Press Releases

AUSTIN – On Monday, May 31, 2021, Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash on US 83 and Suntex Road, just west of Rio Grande City, Texas.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Margaret Lorrain Smith to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. Smith, 62, has been wanted since 2009 for fleeing during her capital murder case. Texas Crime Stoppers is now offering a cash reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to her arrest and capture.

LAREDO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has seized 346 pounds of marijuana, after a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Starr County during Operation Lone Star.

WESLACO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) during Operation Lone Star seized more than a dozen firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition when a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Hidalgo County.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) wants to remind drivers to travel safely as we close out May and head into the Memorial Day holiday. Monday, May 24, through Monday, May 31, Texas Highway Patrol Troopers will participate in Click It or Ticket, an enforcement campaign to encourage people to wear their seat belt, as well as Operation CARE (Crash Awareness Reduction Effort), looking for drivers who are intoxicated, speeding or breaking other traffic laws.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) remembered and paid tribute to Texas Highway Patrol Troopers, Texas Rangers and Special Agents who lost their lives in the line of duty at today’s 2021 Peace Officers Memorial Service.

AUSTIN – The former landlord of a Llano County woman who went missing in 2006 is now charged in her death. On May, 3, 2021, Jimmy Wolfenbarger, 57, of Lubbock, was indicted in Llano County on one count of murder in the November 2006 death of Holly Simmons, 46, of Buchanan Dam.

AUSTIN – An Ohio man is now in custody charged in the 1995 death of a beloved Texas teacher. Clayton Bernard Foreman, 61, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, was arrested April 26 in Franklin County, Ohio.

AUSTIN – In the last week authorities have captured two of Texas’ Top 10 fugitives. Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Eric Munoz was captured on May 4, 2021, in Donna, Texas, during Operation Lone Star, while Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender Marcus Lee Torres was arrested on May 7, 2021, in Snyder, Texas

GARLAND – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is asking for the public’s help in the investigation of fatal hit-and-run crash that resulted in the death of a pedestrian in Hunt County. The incident occurred on May 10 at approximately 9:42 p.m. in the 5500 block of State Highway (SH) 224.

LAREDO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized 44 pounds of methamphetamine on May 7, 2021, during a traffic stop in Webb County.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added two fugitives to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list, and cash rewards of up to $3,000 each are now being offered for information leading to their captures. Marcus Lee Torres, 39, is wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and a parole violation. Henry Anthony Taylor, 52, who is a high-risk sex offender, is wanted for failure to register as a sex offender.

AUSTIN – The Texas State Senate has confirmed three members of the Public Safety Commission (PSC). Nelda L. Blair, Steve H. Stodghill and Dale Wainwright will each serve six year terms on the PSC, providing oversight for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Today, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Travis County District Attorney’s office released a joint statement.

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Safety Commission (PSC), along with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw, presented two William P. Clements Excellence Awards and one Lifesaving Award to members of the department at the PSC meeting on Thursday, April 29, at the DPS Headquarters in Austin.