Texas executes man for fatal shooting of officer

Published May 15, 2013

Associated Press

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  This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Jeffrey Williams. When Houston police arrested Williams for gunning down a plainclothes officer working an auto theft assignment, the slain officer’s handcuffs dangled from one of Williams’ wrists. Williams, 37, is scheduled for lethal injection Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice)The Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas –  A 37-year-old Houston man convicted of killing a police officer 14 years ago has been put to death.

Jeffrey Demond Williams' execution Wednesday evening came just over an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-day appeal from his attorneys. Lawyers contended Williams had been failed by previous attorneys at his trial and in early stages of his appeals.

He's the sixth Texas inmate executed this year.

Williams was convicted of fatally shooting 39-year-old Houston officer Troy Blando while Blando was handcuffing him.

Blando was watching a motel where car thefts were suspected when he saw Williams drive up in a Lexus that was reported stolen.

Williams was captured about a block away. Blando's cuffs were hanging from one of his wrists.

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NYPD officer tries to help cat in tree, gets stuck

Published May 13, 2013

Associated Press

NEW YORK –  Authorities say a New York police officer who went after a cat stuck in a tree got caught himself and needed a little help getting back down to the ground.

The Fire Department of New York says it happened Monday afternoon in Queens.

A call came in that a man attempting to get a cat out of a tree had gotten stuck. Fire department personnel used a bucket ladder to get the man and the cat down.

The fire department says the man is a police officer.

The New York Police Department has no comment.

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Suburban Chicago officer charged in fatal crash

CHICAGO –  A suburban Chicago police officer accused of killing two people in a wrong-way collision on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive appeared briefly in court Sunday and a judge set bail at $500,000.

During the hearing, prosecutors said Terrell Garrett's blood alcohol content after Friday's wreck was measured at 0.184, which is more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. The North Chicago police officer is charged with two counts each of reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol.

Garrett, 35, was in serious condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and didn't attend the hearing.

Witnesses said Garrett's car was driving at least 60 mph as it sped in the wrong direction on the scenic highway, where the speed limit is 45 mph, according to prosecutors. The collision totaled both vehicles and killed 25-year-old Joaquin Garcia and his friend Fabian Torres, 27.

Relatives of the men said they couldn't believe the judge granted bond for Garrett, who wasn't on duty at the time of the crash.

"I believe he should be in jail," Julian Garcia, Joaquin Garcia's uncle, told the Chicago-Sun Times.

Garcia's mother, Cecilia Garcia, told the newspaper that learning that the man suspected of causing a crash that killed her son makes things "10 times worse" for her.

"He's supposed to be protecting us," she told the paper.

Joaquin Garcia was studying to be a surgical technician at Malcolm X College in Chicago and was set to graduate in May, according to family members. Torres was a first-year student at DePaul University.

"We were supposed to be going to my brother's graduation in a month," said his sister, who is also named Cecilia. "Now, we're planning his funeral."

Garrett, who has been relieved of his police powers, has been placed on administrative leave from his job in North Chicago.

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