FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Several residents in the Cinco Ranch neighborhood are on high alert after the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office said a man had gone door to door pretending to be security personnel.
The man seen in doorbell camera footage is who Cinco Ranch neighbors believe to be behind a strange, unusual, and bizarre encounter at their doorsteps.
“It’s shocking. Obviously, I haven’t had anything like this before,” Ben Simiskey said, referring to last Saturday when his son answered the door to a stranger knocking and claiming he was part of a security team.
“He called himself ‘DaVinci’ and said he was part of a new neighborhood security, and he was coming around to introduce himself, and that he often has to jump people’s fences, and what he said, it was mainly in the middle of the night,” Simiskey said.
According to Simiskey, the man told his son that he flies drones, and from there, it took an even more disturbing turn.
“He began to ask my son if anyone in the house walks around naked, and so, my son had no idea how to respond to that, understandably,” Simiskey said.
He said that according to other neighbors, multiple encounters have happened in the Cinco Ranch area, and the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is urging the community to be on the lookout.
“Don’t open the door, talk to this individual through the door, or call your local law enforcement agency when you first see him or you assume that you see him. I don’t want them to confront him,” Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan said.
As authorities continue the search, neighbors are also coming together, taking matters into their own hands.
“It’s a good time to review when you are answering the door. Who are you talking to you? What information are you providing, making sure we have that with our family, friends and neighbors?” Simiskey suggested.
FBCSO is also on the lookout. Deputies have a description of what they believe is the truck he was driving, and patrol units are in the area searching for him.
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) — Human remains were found inside the white SUV that was pulled from the site of the pipeline fire on the border of Deer Park and La Porte, police confirmed Thursday morning.
SkyEye was live over the scene during Eyewitness News at 7 a.m. as crews hooked up the burned SUV with a winch and dragged it away onto Spencer Highway on Thursday.
The vehicle officials believe crashed into a valve, igniting a pipeline fire near Spencer Highway in the Deer Park/La Porte area has been removed.
Investigators surrounded the vehicle and looked inside.
Harris County medical examiners recovered and removed the remains. They’ll now begin working through the identification process, which will take some time, Deer Park police say.
The fire has been burning since the crash on Monday morning, though the flames now are noticeably smaller.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The calendar might say fall begins on Sunday, but the weather has not gotten the memo. Record highs could fall Thursday and Friday as temperatures soar into the upper 90s.
Temperatures Thursday should climb to the upper 90s in the middle of the afternoon. Houston’s record high of 97 degrees from 1995 is in jeopardy of falling.
How long do you expect these summertime temperatures to continue?
High temperatures should remain at or above 90 degrees for the next 10 days, but we do see some humidity relief on the way next week.
How long will we have to wait for our first fall front?
At this time, it looks like we’ll have to wait until the first week of October for any chance of a meaningful cool front to visit us here in Southeast Texas, but next week’s front should at least drop the humidity and bring us some mornings in the 60s by next weekend.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
We continue to see signs that a storm could lift out of the Caribbean and into the Gulf late next week. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for the latest on what’s happening in the tropics.
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) — Many people living near the site of Monday’s pipeline explosion were allowed to return to their homes for the first time Wednesday.
But not everyone was prepared for what they found as noticeably smaller flames continued to burn.
Steve and Diane Hutto’s home, just yards from the pipeline on East Meadow Drive, survived the fire for the most part, except for a partially melted backyard storage shed.
However, the water from the fire hoses trained on it to prevent it from igniting severely damaged their home of 14 years.
“Everything is just soaking wet: the walls, the couches, the clothes, everything. I don’t think we can save anything,” Diane Hutto said.
One thing that survived was pictures of Steve Hutto’s son, which were sealed away in a plastic container in a closet.
“We were really concerned about that because he had passed away, and that’s all he has of his son,” Diane Hutto said.
The City of Deer Park announced that people living in the evacuation zone would be allowed to return to their homes as early as 6 p.m.
However, Eyewitness News saw several returning before then.
The Huttos said they were able to return Wednesday morning to retrieve belongings, and Areanna Molero said authorities escorted her to her house to retrieve items Tuesday.
SAN DIEGO, California (KTRK) — The Houston Astros claimed victory Tuesday night in San Diego, but not before Jose Altuve did something unprecedented in baseball history: showing his barefoot.
The Astros star got into a heated argument with home plate umpire Brennan Miller during the ninth inning of the club’s 4-3 win at Petco Park. Altuve took issue with Miller’s call of a swinging groundout that the second baseman insisted was a foul ball off his left foot.
