Friendswood Police Activity Report

September 5-11,2023

Theft     

Sept. 7 (2:03 p.m.) A theft of water from a city hydrant is being investigated.  The incident occurred in the 2000 block of Pebble Lane on August 5.  Home surveillance video captured the theft and was turned over to police.

Sept. 9 (4:24 a.m.) Officers responded to an ATM alarm at Chase Bank, 3103 FM 528. The alarm company reported a dark grey Dodge truck and three Black male suspects all wearing dark clothing. When the first officer arrived on scene, he found the truck abandoned in the Kroger parking lot with a chain attached to the back. The cover of the ATM was ripped off, money and tools were left on the ground. The truck was stolen from a nearby apartment complex.

Sept. 10 (7:34 p.m.) A theft in progress was reported in the 1700 block of Spring View, at a home that is currently under construction. The witness provided information on the suspects and the suspect vehicle. When police arrived in the area, they observed the suspect vehicle leaving the subdivision with a stack of lumber in the bed of the truck. A traffic stop was conducted, and three suspects were taken into custody. When an officer contacted the construction supervisor, they discovered that the same construction area has been hit for three thefts over the past week and that no one had permission to be taking anything away from the jobsite. All the stolen lumber was unloaded back at the jobsite and returned to the owner. Luis Aleman Torres, 30, of Baytown, Valdivia Esperanza, 40, of Baytown, and Edgar Martin Moreno, 23, of Baytown, were charged with Theft.

Forgery 

Sept. 5 (8:30 a.m.) A Friendswood business in the 4700 block of FM 2351 reported the forgery of a check.   The forged check was deposited into an unknown high school account.

Sept. 5 (1:11 p.m.) A Friendswood woman reported a forged check. She received notification from her bank about a withdrawal.  She called the bank to inquire about the withdrawal and reported the forgery. The check number for the forged check was not consistent with the woman’s account.

Fraud    

Sept. 5 (12:52 p.m.) A Friendswood man reported a forged check on his business account. Then, he was notified by his bank that two of his bank account were combined. He went to a local bank branch and reported the fraudulent activity.

Sept. 5 (5:24 p.m.) A Friendswood man met a woman on the Bumble app, continued their conversation on the Discord app.  On the Discord app, the woman recorded video of the man exposing his private parts, then demanded money from in Bitcoin for her not to release the video to his family.

Sept. 6 (6:47 p.m.) A Friendswood man received a Chime credit card in the mail. He thought it was odd because he had not applied for the card. He received two emails regarding payments from the credit card. He did not authorize any payments and the card was not connected to any of his accounts. The card has now been canceled.

Sept. 8 (6:55 p.m.) A Friendswood family agreed to participate in an investment plan that they were made aware of through Instagram. It was believed that the plan was made by a family member; however, now they have discovered the Instragram account was hacked, and they are out their investment money because it was deposited into various Bitcoin machines.             

Arrests

Sept. 5

Goliath C. Yeggins, Jr., 29, of Missouri City, was charged with Driving While License Invalid and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Sept. 9

Miguel Angel Ortiz, 34, of Pearland, was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Michael Dana Ryer, 62, of Pearland, was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Texas Laws on Non-consensual Image Distribution

According to Texas law, it is illegal to distribute, publish, or share any intimate visual material without the consent of both people depicted. This includes videos and photos of nudity or sexual conduct. Even if the person in the image is an adult, distributing the visual material without their consent is a criminal offense.

The distribution of intimate visual material without consent in Texas is considered a Class A misdemeanor, leading to a fine of up to $4,000 and up to one year of imprisonment. However, suppose the person depicted in the material is under the age of 18. In that case, the offense is classified as a third-degree felony, resulting in up to 10 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $10,000.