By Mary Jane Farmer, Information provided by Van Alstyne Police Lt. Steven Hayslip.

December 19 arrest – About 11 pm, police was dispatched to U.S. Highway 75 at Farmington Road, which dispatch said was the area where a caller had seen a reckless driver who could not maintain a single lane.

Upon arrival, police located the vehicle, Hayslip said, and they, too, saw it failing to maintain its lane. They initiated a traffic stop.

The driver was a Floresville, Texas, man who smelled of both marijuana and an intoxicating beverage. Police asked him for consent to take a Standardized Field Sobriety Test. (SFST), but the driver refused permission.

He was then placed under arrest for Driving While Intoxicated 2^nd  Offense.

December 23 arrest – About 1 pm, officers initiated a traffic stop on U.S. 75 at Redden Road, after they saw a vehicle operating on the public road with faulty equipment. Namely, Hayslip said, the defective equipment was a burned-out license plate light.

The driver was a Sherman man who was acting extremely nervous and, Hayslip said, his eyes were bloodshot. They attempted to get the suspect to step out of the vehicle, but he refused, rolled up the windows, and locked the doors. Officers were able to open the door.

Upon the suspect exiting the vehicle, they smelled the odor of marijuana. They found a container of marijuana in his pocket. A probable-cause search yielded a firearm in the front passenger side of the vehicle. They placed the suspect under arrest on charges of Interference with Public Duties, Possession of Marijuana under two ounces, and Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon.

December 23 arrest – It was around 10 pm when officers initiated a traffic stop, again on U.S. 75 around the Redden Road area. This stop was made because the vehicle was going 76 mph in a 55-mph zone. Upon making contact with the driver, a Euless woman, officers saw signs of intoxication and conducted SFSTs. After the tests were complete, They placed the suspect under arrest on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated. A Magistrate at the Grayson County Jail set bail at $3,000, which she paid with a surety bond on December 24 for her release.

December 25 arrest – About 2:30 pm Christmas Day, Van Alstyne police stopped a vehicle on Henry Hynds Road and Van Alstyne Parkway, after seeing the registration on the car was expired. The driver, a Rockwall man, smelled of marijuana, and police conducted a probable cause search. They found a small plastic bag containing both a marijuana pipe and methamphetamine.

They arrested the driver on charges of Possession of Controlled Substance PG 1 (Methamphetamine) less than 1 gram and took him to Grayson County Jail.

Bail was set a $5,00 and this suspect spent the rest of Christmas Day and all the days since in lieu of bail.

December 25 arrest – Again on Christmas Day, about 8 pm, police were dispatched to a disturbance in the 700 block of Jefferson Street. When they arrived, the police saw a vehicle leaving the residence in a reckless manner, Hayslip said. They made a traffic stop and made contact with the driver. They reported having smelled. the odors of an intoxicating beverage and of marijuana. While talking to the driver, a Little Elm man, they saw he had bloodshot eyes and slurry speech, so they put him through SFSTs. He didn’t pass them as sober so they jailed him on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated.

December 26 arrest – About 2;30. pm, officers were dispatched to Casey’s convenience store on Van Alstyne Parkway. A reporting party had told dispatch he/she saw two people drinking alcohol at the newly-opened Quik Trip across the street and then driving over to the Casey’s parking lot. Police saw the described vehicle and made contact with its occupants, at the same time seeing drug paraphernalia in plain sight. A probable-cause search had them finding a backpack on the vehicle’s floorboard of the passenger-side seat an in it they found a firearm. They jailed the front-seat passenger on a felony charge of Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon.

December 28 arrest – A reporting party called about 7:30 pm to report a reckless driver on State Highway 5 (Waco Street) and Village Parkway, saying the driver could not maintain a single lane. Police, upon their arrival, also saw the vehicle not staying in one lane and made a traffic stop.

Upon making contact with the driver, a Van Alstyne man, officers smelled the odor of an intoxicating beverage emitting from his breath. They got the suspect out of the vehicle and  saw that he was unsteady on his feet and was swaying. The suspect did tell police there was a firearm in his vehicle. Officers asked him to consent to taking SFSTs, and he did. Following that, they jailed him on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated and Unlawful Carrying a Weapon. He paid his bail totally $5,500 in surety bonds the next day and was released.

By MaryJane Farmer for the Van Alstyne News, with information from Van Alstyne Police Lt. Steven Hayslip.

Of the five arrests Van Alstyne Police made before the first half of December, they learned that four of the drivers had outstanding warrants for their arrests. All five traffic stops were made on U.S. Highway 75, according to information provided by Police Lt. Steven Hayslip.

Also, the Grayson County Grand Jury indicted a Van Alstyne man on a theft charge brought about in September when this suspect was jailed for stealing a bicycle.

November 29 — About 8:50 pm, police made a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 74 at Farmington Road, made because the officer saw defective equipment (headlamps) on the vehicle. Following protocol, the officer(s) learned about a warrant in place, for the suspect’s arrest issued by Clay County and charging him with possession of marijuana between 50-2,000 pounds. Police took the suspect, a Dallas man, to Grayson County Jail on the warrant. The suspect remained in Grayson County Jail until December 3, when he was transferred to Clay County.

December 12 – Van Alstyne Police made a traffic stop at 12:45 pm on US 75 at Hodgins Road. They had observed the vehicle going 93 mph in a 75-mph zone. When talking with the driver, they smelled the strong odor of marijuana, Hayslip said. Before conducting a probable cause search, they discovered that he had an active warrant for his arrest out of another law enforcement agency.

