It’s coming…… a new Bunker Hill Elementary School. As many of you may remember, back in 2017 a voter approved Bond package called for the construction of a new school at the site of the current Bunker Hill Elementary School location. Well, the time has finally come to begin the construction process for the new, state of the art school facility. This is going to be a unique project in the fact that the new school will be built alongside the current structure while the existing facility remains operational. First, don’t worry as the kids will all be safe, as there will be ample safety precautions to separate and protect the children, teachers and staff from the construction. What will change however, will be the traffic and pedestrian patterns around the school. These changes will begin on Tuesday January 5, 2021.

The parents of all students are being notified by school officials about changes in the transportation schedules of their children. All students are strongly encouraged to utilize, district bus transportation that is available to all students. School buses will have priority to both ingress and egress to the school property. Anyone else carpooling children to or from school will be provided instructions on a new traffic pattern that is being established exclusively for those parents. This information will come from the school.

What this means for everyone else who drives through or resides in the area of Taylorcrest and Strey is that there will be additional traffic in this area on all school days during the school arrival times of 7:15am – 8:15am and at dismissal times of 2:50 pm – 3:50 pm. There will be an abundance of officer’s present during these times from both Spring Branch ISD and the MVPD as well as new signage to ensure a smooth and safe transition and movement of students, pedestrians and vehicles.

Parents will not be allowed to stop, stand or stage on Taylorcrest, Knipp or Strey Roads. These roadways will be kept open and passable for traffic in both directions. Dead end area side streets and cul-de-sac's will not be used to drop-off students and will be posted as such. Parents will be directed to specific locations and held in queue until they can be instructed to proceed to the school property to pick up/drop-off their children. This will place some additional traffic on some of our streets for short durations on school days during the mornings and afternoons. Specific information on this process and the affected areas will be available on the Bunker Hill Web Page once finalized next week. Next week, residences nearest to the school project area will receive door hangers with more specific information for them and their neighborhoods. Please remember, this is a short-term solution that will result in a beautiful new school campus in Bunker Hill.

For everyone else, beginning on January 5, 2021 and for the next 9 weeks if at all possible, please seek alternative routes should you be traveling in the area of Taylorcrest and Strey. Your safety and the safety of our Children is our number one priority. The fewer vehicles traveling in the area the better it will be for everyone.  More to come on this topic next week.  

White Ribbons. Thanks to everyone who has placed a White Ribbon outside of your residence. Again, the white ribbons symbolize Hope during these unprecedented times, and also act as a reminder about suicide awareness.   

Christmas Twinkle Light Parade. Next Thursday evening everyone is invited to join Bunker Hill Village in celebrating the Holiday Season with the Annual Twinkle Light Parade. The parade will start at 6 pm sharp and travel from Frostwood Elementary School along Memorial Drive to Strey, then North on Strey to Taylorcrest, heading east and turning South onto Knipp. The parade will travel back to Memorial and then proceed east to Bunker Hill Road where we will again head North back to Taylorcrest, then east to Blalock and finally head South to Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church where the parade will end. (See the attached map). Due to COVID limitations, there will not be any public gatherings at either Frostwood or MDPC, sorry.  But, Santa and Mrs. Clause will be in the parade.

Please join us anywhere along the route and enjoy what has become an annual holiday tradition. Bring the family, your lawn chairs, hot chocolate and even an adult beverage, if you want, and find a safe place to enjoy the parade. Officer Larry Boggus has put together a 1-minute music video of past years parades that you can view at the following YouTube link. https://youtu.be/MQRY3fu-gUM Please expect short traffic delays in the area as MVPD officers will be stopping/rerouting traffic during the parade.

This week we had some great police work that resulted in the apprehension and identification of some area auto thieves. As you may recall, recently I have been talking about the thefts of some high-end SUV vehicles from the area. We had identified a vehicle of interest that was a White pick-up truck with dual rear wheels. Area residents had provided us with some video surveillance footage of vehicles that matched the same description that had been in the area at the time of some the thefts. Some of these videos were of a very good quality and provided unique vehicle characteristics. On Tuesday night, one of our evening officers noticed a vehicle matching this description driving in Piney Point Village near midnight and initiated a traffic stop. The officer had a suspicion that something just was not right with the subjects inside of the truck and called Commander Sission who was home asleep.

