Suspects connected to 21 crimes only get 7 months!

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By Shannon Daughtry
The Baytown Sun Published April 23, 2010 Two Houston men arrested last week in Baytown were found to have much more than one crime under their belt.

The Baytown Police Department estimates that number a little closer to 21.

Police arrested 25-year-old Michael Ruiz and 34-year-old Abraham Segura at approximately 7:30 p.m. April 14 after a witness reported seeing two men breaking into a vehicle and then leaving the area in a white minivan.

Officers quickly located the vehicle, which was being followed by the witness, and attempted to stop it. The suspects evaded the patrol car, leading the police on a short-lived one-mile pursuit. When the vehicle finally stopped in the 200 block of Williams Street, the two suspects were taken into custody.

While investigating the getaway van, officers noticed items reported stolen in other recent burglaries, leading to a whole new line of questioning for Ruiz and Segura. Those finds connected the two men to a string of 21 other burglaries and two credit card abuse cases committed over the past two weeks.

Detectives interviewed both suspects and obtained confessions regarding three other motor vehicle burglaries they had committed April 14. And though the two only confessed to a few other crimes, Lt. Eric Freed said police were able to clear at least 21 other cases committed by the suspects as well.

“From the information obtained by the crime victims who contacted us regarding the other motor vehicle burglaries, we were able to match the confessed locations, types of cars and items taken from the vehicles to the suspects confessions,” Freed said.

Freed estimated that thousands of dollars in property had been lost in the crime spree.

Ruiz and Segura recently plead guilty in a Harris County courtroom, and both men received seven-month prison sentences.
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In this article by Shannon Daughtry concerning the two thieves who were connected to 21 crimes and received  7 month prison sentences, I couldn't help but think they actually got 7 months amongst their own kind to hone their skills.  I seriously wonder if anyone, including the judge thinks they will come out of jail rehabilitated and contribute anything positive to society. 


I also wonder what effect it would have on them individually if the judge would have ordered one whack from a rattan cane across the back for each crime they were convicted of with a promise to double it if they fell back into their old habits.


Too bad these 2 didn't have 5 pounds marijuana in their van, because they could have been locked away safely for 2 to 20 years with a fine of $10,000 and besides that, they would have been slower and easier to catch.

Back in the Saddle Again

I started jogging again.  It’s been about 2 years since I last ran and even though I am fast approaching 58 years old, I have been active.  Last Sunday, after work, the sun was shining and it was dry and perfect, so I hopped out of my car on the way home, striped off my work uniform to my running shorts and tee, donned my running shoes and off I waddled.

At first I was going to run about a third of a mile, then that became a half and finally I decided to run down to Sens Road (from Miller Cut-Off where I started) and this would be a 2 miler.  I ran along what we in Texas call a feeder road and is beside SH-225, a very busy, but safely distant road.  I can hear the cars rushing by at break-neck speed, but I am on the shoulder of the feeder and as safe as can be expected.

Anyway, it was convenient and all I could expect in the Houston metropolitan shadow, so I did it.  I amused myself watching the Union Pacific railroad engine and train as it rocked by.  This is what I love about jogging; what a person does with their mind when their body goes into the robotic this foot that foot mode.  If a person cannot conquer their mind, they will soon stop running and it’s that simple.

I passed the 2 miles this time in almost a blur, the weather and sunshine warming me both inside and out.  I didn’t feel like a 57 year old man, even though I was running sub-11 minute miles.  I felt more like I was 49 again.

I went home feeling euphoric and that lasted the rest of the evening.  When I went to bed, I was physically and mentally ready to rest.  During the night I dreamed the most colorful and exotic bunch of dreams I have had in a long time.  When my alarm sounded I swung out of bed rested, but when I went to stand up, I realized my hips were quite stiff and my knees were protesting loudly.

I expected this though and once again I was waddling.  Making my way to the kitchen, I gulped down a coup of French Market New Orleans blend chicory coffee…I grabbed another before I cleared the house on my way to work.  All day long I went through the process of limbering up as I had a stiffness relapse every time I sat down for a few minutes.

The next morning all was better and after a couple of yawning stretches, I set out to repeat Sunday’s performance…and I did.  The day after the second jog wasn’t bad at all, so after taking a break yesterday and being off work today, I went out and ran 2 miles this morning.   Now I can’t say how often or how many miles I will be running in the future, but it sure is a good addition to my Indy Trekking while at work, which I have been doing on a regular basis.

Trash Versus Criminals

I am going to be called a racist and bigot for simply writing what many think. It's time someone called it like it is.

“White” people have a name for lower class and (surprisingly often) under-educated white people and we find it socially acceptable to use this term – white trash. This negative word is not normally used by white people to describe the criminal element in white society though. We call white people who commit crime - criminals.

I hate trashy behavior and detest this culture and inwardly moan when a white trash family moves into my neighborhood. They inevitably cause property values to fall, as they do not tend their yards and this is always the initial sign of neglect. The next flagged behavior is home maintenance and usually a lot of junk appears around their house.

In their defense, they are often friendly people and other than the sloppy way they maintain their house and property they are normal, law-abiding, and fundamentally productive citizens. They work and often that is their excuse as to why their property is in need of maintenance.

I am a “white” person, so it is politically safe, if I call them white trash. In fact, it is a safe-phrase to use by everyone.

A long time ago I learned to differentiate between a person’s skin color and the culture they embrace. I have no problem living next to a family of a different color or nationality, heritage included. The problem I occasionally encounter is culture clash. When a person’s culture clashes or overlaps with mine, there is no longer harmony in our coexistence.

I can certainly appreciate other cultures, especially from a distance, but that doesn’t mean I want to embrace them. For instance I can appreciate beautifully and brightly colored homes, but in the culture I embrace, we paint our homes a more subdued color. I can appreciate a culture which believes in front yard loud parties – the block party, but in my culture, we have our parties in the backyard and friends are pre-invited. When both cultures abide in the same neighborhood, culture clash is the result.

I cannot appreciate the thug world mentality that gangsta music promotes and so many American kids embrace and the avarice and sexual excess it pushes as success.

Culture, not color is the deciding factor for me. This said, in some cultures criminal activity is over-shadowed by an inherent distrust of the police department and this is a problem that needs to be addressed by the civic leaders who so often scream injustice. They should be screaming at the choir.

I personally do not watch the bank job/mob/mafia movies, as I am repulsed by the crime syndicate glorification. I do not watch the Sons of Anarchy series for the same reason. I do not view either of these cultures as white trash, but criminals and they are predominately white people committing the crimes for the record.

Criminals need to be ratted-out for what they are – criminals. No longer should they be tolerated and harbored as neglected, under-privileged, down-trodden, or whatever other excuse is thrown out in their defense. They have predatory and often violent propensities and are a threat.

Time and time again surveillance cameras record men robbing and stealing and no one can recognize them? These men are criminals, not down and outers. It’s time and high time the community moves to rid themselves of these bad people. Read the police report folks. Our police department is diversified and they make no bones about arresting people of their own ethnicity, as is proper.

It is getting very common for people to be robbed at gunpoint in our city and more times than not it is being done by a very well-defined group of men. Enough. Rat out the offenders. Put color aside and go after criminal behavior. Culture is one thing, but crime is crime and is a threat to ever law-abiding citizen.