While conducting the probable cause search, officer(s) located a usable amount of marijuana under two ounces, Officers also located Glock handgun outfitted with a switch. “A Glock switch (sometimes called a button or a giggle switch) is a small device that can be attached to the rear of the slide of a Glock handgun, changing the semi-automatic pistol into a selective fire machine pistol capable of fully automatic fire,” Hayslip explained.

December 12 — They placed the suspect, a Tulsa, OK, man, under arrest on charges of: Possession of Marijuana under two ounces; Unlawful Carrying a Weapon; Prohibited Weapon; and Warrant Service.

Jail records show that this suspect remains incarcerated in the Grayson County Jail, and that he has signed a waiver, which will allow the agency which issued the warrant to pick him up and transport him back to that area. On the three Van Alstyne charges, a magistrate set bail at a total of $18,000.

December 6 – About 3:30 in the afternoon, police made a traffic stop on U.S. Hwy 75 at Hodgins Road, after seeing it going 90 mph in a 75-mph zone. The warrant charged this suspect, a Terrell, Texas, man, with Driving While Intoxicated.

Police jailed the suspect on the warrant and transported him to Grayson County Jail, where, jail records show, a magistrate set the suspect’s bail at $500, which he paid with a surety bod. The following day, the suspect was released.

December 12 – Police stopped a speeding vehicle on the highway at about Farmington Road. They had clocked it as going 86 in a 75-mph zone. Again and following protocol, they tracked the driver’s record and discovered an active warrant from another agency and placed her under arrest on that warrant. The driver is a Denison woman, but jail records are not available on this suspect.

December 3 — About 12:30 a.m., officers again stopped a speeding car on U.S Hwy 85, this time aft er seeing it going 88 mph in the highway’s 75-mph zone. They smelled the odor of a alcoholic beverage  coming from inside the vehicle. Police then put the driver through Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which he did not pass. They placed the suspect, a Carrollton man, under arrest on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated.

He posted bail set at $2,000 for his release on Dec. 4.

Indictments – An indictment is not an indication of guilt, but is based on the information the Grand Jury receives to let the charges go forward to court.

The Grayson County Grand Jury, in its Dec. 18 session, indicted Van Alstyne’s Mario Carrasco, 40, of Van Alstyne on a charge of Theft Under $2,500 with two previous convictions on the same charge.

This is the suspect in the theft of a child’s bicycle on Sept. 18, from a home’s fenced-in yard in the 600 block of Blassingame. The homeowner called the police and while they were taking the report, they learned that there was a video of the theft taking place. Many of the department’s officers watched and recognized the suspect from various previous encounters.

Police obtained a warrant his arrest on the charge, which is a State Jail Felony, and made the arrest. They recovered the bicycle, Hayslip added, and returned to the young owner.

Drug and Other Indictments

This two-week period of charges brought to the Grand Jury had them finding 23 drug charges moving forward. Of these, the most was Methamphetamine with 12 people charged with possession; Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which had 7 people moving into future negative possibilities because of possession; Cocaine saw 3 suspects indicted on possession of this drug; and there was on one indicted on a charge of Possession of Fentanyl, the drug labeled as “One Pill Kills.” Lastly, only one person was indicted for Possession of Marijuana.

Four people were indicted on charges of Assault With Deadly Weapon; 5 on charges of Assault Against Family or Household; 4 against Pregnant Person; and 3 against Public Servants.

Numerous other people were indicted on numerous other charges. These people’s residential information ranged in cities or towns from Howe to Midland; however, most were from Sherman and Denison.

UPATE:  AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE IS A LINK TO VIDEO WHICH ONE MIGHT SEE ON THE MEDIAS MENTIONED BELOW.

Texas Department of Public Transportation (TxDOT) Press Release

People in Texas take pride in who they are. From holding the door open for a stranger to lending a helping hand to a neighbor, being a Texan is a way of life. But too many times, drivers leave that Lone Star spirit behind when they get on the road, which can often result in preventable crashes.

To help instill that Texas spirit on the road, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is getting back to the basics by launching a new safety initiative called Drive like a Texan. This fresh perspective exemplifies the pride, camaraderie and responsibility of being a Texan. By reminding drivers to practice those values every day we can make Texas roads safer for everyone.

“We want a fresh, heartfelt approach to how we talk about road safety. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived here, or where you’re from. All that really matters is that you embrace those values that represent the best of Texas,” said TxDOT Deputy Executive Director Brandye Hendrickson. “The message is simple: take pride in how we treat each other on and off the road.”

Although the number of people who died in crashes went down in 2023 compared to 2022, an average of 12 people die on Texas roadways every day. It will take everyone’s help, and Drive like a Texan introduces a new unifying message that can save lives when put into practice. It reminds Texans of who we are, how we treat each other, and the common values we share.

Drive like a Texan messages will appear across television, social media, websites, and billboards throughout Texas starting this winter. After a launch at the Trail of Lights in Austin, look for Drive like a Texan stops at holiday light shows throughout the state.

Whether it’s letting someone merge with a friendly wave, slowing down in busy areas or simply practicing patience, this campaign encourages everyone to embody the true Texan spirit. Drive like a Texan — kind, courteous and safe.

For DRIVE LIKE A TEXAS video, click here.   (There may be some other videos, as well.)