Press Releases

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces the capture of another fugitive from Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List – this time in Tarrant Co. Carlos Ortiz was arrested on Wednesday, April 9. A Crime Stoppers reward will be paid for his arrest.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is proud to announce the winners of the 13th annual Javier Arana, Jr. Top Trooper Competition: Top male Corporal Kip Staton (Tyler) and Top female Trooper Dani Basye (Amarillo)—who also won the top female spot in 2022 and 2019. The competition wrapped up last Friday after several days of fierce competition, and Corporal Staton and Trooper Basye now qualify to represent Texas DPS in the National Top Trooper Competition, which will be hosted by DPS in Florence next month.

AUSTIN – The Public Safety Commission (PSC), along with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Colonel Freeman F. Martin, recognized the service and heroics of several DPS personnel and citizens at the PSC meeting today at DPS Headquarters in Austin. PSC Commissioners and Colonel Martin presented two Director’s Citations and four Lifesaving Awards.

LAREDO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested a Mexican national transporting more than $205,000 worth of cocaine and black tar heroin during a recent Operation Lone Star traffic stop in Webb Co.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Rondarrius Evans to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives 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.

MIDLAND/ODESSA – The Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division (CID), in collaboration with the Odessa Police Department (OPD) and Midland Co. Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), arrested two and rescued one victim following a human trafficking investigation in the Permian Basin.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces another fugitive from Texas’10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List has been captured in Austin. Anderson Ronaldo Reyes Giron was arrested on Tuesday, April 2. A Crime Stoppers reward will not be paid in his arrest.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Rodolfo Martinez Jr. to the 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.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will increase patrols beginning this weekend to ensure drivers stay focused and avoid distractions while driving. April 7 through April 14, the Texas Highway Patrol (THP) will conduct its annual Distracted Driving traffic enforcement campaign—looking for drivers who are texting, failing to Move Over or Slow down or otherwise distracted behind the wheel.

AUSTIN –The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is notifying drivers that they may experience a delay in obtaining an emissions inspection for vehicles registered in emissions counties due to intermittent connectivity issues.

AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas Military Department (TMD) are aware of public reports that mischaracterize Beaver Island and Roma Island—two small islands along the Texas-Mexico border—as a “cartel-infested” “smuggler’s paradise,” “plagued by” rampant violence. These reports are inaccurate. Both DPS and TMD maintain operational control throughout the area where these islands are located. The State of Texas will never cede one square inch of its territory or allow terrorist organizations to gain a foothold to operate in the manner suggested by recent statements.

AUSTIN – On Wednesday, the Texas Senate confirmed Dan Hord III and Steven H. Stodghill as members of the Public Safety Commission (PSC). These confirmations follow Hord’s appointment and Stodghill’s reappointment to the PSC by Governor Greg Abbott last year. Both of their terms will expire on Jan. 1, 2030.

AUSTIN – For more than a year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and several other federal, state and local partners, have been investigating members and associates believed to be part of the Venezuelan transnational gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA).

AUSTIN – Texas 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant Jassim Al-Samawi is this month’s Featured Fugitive. The reward for information leading to his arrest is increased to $6,000 during April if the tip is received this month.

AUSTIN – The Texas Rangers and the Laredo Police Department have identified the man believed to be responsible for the 2016 killing of 33-year-old Janette Escamilla Jaramillo, of Laredo. Almost a decade after Jaramillo’s death, a Webb Co. grand jury has indicted Sergio Mendez, 42.