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Despite the high-profile nature of his job, David Williams, sheriff of Tarrant County, Texas, has apparently stopped meeting with police and county commissioners and rarely goes to his office, according to a February Houston Chronicle report. His defenders say he is extremely shy, but some say he’s reacting to criticisms of his ties to the Christian political right; his eccentric new projects, such as attempting to assemble a helicopter fleet; and his attempt to acquire sovereign powers from the county under an 1836 law of the Republic of Texas.
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Zolton Williams, 29, a top Columbia University law student, was convicted in December of running a cocaine-smuggling operation to help finance his studies. In January Emma Rose Freeman, 18, a National Merit Scholar at the University of California at Santa Cruz, was charged with robbing a beauty salon and a store at gunpoint with her philosophy-major boyfriend. And honor student and athlete Sarah Plumb, 16, of Berkley, Michigan, was charged with robbing a gas station on her way to gymnastics practice in December, allegedly to feed a two-year-old heroin habit.
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Police in Fort Smith, Arkansas, arrested James Newsome, 37, in January and charged him with holding up a convenience store. Newsome was caught on a surveillance tape, and the coat worn during the robbery was found in his car. Also, Newsome’s wife said the family car had a radiator leak, and a puddle of antifreeze was found where the robber had parked. Finally, the robber wore a hard hat with “James Newsome” printed on it.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Shawn Belschwender.
