With tomorrow being Halloween I have been asked to
resend the information about celebrating Halloween “Purple Pumpkin Style” so I
am reposting from the 10/9/20 V-LINC.
Operation Purple Pumpkin. Many residents have been
asking if they should participate in trick or treating this Halloween because
of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is a decision that each family will need to make
on their own. One, do you want your children to participate in going door to
door, trick or treating? and two, are you are going to hand out treats at your
home?
Obviously, anyone who is currently experiencing or has
someone in the household with COVID-19 should not participate in activities or
events. However, people wanting to either trick or treat or pass out candy
should consider what is being described as Operation Purple Pumpkin
Halloween. The way Purple Pumpkin works
is, households that are COVID-19 free decorate their home or porch with a
purple pumpkin, purple lights or place a purple piece of paper or cloth on/over
your door, porch light or mailbox. This
way trick or treaters know that your home is COVID-19 free and safe. Treats are
then left on the front porch in a pail or bucket with a note to take one or two
pieces of candy. This way there is no
face to face or close contact. All treats/candy should be in closed/sealed
wrappers. Residents who want to see the children in their costumes can watch
from the safety of their homes and enjoy the evening. So, if you want to
participate in Halloween this year please consider having a Purple Pumpkin
Halloween.
We will have officers on patrol throughout the
villages during trick or treating times. If you are going out, please don’t
forget to take a flashlight and use extra caution as darkness falls. Make sure
that everyone is wearing a cloth/M95 mask and don’t forget to take some hand
sanitizer.
Motorists are asked to slow down and to use extra
caution especially on neighborhood streets that lack sidewalks and/or
streetlights.
As the night continues, we will then change our
emphasis to looking for Drunk Drivers. Halloween is one of nights each year
that there seems to be an increase in DWI. Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic
situation will keep things safe however, should someone try and chance it, we
will be closely monitoring traffic and we will make arrests. A night in jail
while wearing a costume is definitely a bad choice to make. If out at a party
and drinking, consider a ride-share or a taxi. It is cheaper in the long
run.
Don’t forget that Saturday night/Sunday morning the
clocks turn back an hour at 2 am. This is also the time of year when it is
recommended that everyone check/test your smoke and CO detectors. It is best to
test your detectors and change batteries. It only takes a few minutes and the
fresh batteries are well worth the investment.
Tuesday is Election Day. A heavy voting turn-out is
expected throughout Harris County all day and late into the evening. You can
still early vote today (Friday) until 7pm, but after this evening you will need
to vote in-person on Tuesday. Tuesday polling locations can be found at:
https://www.harrisvotes.com/Docs/VotingInfo/PollingLocations_en-US.pdf
We will have extra officers working as we are
expecting increased traffic around the voting locations. Officers will have their cruise lights on for
extra visibility.
A special thanks to the Glastonbury Arms First
Responder Foundation for feeding area police and fire personnel on Wednesday
October 28, 2020 on First Responders Day. Emergency response personnel from the
West Houston area were treated to made to order BBQ lunches. (Memorial Villages
PD, Hedwig Village PD, Spring Valley PD, Village Fire, HPD, HPD CIT, HPD K-9,
Harris County SO and Constables Pct.5) I had a stuffed BBQ baked potato that
was unbelievable. It was so good that I had to run an extra mile on Thursday to
compensate for the sour cream and butter. While we were outside eating under
the sally-port, residents dropped off some extra deserts and chocolates that
topped off the day perfectly. Again, thanks for the continued support
throughout the year.
We recovered our 50th stolen vehicle this
year. The recovered vehicle was a 2018 Jeep Renegade that was located on the
Katy Freeway service road by Sergeant Nowlin of the night-shift. We also hit
the $1,000,00 mark in recovered value of stolen vehicles in 2020 this week with
the recovery of another 2018 Jeep Renegade. This one was found by Officer Taylor
also on night-shift but on the other team. So, it looks like both night teams
will get a meal out of us soon for their hard work on nailing these criminals
and for recovering these latest stolen vehicles. We currently stand at 75 recovered vehicles
(since project inception), with a total value of $1, 477,300. Our most recent
recovered stolen van also contained two stolen cash registers from a burglary
that had been committed somewhere in Harris County. Read more about that case
below.
