On Monday, we welcomed our newest officer to the MVPD.  Officer Vanessa Cadena joined our team and is currently assigned with a Field Training Officer and working dayshift.  Officer Cadena joins us coming from the Galveston, Texas Police Department.  In addition to serving the community as a police officer, Officer Cadena serves as a Sergeant in the United States Army Reserve. So, if you see Vanessa working the streets, please feel free to give her a wave and a warm welcome to the Villages. 

Monday is Veterans Day.  The MVPD is proud to have several veterans as part of the MVPD team. Our vets include:

•         Sergeant L. Owens
•         Officer D. Bracht
•         Officer F. Lerma
•         Officer P. Torres
•         Officer R. Jarvis
•         Officer R. McElvany
•         Officer J. Burleson
•         Officer C. Schanmier
•         Officer V. Cadena

Thank you for your service to our country and our community. To honor our veterans, the students at Memorial Drive Elementary School hosted their annual “Hero’s Lunch” this afternoon.  MVPD joined Hedwig PD, Spring Valley PD, Spring Branch ISD and VFD for lunch in honor of our veterans.

This week, the MVPD team hosted a R.A.D. instructor certification school which was for instructors who teach the defense specific part of the curriculum.  The training attracted R.A.D. Instructors from several states who all instantly became very jealous of the Memorial Villages Community. Several of the students told me how envious they were of the clean community and beautiful homes along with the proximity to area restaurants and shopping. Our MVPD R.A.D. instructors participated in the training as well as acted as hosts for the other students. Our team is now ready for our next regular R.A.D. Class that will be held December 16-18, 2019.  This R.A.D. Class will be held from 10 am-2 pm over 3 consecutive days. This is the full regular R.A.D. training which consists of classroom and high-intensive self-defense. This class is being held during the winter break so that mother/daughter teams can attend together. Of course, all women can attend this session and you can attend alone or with friends.  This will be a ‘ladies only’ session, so please check your calendars now and make your reservation soon as we anticipate this class to quickly fill up. Contact Officer Michelle Owens at Mowens@mvpdtx.org 

This week the MVPD has been the recipient of everyone’s excess Halloween treats. Everything from power bars, fruit, cookies and chips to every type of candy imaginable. Thank you for thinking of us.  (I keep busy reminding all of our staff, that our annual physical agility testing is scheduled for January).

As we continue to learn how to better utilize our new Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) we had 2 incidents this week where, had the resident known their own license plate number, we could have used the system to quickly locate their vehicle and know where they are or who may have been following them.  We are asking that you keep note of your license plate number and have it readily available, that way should we need to locate your car or truck, we can. Keep your license plate numbers in the notes section on your phone or memorize them, so if we ever need to do a quick locate, we can use this new tool to help you and our officers.

Also, yesterday we had an incident where some walkers were harassed by a driver while walking along Memorial Drive near the Police Department.  The women quickly walked to the MVPD and notified our dispatchers who in turn requested officers. We were able to ascertain the license plate number of the harasser and officers are following up. Additionally, the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle is now in the ALPR system and should he return to the area, we will immediately be notified, and we will intervene.

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

Weekly Crime Report

Hunters Creek

11/1/19 at 0800 Hours. 8400 Block of Katy Freeway. Burglary of a Commercial Building. Officers were notified that sometime during the night unknown suspect(s) had entered the building by prying open the front without activating the alarm.  Once inside the business several small safes were taken from just inside of the door. Detectives were notified and are working the case.

11/1/19 at 1715 Hours. 1-100 Block of Willowend. Identity Theft. The victim reported receiving notice in the mail of a declined application for a credit card.  The victim had not requested any new credit cards and upon inspecting her credit report found multiple attempts to open accounts, with some of them actually being opened. The accounts were linked to other addresses in the Houston area. Additional research found more accounts in the victim’s name.  One led to a local business where it was learned that the person using the victim’s identity had actually submitted information from another victim of identity theft to the business (victim verified from Illinois). Information about the suspect and the transactions were collected and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.

Bunker Hill

11/4/19 at 1630 Hours. Briar Forest and Memorial. Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle/Recovered. Officers were notified of a stolen vehicle entering Hedwig Village at Echo and Mustang and began checking the area. Officers located the vehicle traveling south on Blalock at Memorial. Officers initiated a traffic stop and detained 2 occupants. The vehicle was verified as stolen in August of 2019 from Spring, TX.  (verified by the Constable and the victim). The DA’s Office was contacted however, did not wish to accept charges due the occupants claiming the vehicle had been repossessed. (no paperwork to validate a repossession). The vehicle was recovered and towed pending release to the owner.

11/6/19 at 1345 Hours. 200 Block of Stoney Creek. Theft.  The victim reported that sometime between 1045 and 1130 a male subject has taken a package from her front porch. A neighbor had observed the package earlier and a few minutes later noticed it was gone and notified her. A check of nearby video cameras shows a white male described as 50-60 years of age, large build wearing a lime green t-shirt, back-pack and shorts near the residence. A check of the ALPR cameras located the UPS truck but no suspect vehicle, which lead to the conclusion that the suspect might have been on foot.  Information was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation.   

Piney Point

11/6/19 at 0400 Hours. 100 Block of Radney. Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Officers were notified of a stolen vehicle entering the Villages at E. Creekside and Memorial. As officers began checking the area the vehicle was observed on Memorial heading towards Voss. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to immediately stop and ran a red light. Officers were eventually able to stop the vehicle in the 100 Block of Radney. The vehicle was occupied by a female and contained a quantity of possibly stolen merchandise from area department stores.  The female was taken into custody and booked into the MVPD jail.  Detectives were notified and are continuing the investigation. 

11/7/19 at 0000 Hours. 11300 Block of Greenbay. Driving While Under the Influence. While on patrol a MVPD officer observed a vehicle traveling at 51 MPH in a posted 35 MPH zone and initiated a traffic stop.  Upon approaching the driver, the officer observed signs of intoxication. Additionally, the driver was having great difficulty getting his license out of his wallet and was confused. The driver was given sobriety test which he failed.  The 65-year-old male was then taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail. 

Criminal Investigations Division