Authorities seize hundreds of pounds of pot
Two men were arrested after a Hays County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped a pickup truck with at least 260 pounds of marijuana, authorities say.
On July 28, Deputy Jay Wheeler pulled over a gray Ford pickup at the intersection of Texas 21 and Gristmill Road in Uhland. While Wheeler made contact with the truck’s passenger, Fernando Lopez Rivera, 35, the driver Pedro Alvarado-Martinez, 37, sped off in the truck, the sheriff’s office says.
Wheeler picked up chase as the truck fled onto FM 2720 toward Lockhart from Texas 21. Alvarado-Martinez then turned onto a private driveway, crashed through a wire fence and fled on foot. Other officers came on scene and helped arrest the suspect, authorities say.
A search of the truck revealed around 260 pounds of pot wrapped in brown tape and stashed in duffle bags, authorities say.
Rivera, of San Marcos, and Alvarado-Martinez, of Dade, are both charged with second-degree felony possession of marijuana and have immigration detainers. Alvarado-Martinez also faces evading detention with a vehicle, a state jail felony, court records show.
As of Tuesday, both remain in custody at Hays County Jail. Rivera on a $250,000 bond and Alvarado-Martinez on bonds worth $275,000, records show.
Semis left tireless
Thieves ransacked a heavy equipment rental business in Buda last month, stealing more than $20,000 worth of parts from semi trucks, police say.
On July 23, Longhorn Equipment Company in the 100 block of Trademark Drive reported that at least 12 tires and rims from two semi-trucks were stolen, Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said.
After they were stripped, Kidd said that the thieves left the semis on large wooden blocks. The case remains under investigation.
Home, acreage in Dripping Springs consumed by fire
A home valued at more than $1 million was destroyed by a fire Friday afternoon while a separate grassfire charred almost 20 acres near Dripping Springs, investigators say.
Around 4:30 p.m., firefighters were called out to a house fire at 901 Meadow Ridge Drive, located east of Dripping Springs. It took about 30 firefighters from various fire departments in Hays and Travis counties until Sunday to completely extinguish the blaze, investigators say.
The cause of the house fire is still under investigation, Hays County Fire Marshal Mark Chambers said.
Also on Friday afternoon, fire crews doused a grassfire on Mt. Gainor Road, southwest of Dripping Springs, which was started by a vehicle’s catalytic converter, Chambers said.
