College Station Police Announce A Successful Hostage Rescue

College Station City Council Awards A $1.6 Million Dollar Design Contract For Three More Ballfields At Veterans Park

It will cost $1.6 million dollars to design three more baseball fields and associated additions at College Station’s Veterans Park. These are the fields that were going to be built at Texas Independence Park until it was discovered after construction began that the soil would not support the fields. Capital projects director Jennifer Cain told the city council before awarding the design contract at their December 12th meeting that preliminary soil tests at Veterans Park shows no reason for concern. The $15 million dollar addition will be built on the site of a pit where road materials were stored during the construction of the original Earl Rudder Freeway. One of the three fields, nicknamed the “championship field”, will feature home and visiting team clubhouses with 32 lockers, six showers, a small training area, and other amenities to attract more tournaments. The championship field will also have a batting/pitching building, a second batting/pitching tunnel, a field maintenance facility, a press box, an enclosed area with a small bar and open space for lounge seating, an exterior deck area, a video board, fixed armchair seating for 2,000, a concession stand, and separate restrooms for men and women. Click HERE to read and download documents approved at the December 12, 2024 College Station city council meeting. Click below to hear comments from the December 12, 2024 College Station city council meeting.  

Ongoing Bryan Police Investigations Of Gunfire, Threats, And Property Crimes

Bryan police continues the investigation of three gunfire incidents from last Saturday (December 14). One involved two victims arriving in an emergency room by private vehicle. One of the two was treated for a minor injury. Their vehicle was also hit by a gunshot in an incident north of the Northgate district on Boyett. Another investigation began after Bryan firefighters who responded to a natural gas leak on South College near Coulter discovered a gas meter was hit by gunfire. Police then discovered a home was hit by a gunshot. And south of Bonham Park, there were no injuries and no damage after one shot was fired during a verbal argument. BPD is also investigating the report of a juvenile pointing a gun at the ground during a disturbance on Monday (December 16) at the 31-30 apartments on East 29th Street. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Bryan police is investigating two reports last Saturday (December 14) of threats made on social media by juveniles against juveniles. One followed a disturbance where an object was thrown and struck a home. The second case involved a juvenile who advised they had been receiving threats from a known juvenile via social media. A third case involving juveniles took place involved a fight on Monday at Davila Middle School. The victim did not require medical attention. The juvenile who was arrested received medical treatment for an undisclosed injury. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Bryan police is looking for those responsible for what appears to be someone throwing rocks at vehicles. At four locations, three of them near the federal women’s prison, front or rear windshields were hit last Friday or Saturday (December 13-14). Damage to each vehicle was less than $750 dollars.

College Station Police Arrests On Illegal Gun Charges

A 17 year old from College Station returns to the Brazos County for the second time in three days. The newest arrest report from College Station police says it took two officers to place Jatarius Ashley in handcuffs for a parole violation on an undisclosed criminal conviction. In addition to being charged with resisting arrest, online records shows Ashley is also being held for state juvenile authorities. Ashley returned to jail Monday (December 16) after he was released on bond Sunday (December 15) following an arrest on Saturday (December 14) for unlawful carrying of a gun due to his age. Ashley’s arrest last Saturday was one of three weekend traffic stops by College Station police that led to the recovery of four guns, of which three were stolen. Ashley was one of two passengers in a car that was stopped for following another vehicle too closely. The other passenger who was arrested, 18 year old Elijah Ratcliff of College Station, remains jailed as of December 18 for unlawful carrying of a weapon. Bond was set at $4,000 dollars. And Ratcliff is awaiting a trial on another unlawful weapon carrying charge from October 2023. Another CSPD officer stopped a SUV for a non-working rear license plate light. The CSPD arrest report says after the driver did not give permission to search the SUV, a CSPD K-9 officer detected the odor of drugs while walking around the SUV. That led to a search and finding several guns. One was reported stolen from Houston. The driver said that belonged to a co-worker. Officers found the co-worker and arrested 39 year old Simon Cardenas of Richmond (TX) for unlawful possession by a felon of a gun and body armor. Cardenas is out of jail after posting bonds totaling $16,000 dollars. Another SUV was pulled over after a CSPD officer reported it failed to signal within 100 feet of making a turn. That arrest report said the officer found four people wearing all black and having black ski masks in their possession. The officer saw through an open window, a handgun and bullets in the rear floorboard. One of the passengers, 17 year old Zron Merchant of College Station, was arrested for unlawful carrying of what reported to CSPD was a stolen gun. Merchant, who was also charged with giving false information, is out of jail after posting bonds totaling $6,000 dollars.