Altuve would have gotten another chance to register a hit had Miller called the foul ball. But the umpire went with the third-out grounder call that ended the Astros’ opportunity to pull ahead in a 3-3 ball game in the high-stakes matchup.
Game telecast replays showed the ball clipping off Altuve’s big toe, which was something that the former American League MVP got ready to show Miller. As Astros manager Joe Espada came out to argue with Miller, Altuve took off his left cleat and sock and touched the ballfield dirt with a barefoot. Miller took a look, paused a second, and sent Altuve to the clubhouse early. Miller also tossed Espada, becoming the latest Astros dugout coach to face ejection in three straight games.
Astros’ Jose Altuve points at his foot after taking his sock and shoe off during the ninth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in San Diego.AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Sports TV personality and ‘Stros pitcher Justin Verlander’s brother, Ben Verlander, also took issue, mainly because Miller was allowed to ask his fellow umpires for a second opinion, which he declined to do.
How did Altuve explain his act?
“Sometimes you get hit somewhere in the hand, and you take your batting glove to show you got hit. I was expecting to do the same thing,” Altuve said.
Espada stood up for Altuve.
“It’s a foul ball,” the manager said. “You have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I don’t get it. I don’t understand. That’s twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. But there are four out there. You have to be able to see it. They missed that call.”
In a bit of irony, infielder Grae Kessinger came off the bench to replace Altuve at second base, affording him the position of the unearned runner on second to start the top of the 10th inning. Not only did he score the go-ahead run off a balk and a Kyle Tucker RBI, but Kessinger registered the game-saving final out by collecting Manny Machado’s sharply hit ball with bases loaded in time to get the out at second.
“As he started to untie his shoe, I started to grab my glove. I didn’t know if I was the one that was going to be going in, but I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was just getting ready,” Kessinger said about Altuve’s ejection.
The victory was huge for the AL West-leading Astros. Along with a Seattle loss, Houston enters Wednesday’s series finale with San Diego with a magic number of seven to clinch another division crown.
Then, Alief ISD said Elsik High School was placed on lockdown because a student reportedly brought a kitchen knife to school.
“Once all involved parties were apprehended, the campus was placed in secure status,” the district said in a statement.
The secure mode was later lifted, and classes resumed as normal. The district did not release any other details about the incident.
Spring High School
Shortly after that, Spring ISD announced a student at Spring High School was detained for having a firearm on campus.
In a letter to parents, the principal said the weapon had been located in a theater and safely retrieved.
Spring ISD’s police department is investigating how the gun made it on campus.
District officials added that the student could face criminal charges.
Bellaire High School
At about 12:15 p.m., HISD said Bellaire High School students remained in their classrooms after the campus received a bomb threat.
Police responded to the school while the threat was being investigated, officials said.
“After a thorough interior and exterior building search, HISD PD determined there was no threat to our campus. As of 2:20 p.m., our campus has been cleared by HISD police. Classes continue as normal,” an email from the school principal read.
NEW YORK — A judge on Wednesday denied bail again for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs as he faces federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Judge Andrew Carter denied bail and ordered Combs remanded into custody. His attorney said he was expected to be held in the special housing unit of New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center – Brooklyn.
Carter said the government had provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate Combs is a danger to the community and a danger to obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses.
He said the defense’s proposal for bail could not guarantee Combs would not obstruct justice or tamper with witnesses. Carter is expected to preside over Combs’ case until the end.
Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ruled in a New York court on Tuesday that Combs will stay in custody while he faces charges. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Combs, 54, created and ran a “criminal enterprise” through his business empire that engaged in crimes including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice, according to the federal indictment.
The indictment states that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” for more than adecade.
Specifically, the indictment accuses Combs of working with other associates and employees, alleges he hosted drug-fueled “freak offs” with victims and sex workers, notes instances of physical and sexual abuse and illuminates what law enforcement found in the March raids of his homes.
In court, prosecutors argued the music mogul should not be released because he had previously reached out to witnesses and victims. Meanwhile, Combs’ defense attorneys proposed to put him on home detention with a $50 million bond secured by his Miami residence, according to a bail motion Tuesday.
The judge told Combs there were no conditions she could find to assure her that he would appear in court if released. Tarnofsky said her concern is “this is a crime that happens behind closed doors, even when pretrial services is monitoring.”
If the bail appeal is denied, Combs will be remanded back to the detention center. Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night that Combs will likely not take a plea deal.
“I believe he’s innocent of the charges, and he is going to go to trial, and I believe he’s going to win,” Agnifilo said.
Combs is a ‘serial abuser and a serial obstructor,’ prosecutors say
In court Tuesday, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs should be detained because he is a “serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” adding pretrial services also recommended detention.
