Press Releases

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking information on the 2019 murder of 37-year-old Courtney Allan Sholar. The reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for his death is now increased to $6,000 if the tip is received before the next featured Texas Rangers cold case is announced. Anyone with information in this case is asked to please come forward.

SAN ANGELO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in coordination with the Tom Green Co. Sheriff’s Office, captured an assault suspect after a miles-long pursuit that ended in Mertzon this week.

DEL RIO – The man arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for smuggling more than a dozen illegal immigrants inside a cloned home improvement store delivery truck last year will spend the next decade behind bars. Cezanne Megel Patterson, 29, of Jackson, Miss., was sentenced to 10 years of confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison on July 24, 2025.

AMARILLO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) today held a special unveiling ceremony for a Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse statue at the DPS Amarillo District Office. The new statue symbolizes strength, honor, integrity and service and pays tribute to DPS personnel serving Texans in the Panhandle.

WINKLER CO. – The man responsible for the 2022 murder of 48-year-old Alexis Sanchez Azcuy in Winkler Co., Texas will spend the rest of his life in prison thanks to collaborative investigative efforts by the Texas Rangers with local, state and federal law enforcement. Alejandro Rodriguez Hernandez, 33, received a life sentence for murder and 20 years of confinement for abuse of a corpse by a Winkler Co. jury on July 16, 2025.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Jose Antonio Marquina-Bonilla—a criminal illegal immigrant who has been deported back to Honduras multiple times—to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List. Texas Crime Stoppers is now offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces the capture of a violent, repeat sex offender from Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List in Harris Co. Jacob Aaron Kessler was arrested on Friday, July 18. A Crime Stoppers reward will not be paid for his arrest.

DEAF SMITH CO. – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), along with the Hereford Police Department and Deaf Smith Co. Sheriff’s Office, made dozens of arrests during a coordinated crime suppression operation in Deaf Smith Co. last week.

CANYON – A teenager suspected of planning an attack at local Independence Day festivities in Northwest Texas is behind bars thanks to a joint investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Amarillo Police Department (APD) and the Randall Co. District Attorney’s Office.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Benjamin Song to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. Texas Crime Stoppers is now offering a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to Song’s arrest and conviction.

AMARILLO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), conducted a joint human trafficking investigation involving three local massage parlors in Randall Co. this week.

AUSTIN – Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) hosted the national Uniformed Safety Education Officers Workshop (USEOW) in Grapevine, Texas, last week. The four-day workshop and competition, which took place June 23-26, offers public safety education training to state police officers from across the country.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Martin Deanda—a violent child predator from North Texas—to Texas’10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders List. Texas Crime Stoppers is now offering a cash reward of up to $3,000 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) extradited a criminal illegal immigrant wanted for state crimes in the Rio Grande Valley before his impending release from federal custody in Howard Co. earlier this week.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is stepping up enforcement efforts for the Fourth of July holiday to keep everyone safe on the roads, including Operation Crash Awareness Reduction Effort (CARE), which runs July 3-6.