Salon.com > Juan Lozano

Charges dropped against 1 in Texas campus shooting

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:19:00 +0000

HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors on Monday dropped charges against a 22-year-old man who authorities initially believed was involved in a shooting that wounded him and two others at a Houston-area community college.

Carlton Berry was arrested soon after the Jan. 22 shootings at Lone Star College and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

But authorities later accused another man, Trey Foster, 22, of being the shooter. Foster has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and faces a charge of resisting arrest in an earlier case. He was arrested Friday in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

Investigators say the shooting happened after 25-year-old Jody Neal bumped into Foster while Foster was walking with Berry. Foster and Neal argued but went their separate ways. When the two ran into each other 30 minutes later, they argued again and Foster fired at Neal, wounding him in the abdomen and leg. Authorities say at least 10 shots were fired. Berry was wounded, and a maintenance worker for the college, Bobby Cliburn, 55, was hit in the leg.

The shooting caused panic among students and led to a campus lockdown.

Man accused in Picasso vandalism to remain jailed

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:41:00 +0000

HOUSTON (AP) — A man accused of vandalizing a 1929 Pablo Picasso painting — an act that was caught on cellphone video — must remain jailed on $500,000 bonds because he is a flight risk, a Houston judge ruled Wednesday.

Uriel Landeros, 22, is charged with graffiti and criminal mischief felonies in the June 13 incident. Prosecutors say he spray painted on "Woman in a Red Armchair" at the Menil Collection in Houston.

Each felony charge carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison.

The vandalism was captured in a 24-second video taken by a bystander and posted on YouTube. The vandal left behind an image of a bullfighter, a bull and the word "conquista," which means "conquest" in Spanish.

Prosecutor John Lewis said Landeros — a U.S. citizen — fled to Mexico after the incident. He surrendered to authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border last week. State District Judge Vanessa Velasquez agreed that Landeros posed a flight risk.

Landeros' attorney, Emily Detoto, said she intends to file a motion asking that his bonds be reduced.

"It's too excessive," Detoto said. Landeros intends to plead not guilty, she said. His next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5.