Houstonians are working hand-in-hand with Houston area local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities in the fight against gang crime. Thirty-five gang fugitives featured on the www.stophoustongangs.org website, and publicized weekly by local media and on Houston area digital billboards, have been captured within the past year.
Since the website went public in September of 2010, more than 1700 tips have come in through the website, and more than 600 related arrests have been made. To date, the innovative website especially created to improve communication between law enforcement and the public, has been visited more than 200,000 times. Now, an enhanced partnership with Crime Stoppers will reward citizens with cash for tips that lead to an arrest or the filing of felony charges.
The website has proven to be an effective crime fighting tool, and its reach has stretched far beyond Houston! Wanted FBI fugitive Raul Sergio Madrigal was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges on January 14, 2009. Madrigal eluded authorities for more than three years and was believed to have fled the United States. After being featured and publicized as the website’s weekly most wanted fugitive on May 3, 2012, a promising tip was submitted to the website. On May 22, 2012, law enforcement authorities in Mexico, working together with agents from the FBI and DEA, arrested Madrigal in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He was extradited back to the United States on November 15, 2012. He is currently awaiting trial in Houston, Texas.
On September 22, 2012, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed Capital Murder charges on Harold Joseph Brown. Brown was wanted for fatally shooting three people and wounding a 77 year old man at a night club located at 9541 Mesa in Houston, Texas. After leads to locate Brown were exhausted, he was featured and publicized as the website’s weekly most wanted fugitive on September 27, 2012. Houston Police officers captured Brown later the same day, after numerous tips to the website led to his arrest.
Beginning January 13, 2013, wanted murder fugitive Henry Demond Dorsey was featured and publicized as the website’s weekly most wanted fugitive. Dorsey was charged in the fatal shooting of a Houston man outside of a northwest Harris County night club located at 4714 West FM 1960 on December 9, 2012. Four others were wounded in the shooting, but survived. As the result of an anonymous tip, officers of the U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitives Task Force arrested Dorsey on February 26, 2013.
The following law enforcement and community leaders announced the large scale successes and enhanced partnership with Crime Stoppers of Houston at a press conference today: Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris; Houston Police Chief Charles A. McClelland, Jr.; Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia; Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson; United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas; Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Javier F. Peña; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Melvin King, Jr.; Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Brian Moskowitz; United States Marshal Elizabeth Saenz; Federal Bureau of Prisons Warden Annette Gordon; Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of Inspector General Inspector Bruce Toney; Texas Department of Public Safety Region 2 Commander Philip Duane Steen; Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division Major George E. Rhyne, Jr.; City of Houston Mayor’s Anti Gang Office Director Patricia Harrington; Crime Stoppers of Houston Director Rania Mankarious; Clear Channel Outdoor Vice President Lee Vela; and other officers and agents of the Houston area Multi-Agency Gang Task Force (MAGTF).
The newest feature to the website is a link to Crime Stoppers of Houston. Crime Stoppers of Houston will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and charging of any felony suspects. Tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Houston by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477) or by texting TIP610 plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or online at www.crime-stoppers.org. All tipsters will remain anonymous.
As a public service to the community, Clear Channel Outdoor has donated space and time on their digital billboards throughout the area to publicize each week’s featured fugitive. This week’s fugitive, Gus Matthew Soto, being featured on digital billboards and the www.stophoustonhangs.org website, is wanted for Aggravated Robbery.
In the Houston area, more than 20,000 documented gang members belonging to more than 300 gangs have been documented by area law enforcement agencies. There are approximately 1.4 million gang members belonging to more than 33,000 gangs in the United States.
The Stop Houston Gangs website is an educational resource for anyone wishing to learn more about Houston area gang crime and anti-gang efforts, or to report criminal gang activity, visit www.stophoustongangs.org.
