Kids hide as burglars ransack home
Two burglars broke into a San Marcos home where two juveniles, a teenager and a younger child, were home alone Monday afternoon, investigators say.
At about 3:30 p.m., the Hays County Sheriff’s Office received a “burglary in progress” call at an address on Falconwood Drive, located west of San Marcos off of Ranch Road 12.
The teen heard a knock on the door, and not knowing who was knocking did not answer. He went to another part of the house and then heard the back door kicked open. The children hid in a closet, phoned their parents and then called 911, investigators say.
The parents notified a neighbor who drove to the house and witnessed a gray van, possibly a Chevrolet Astro, with no license plates parked in the victim’s driveway. The neighbor began to blow his horn and a female and male, either both white or Hispanic, appeared from the rear of the residence, got into the van and sped away, the sheriff’s office says.
Some computer and camera equipment were stolen from the home. A search of the neighborhood was conducted but the van could not be located. It is believed that the van drove back into San Marcos, the sheriff’s office says.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Hays County Criminal Investigations Division at (512) 393-7814 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-324-8477.
Police investigate two DWI crashes
A 40-year-old man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after his Nissan Sentra was rear-ended by another vehicle at the 5300 block of Kyle Center Drive on May 31, police say.
Around 5:30 p.m., Kyle police responded to the crash and detected alcohol on the breath of Eric Smith, of Elemendof, Texas. His passenger, Anthony Conniff, was arrested for public intoxication, according to police reports.
A Pontiac Grand Am rear-ended Smith’s car as he waited at a stop light near the intersection of Kyle Parkway and Kyle Center Drive. No charges were filed against the other driver, police say.
In an unrelated wreck, on June 3, an intoxicated San Antonio driver crashed his Chevy Impala into the rear of a Dodge Caravan along IH-35 southbound at the 213 mile marker, according to police reports.
Christopher Riddle, 34, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. No injuries were reported in both incidents, police say.
San Marcos robber sentenced to 55 years
An Austin man was sentenced to 55 years in prison for an aggravated robbery against an 83-year-old convenience store clerk, the Hays County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Ronald Glenn Boston Jr., 29, was sentenced by a Hays County jury for the offense in which Boston and Jacob Hemphill, 23, robbed the 83 year old in the 1500 block of Aquarena Springs Drive in San Marcos on October 11, 2008, officials say.
Boston and Hemphill entered the store, held the clerk at bay with a handgun, and removed approximately $200 from the cash register, officials say.
A store surveillance video captured images of the vehicle the two used when they fled the scene. A subsequent investigation tied that vehicle to two other aggravated robberies committed in Austin. Boston and Hemphill were arrested by the Austin Police Department, at which time Boston was observed placing a rifle used in the robberies in the trunk of the car, officials say.
District Judge Bill Henry ordered that the 55-year sentence run consecutively with a 10-year sentence Boston is serving out of Travis County. Boston, who had six prior felony convictions, must serve one-half of the sentence before being eligible for parole, the district attorney’s office says.