Tomorrow should be a great day to hit the Farmers
Market. A nice cool and crisp morning will start the day. Strolling around with
a cup of coffee and a breakfast taco should guarantee a great weekend. The
market opens at 9 am 10840 Beinhorn Road.
Have a safe Halloween. Chief Ray Schultz rschultz@mvpdtx.org
Weekly Crime Report
Piney Point
10/26/20 at 0915 Hours. 1-100 Block of Smithdale
Estates. Fraud. The victim reported that she had applied for a job using a
nationally known on-line recruiter. She was told that she was awarded the job
and received a paycheck in advance that appeared suspicious. An inquiry into
the company found that it was a fraud and did not exist. The check was also not
real. Information was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up
investigation.
10/26/20 at 1545 Hours. 600 Block of Blalock.
Recovered stolen license plate. Officers were alerted to a vehicle displaying a
stolen license plate traveling on Blalock Road. Officers were nearby and located
the black Lincoln Navigator displaying the tag and initiated a traffic stop.
The vehicle was found to not be stolen and was being driven by a used auto
sales employee who was using a copy of a stolen paper license tag. The
fake/stolen tag was confiscated by the officer the driver was issued multiple
citations and a court appearance.
Hunters Creek
10/26/20 at 2245 Hours. 2245 Hours. 200 Block of Voss.
Recovered Stolen Motor Vehicle/Possession of Methamphetamine. Officers were
alerted to a stolen Jeep entering the Villages on Voss and quickly located and
stopped the vehicle. The female driver claimed that she had been loaned the
vehicle by a body shop as her vehicle was being fixed, however the female did
not know the name of the shop or where it was located. Officers also found her
to be in possession of methamphetamine. The 40-year-old female was placed under
arrest and booked into the Harris County Jail. The vehicle was released to the
owner who responded to the location.
10/28/20 at 1315 Hours. 300 Block of Timberwild.
Identity Theft. The victim reported
receiving notices of new credit accounts being opened in his name. Upon
investigating, he located 6 new accounts that he did not authorize or make. One
account already had an outstanding balance. The accounts were all closed.
Information was gathered for detectives who are following up on the case.
Bunker Hill
10/27/20 at 2145 Hours. 11700 Block of Taylorcrest.
Unlawful Possession of Motor Vehicle. Officers were alerted to a stolen Vehicle
entering the Villages on Echo Road and were in the area when they observed the
vehicle cutting through a parking lot near Gaylord. As officers attempted to
stop the vehicle it attempted to elude officers traveling south on Echo. The
vehicle then turned onto a side street where the driver bailed out of the
moving vehicle. The vehicle stopped upon hitting a curb. Officer pursued the
driver on foot however lost him after he jumped several fences. Inside of the stolen van officers located
gloves, tools and 2 stolen cash registers that had been pried open. Detectives were notified and have taken over
the investigation. The driver is not in custody at this time. He was described
as a male wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants with white shoes. Note:
fingerprints were recovered and are awaiting comparison.
Texas Workforce Commission Fraud Cases
10/24/20 at 0815 Hours. 600 Block of Hedwig.
Fraudulent application for unemployment using the victim’s personal
information.
10/27/20 at 1645 Hours. 600 Block of Pifer. Fraudulent
application for unemployment using the victim’s personal information.
Small Business Association Fraud Cases
10/23/20 at 1615 Hours. 700 Block of Country Lane.
Fraudulent loan for an SBA, Cares Act Loan using the victim’s personal
information.
10/28/20 at 1045 Hours. 700 Block of Voss. Fraudulent
loan for an SBA, Cares Act Loan using the victim’s personal information.
