KTBB News, Weather, Talk

LUFKIN (KETK) – Officials are warning residents that scam artists are allegedly impersonating Angelina County law enforcement officers and demanding East Texans send them Bitcoin payments. According to our news partner KETK and the Lufkin Police Department, scammers are impersonating a deputy from the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, where they call residents to claim that they’ve missed jury duty and must pay thousands of dollars to make up for it.

The scammers can make their call appear as if it’s coming directly from the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office but officials insist these calls are not real and should be promptly ignored.

“This scam is oftentimes done by scammers posing as other state and federal agencies, as well,” Lufkin Police Department Chief Travis Brazil said. “These scammers will always create a sense of urgency to make the victims panic and pressure them into paying quickly.”

Scammers will ask residents to make these payments through the new Bitcoin cryptocurrency ATMs that can be found at many convenience stores around the country. Usually, once a Bitcoin transaction is made, police can’t recover any of the funds from scammers, but luckily, Lufkin Police detectives were able to retrieve over $10,000 from a Bitcoin ATM last week after residents reported making their payment to the sheriff’s office.

Similarly, Angelina County Sheriff Tom Selman said a local woman recently showed up to the sheriff’s office with cash in hand and was able to keep her money because she couldn’t figure out how to use a Bitcoin ATM to make the payment that scammers demanded.

“None of these calls are real,” Selman said. “These are scammers scaring you by threatening jail time to get your money. Once the scammer empties the Bitcoin machine, the money is gone and we cannot trace it.”

The Diboll Police Department also warned of similar scams reported in their area, where scammers ask for gift cards and tell residents that they’re under a gag order and can’t talk to anyone about their illegal demands for payment.

“No law enforcement officer will ever call you and ask for any immediate payment in lieu of jail. We do not ask you to get gift cards of any type and we do not ask for you banking information, ever! We will not tell you that you are under a gag order and cannot contact anyone,” Diboll PD said. “If you have received any phone call or text and you even suspect it might be a scam, google the number for your local police department or sheriff’s office, call them and ask.”

The sheriff’s office and Lufkin PD are working to stop these scams but the best way to stop them is for East Texans to learn that these people are only after your money and that no one should ever have to call you for missing jury duty or to pay off a warrant.

“Neither department will call residents about missing jury duty,” Brazil said. “Please hang up on these callers and call either the Lufkin Police Department or the Sheriff’s Office to report the call. Notifying our offices will help you verify it is a scam and will give us more information to track down these scammers.”

Selman agreed and noted that nobody will get a call before being arrested.

“If there is a warrant for your arrest, we will come and arrest you. No one is arrested for missing jury duty,” Selman said.

The Smith County Sheriff’s Office has called for these Bitcoin ATMs and all cryptocurrency machines to be banned at the state level, in light of these recent scams.

LIVINGSTON (KETK) — A member of the Livingston Police Department was fired and arrested on Monday after being accused of having an improper relationship with a student.

According to the department, they were notified by Livingston ISD on May 1 regarding allegations of Ryan Boyd, a 45-year-old police officer, having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Boyd was subsequently removed from the school campus and was placed on administrative leave while the department opened an investigation.

Boyd was terminated on Monday and was taken into custody by the Texas Rangers. He was later booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with having an improper relationship between educator and student.

“LPD understands incidents like this can damage public trust,” the department said. “We want our community to know that these allegations were taken seriously from the beginning. We remain committed to transparency, accountability and protecting our community.”

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Polk County District Attorney’s Office at 936-327-6868.

ANGELINA COUNTY – Scammers are calling residents and threatening to put them in jail if they do not pay thousands of dollars in cash right away for missing jury duty. In a released from the county obtained Monday, Sheriff Tom Selman and Lufkin Police Chief Travis Brazil stated that neither the Lufkin Police Department nor the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office will call and demand payment or threaten jail time for missing jury duty.

Calls that appear to be from the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office are the subject of the current scam. The con artist is threatening locals into putting thousands of dollars in cash into a bit coin machine at a nearby convenience store by using a deputy’s name.
After locals called the Sheriff’s office to report making the payment, Lufkin Police detectives were able to retrieve over $10,000 from a bit coin machine last week.

LAREDO (AP) — Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar at a Union Pacific rail yard near the Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, police said.

The people were found Sunday as workers were inspecting one of the cars, said Jose Baeza, a spokesperson for the Laredo Police Department. They did not appear to be alive, he said.

Police and fire crews arrived at the scene shortly afterward. They confirmed that there were six people dead, five men and one woman, Baeza told reporters. They were not named.

Baeza said autopsies would be done. He did not immediately respond to a text requesting information Monday.

The cargo car’s travel history was not known.

“Union Pacific is saddened by this incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate,” the rail company said in a statement.

Laredo is a busy land port of entry for trade on the U.S.-Mexico border and a common nexus for the illegal movement of people, although authorities have not said whether the six deaths were related to a smuggling operation.

Last year, two smugglers were sentenced to life in prison for what remains the nation’s deadliest human smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border. They were convicted in connection with the deaths of 53 migrants found in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in Texas in 2022.