Grand jury indicts multiple Olney defendants
At its most recent term, the Young County Grand Jury indicted seven people from Olney or involved in alleged crimes perpetrated in the City of Olney, county records show. The Grand Jury of the 90th District Judicial Court considered the alleged crimes during its January-May term. The slew of indictments capped more than a year of investigations by the Olney Police Department. Police Chief Dan Birbeck said recently that the volume of cases that he and his officers are handling these days has slowed, possibly due to enforcement efforts that saw the department handling nearly 1,000 cases last year.
“As the indictment list shows, Olney PD has been working hard to investigate criminal cases and see that criminals in our community are prosecuted,” he said. “It is our goal to clean Olney up and we will continue our efforts until the criminal element either moves on or is locked up in prison.”
Those indicted include Cody Bennett of Olney for the alleged unauthorized use of a vehicle on January 9, court records show, and Damaion Maurice Fleming of Olney, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in an alleged Feb. 23 assault on a woman. The indictment said Mr. Fleming “intentionally and knowingly threatened [the victim] with imminent bodily injury by pointing a firearm at her back and threatening to kill her” using a Ruger 10-22 revolver. Mr. Fleming also faces a “habitual felony offender enhancement,” the indictment showed.
Aaron Tavarez was indicted on a charge of possession of a controlled substance on Feb. 18. Derrick Allen Rockenbaugh of Olney was indicted on charges of evading arrest or detention, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for an alleged knife attack on his girlfriend at The Pipeliner Inn that devolved into a two-day police chase and the lockdown of Olney Hamilton Hospital and Olney’s school campuses. The alleged incidents occurred on April 17 and April 19, court records show.
Alton Everett Smith III of Olney was indicted on charges of possession of a controlled substance and burglary of a habitation in incidents that allegedly occurred on March 17 and March 23. Charity Lynn Heath of Olney was indicted on a single charge of burglary of a habitation in connection with the March 23 incident, court records show. Mr. Smith and Ms. Heath were arrested after a neighbor complained that they were stealing water from a West Payne Street home. Olney police followed a hose leading to a window in the house next door and arrested the two along with Tracy Willoughby after obtaining a search warrant and allegedly finding drugs and drug paraphernalia in plain sight.
Felisiano “Felix” Villalpando III was indicted for burglary of a habitation for allegedly assaulting an Olney man while attempting to burglarize his home last April, police said. Olney police and Texas Department of Public Safety officers staked out a home on West Elm Street a short time later and attempted to flush out Mr. Villalpando with flash-bang grenades and tear gas but found no one home. He was arrested on April 29 at the Western Heights apartments after Olney Police asked for public cooperation in locating him.
Terry Ward of Olney faces six counts, including four charges of possession of child pornography and two charges of online solicitation of a minor. Mr. Ward was first arrested last July after Olney police received a “cybertip” from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Ward had offered over Instagram to provide a juvenile male to a woman for sex, Chief Birbeck said. Several of the defendants were scheduled to appear in county criminal court on June 20, court records show.