By chance after reading last week’s V-LINC another resident had sent some photos of our suspect vehicle that he had seen posted on another neighborhood social media web site. The commander had seen these pictures and knew even more about our suspect vehicle due to reviewing those photos Saturday morning. The commander was able to determine upon talking with the unit at the scene of the traffic stop, that this was indeed our suspect vehicle due to some very unique and specific characteristics. This was enough to effect an arrest. A search of the suspect vehicle subsequent to the arrest, located multiple sets of master key fobs and several vehicle “brain blockers” that are plugged into stolen vehicles to block GPS and other vehicle anti-theft software and technologies from working.

A call to HPD auto theft detectives also excited them as they too have been looking for this crew of thieves. The crew of 4 will be facing a litany of charges as several area agencies are putting together charges for this active group of criminals and their criminal enterprise. Great work by our officers by staying observant, by our residents for being engaged and for sharing their videos and photos, specifically by one resident for sharing information and pictures from another social media web site and for Commander Sission for waking up and for putting 2 and 2 together and realizing that we had our criminals stopped on a traffic violation. Great Job Team.  

Memorial Construction. There is a construction project occurring along Memorial Drive from Lindenwood traveling west towards Voss. There are flaggers present to assist with traffic during periodic lane shifts and lane closures. Please use extra caution if traveling in this area. Watch for workers and equipment moving in the construction areas.

And finally, thanks for the continued goodies during the holidays. This week we received Poinsettias, a basket of healthy snacks, a catered lunch, warm Tiff’s Treats cookies and a plate of several types of brittles and fudge. If you are wondering why our folks are smiling so much lately… that’s the reason.

Have a great weekend. Chief Ray Schultz rschultz@mvpdtx.org

Weekly Crime Report

Piney Point

12/7/20 at 1300 Hours. 11100 Block of N. Country Squire. Theft. Officers were notified of construction supplies that had been delivered to the property approximately a week ago.  The items had been placed in the rear of the property and were now missing. A review of area surveillance footage located a suspect vehicle which is a Red 4-door Chevrolet Pickup Truck pull into the driveway. 2 males then exit the truck and load the stolen items into the truck, then leave. Information was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

12/7/20 at 2015 Hours. 11600 Block of Memorial Drive. Driving While Intoxicated. Officers were dispatched to the area in reference to a reckless driver. Upon arrival, officers observed the vehicle driving without lights and weaving. A traffic stop was initiated, and the vehicle stopped. Upon contacting the driver, officers observed signs of intoxication. The driver failed field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest.  The driver provided a breath test that showed him to have a blood alcohol level of .24%. The 30-year-old male was booked into the Harris County Jail. The vehicle was towed.

Bunker Hill

12/7/20 at 1745 Hours. 100 Block of Hickory Ridge. Theft by Fraud. Upon reviewing his banking information, the victim noticed monies missing from his account. Through investigation it was determined that an unknown female had contacted the bank claiming to be related to the victim. She convinced the bank to add her to the account. Once added, she transferred monies from the victims account into other accounts that do not belong to the victim.  Information about the transactions was obtained and provided to detectives who are following up on the case.

12/9/20 at 1115 Hours. 11700 Block of Winshire. Mail Theft/Fraud. The victim reported that upon examining her account she found that a check that she had issued had been altered and reissued in a different amount to a person whom she does not know. Information about the check, bank and the person who cashed the check was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

Texas Workforce Commission Fraud Cases

12/07/20 at 1645 Hours. 11400 Block of Memorial. Officers were notified of a fraudulent application for unemployment using the victim’s personal information with the Texas Workforce Commission. Detectives have been notified and are investigating with TWC investigators.

Small Business Administration Loan Fraud Cases

12/5/20 at 1315 Hours. 11500 Block of Quail Hallow. The victim reported that he had received information of an overdue payment on an SBA CARES Act Loan. The victim has not applied for any loans with the SBA and determined the loan was fraudulently obtained. Detectives were notified and are working with State investigators on this case.