Agnifilo asserted the case is about “one victim” – an argument fiercely opposed by federal prosecutors. In a rebuttal, Johnson emphasized, “This is not a case about one victim. There are multiple victims.”
Since last November, Combs has been hit with 10 lawsuits – nine directly accusing him of sexual assault.
“Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment states.
During Combs’ detention hearing, federal prosecutors said at least a dozen witnesses personally observed the music mogul’s violence against women or the injuries they sustained at his hands. Prosecutors also noted Combs had reached out to victims and witnesses, some of whom are scared of him.
Agnifilo told CNN on Tuesday night that he has “flown around the country,” interviewing a “large number” of men who are alleged witnesses in the case and argued the “freak offs” – what the indictment described as “elaborate and produced” sex performances in which he drugged and coerced victims into extended sex acts with male sex workers – were consensual acts among adults.
“Nobody was too drunk. Nobody was too high,” he said.
Sex trafficking charge centers on 2016 video
The indictment accuses Combs of years of abuse that “was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.” Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” the indictment states.
Johnson told the judge Tuesday that the investigation uncovered evidence of Combs allegedly assaulting victims by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging victims.
The physical abuse in particular was “recurrent and widely known,” the indictment states, and occurred on “numerous” occasions from about 2009 and continued for years.
The sex trafficking charge is based on allegations against a single, unnamed “Victim-I” from about 2009 up to about 2018, the indictment states.
The indictment highlights a March 2016 incident, “which was captured on video and later publicly reported,” showing Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at a woman. When a hotel staffer intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them for their silence, the indictment adds.
The details match up with CNN’s reporting in May of the video that showed Combs beating and kicking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. She is not named in the indictment.
In November 2023, Ventura sued Combs and accused him of rape and years of abuse. In response, an attorney for Combs said he “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations.” They settled the lawsuit a day after it was filed.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday: “In response to the numerous inquiries we have received regarding the indictment of Sean Combs, neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”
The explosive surveillance video contradicted Combs’ earlier comments denying wrongdoing, and days afterward he posted an Instagram video apologizing. That video has since been deleted.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said.
Combs’ attorney argued the 2016 video is not evidence of sex trafficking, as prosecutors suggested, but evidence of Combs “having more than one girlfriend and getting caught.”
“This was just a matter of personal embarrassment because he and the person in the video were in the midst of a 10-year relationship that was difficult at times, it was toxic at times, but it was mutually so,” Agnifilo told CNN Tuesday night.
Diddy’s attorney pledges he won’t flee and has ‘earned’ court’s trust
Agnifilo asked the court Tuesday to allow Combs to remain out on bond prior to trial, saying he had no plans to flee and had “earned” the court’s trust.
The attorney said he took Combs’ and his family members’ passports and reported all of his domestic travel since he became involved in the investigation as a show to prosecutors they were taking this seriously. In addition, Combs is in treatment and therapy, which Agnifilo argued was a reason for release.
Agnifilo said he knew the music mogul was going to formally face charges on March 25, when the Homeland Security Investigations agency led dramatic searches of his Los Angeles and Miami homes.
Law enforcement seized guns, ammo, drugs and a huge collection of baby oil and lubricant during the searches, according to the indictment. The indictment accuses Combs of brandishing firearms “to intimidate and threaten others.”
By September, Agnifilo said he realized an indictment was “coming down in a matter of weeks, maybe months,” so he urged Combs to fly to New York. Agnifilo said he called federal prosecutors and said his client was willing to surrender.
When asked how Combs’ defense team would assure the court he wouldn’t pose a flight risk or communicate with witnesses, as prosecutors argued Tuesday, Agnifilo said: “The most important thing, even more than the passport, is that Mr. Combs came to New York on September 5.”
Agnifilo said he will argue the same points again Wednesday, and “we’ll make it as much as we can until we get him out.”
ABC News contributed to this report.
(The-CNN-Wire & 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) — A day and a half have passed since the fire from the Deer Park pipeline explosion started to burn after police said an SUV crashed into a valve.
As of Tuesday evening, local and county officials have yet to release information about the driver.
As another day of the fire continued, families were still out of their homes, evacuations were still in place, and, on Tuesday evening, many questions remained unanswered.
ABC13 has not seen or heard from anyone in person at Energy Transfer, the pipeline’s owners.
On Monday, the company let three hours pass before saying what had happened and confirming it was their pipeline.
ABC13 sent countless emails with questions and went to the hotel where officials were staged, trying to ask them to speak with us, but so far, nothing. Energy Transfer ignored ABC13’s requests for an interview.
“Some of the plastic in my car was already melted within seconds of when the fire started,” Marian Rodriguez, an evacuated homeowner from Fast Meadow Drive, said.
