly than that, it will relocate freight traffic to outside of the city,” he said, referring to the transfer of Union Pacific freight lines to State Highway 130, which would accompany the construction of the commuter rail. Thomaides said a ride from San Marcos to the downtown districts of Austin or San Antonio would cost about $4 to $5 per passenger. He also told senators about his idea of building an open streetcar system that would run on a continuous loop from the commuter rail stop to the city’s central business
Sunny
— Len Nored San Marcos Fire Department assistant chief
from two buildings adjacent to the clubhouse were evacuated as exposure lines, separate lines from the truck that spray water on buildings exposed to radiant heat, were positioned to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. “When we first arrived, the fire was in the attic space already,” Nored said. “Very shortly thereafter, it broke through the roof.” According to a press release, Fire Marshal Ken Bell said the cause of the fire is considered suspicious. Fire investigators are conducting an on-going investigation and have posted a Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the arrest of a white male whom witnesses reported seeing leave the scene of the fire. Stinson and Fareri describe
ALL LOCKED UP: UPD is warning students to take extra precautions against thieves after several bicycles have been stolen from campus. Officers recommend using a U-shaped lock instead of a cable lock.
ery day and also parks it by The Den while in class. Johnson said that although he has thought about getting a U-shaped lock, “it’s heavy, and now I don’t live on campus.” Martin Thomen, a visitor at Texas State, uses a U-shaped lock on his bike, but he heard thieves have found
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a way to cut through them. “I went to undergraduate school at (the University of Texas) and registered my bike there,” Thomen said. He thinks bike registration is a helpful service. Thomen has not yet registered his bike in San Marcos, but said, “I’ll probably do that one of these days.”
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