More than 24 hours prior, both scared, Rodriguez and her son hurried out of her home. In a rush, she left her wallet and important documents and was unable to grab her son’s medicine, forcing her to find a way to pay for his life-saving medicine out of pocket.
“They should do things fair. Their first priority should be East Meadow Drive,” Rodriguez said of Energy Transfer.
She was one of several homeowners who remained displaced.
The fire started diminishing on its second day as first responders waited for the natural gas product to burn out completely from the pipeline.
On Tuesday, people across the community lodged many questions about who will be held accountable for the disaster and why Energy Transfer has yet to talk.
“Taking one step at a time. Obviously, there’s an investigation that will occur after the fire gets put out, and a lot of the answers will come forward then,” Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said.
Eyewitness News asked the mayor who would be footing the bill for all the costs associated with response and damages.
“From the moment [on Monday], Energy Transfer has stepped up to tend to the needs, and in many cases, they’re subsidizing or paying for all the displaced people to be dealt with currently,” Mayor Mouton said.
What the next few days, weeks, or months could look like for homeowners, like the ones on East Meadow right by the raging flame, is still being determined.
Having all but tamed inflation, the Federal Reserve is poised to do something Wednesday it hasn’t done in more than four years: Cut its benchmark interest rate, a step that should lead to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses just weeks before the presidential election.
And yet an unusual air of uncertainty overhangs this week’s meeting: It’s unclear just how large the Fed’s rate cut will be. Wall Street traders and some economists foresee a growing likelihood that the central bank will announce a larger-than-usual half-point cut. Many analysts foresee a more typical quarter-point rate cut.
With inflation barely above their target level, Fed officials have been shifting their focus toward supporting a weakening job market and achieving a rare “soft landing,” whereby it curbs inflation without causing a sharp recession. A half-point rate cut would signal that the Fed is as determined to sustain healthy economic growth as it is to conquer high inflation. This week’s move is expected to be only the first in a series of Fed rate cuts that will extend into 2025.
High interest rates and elevated prices for everything from groceries to gas to rent have fanned widespread public disillusionment with the economy and provided a line of attack for former President Donald Trump’s campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers much further.
Over time, Fed rate cuts should lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, as well as for business loans. Business spending could grow, and so could stock prices. Companies and consumers could refinance loans into lower-rate debt.
Chair Jerome Powell made clear last month in a high-profile speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that Fed officials feel confident that inflation has largely been defeated. It has plummeted from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 2.5% last month, not far above the Fed’s 2% target. Central bank officials fought against spiking prices by raising their key interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023 to a two-decade high of 5.3% to try to slow borrowing and spending, ultimately cooling the economy.
Wage growth has since slowed, removing a potential source of inflationary pressure. And oil and gas prices are falling, a sign that inflation should continue to cool in the months ahead. Consumers are also pushing back against high prices, forcing such companies as Target and McDonald’s to dangle deals and discounts.
Yet after several years of strong job growth, employers have slowed hiring, and the unemployment rate has risen nearly a full percentage point from its half-century low in April 2023 to a still-low 4.2%. Once unemployment rises that much, it tends to keep climbing. But Fed officials and many economists note that the rise in unemployment largely reflects an increase in new workers seeking jobs – notably new immigrants and recent college graduates – rather than layoffs.
Still, Powell said in Jackson Hole that “we will do everything we can to support a strong labor market.” He added that any “further weakening” in the job market would be “unwelcome.”
Some analysts have said that such a sweeping declaration suggests that Powell would favor a half-point rate cut. Other economists still think a quarter-point reduction is more likely.
At issue is how fast the Fed wants to lower interest rates to a point where they’re no longer acting as a brake on the economy – nor as an accelerant. Where that so-called “neutral” level falls isn’t clear, though many analysts peg it at 3% to 3.5%. Economists who favor a half-point reduction argue that the Fed’s key rate is much higher than necessary now that inflation is in retreat.
But others note that the Fed typically cuts its rate by a half-point or more only in an emergency. The last time it made an equivalent cut was in March 2020, when the pandemic paralyzed the economy. With consumers still spending and the economy likely to grow at a healthy pace in the July-September quarter, more cautious Fed officials can argue that there’s no rush to cut.
One hopeful sign is that as Powell and other Fed officials have signaled that rate cuts are coming, many borrowing rates have already fallen in anticipation. The average 30-year mortgage rate, for example, dropped to 6.2% last week – the lowest level in about 18 months and down from a peak of nearly 7.8%, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Other rates, like the yield on the five-year Treasury note, which influences auto loan rates, have also tumbled.
