CRIME & SAFETY

An Ector County Sheriff’s deputy recovered a stolen track loader and heavy equipment trailer valued at $160,000 and made an arrest Tuesday. According to an ECSO report, the deputy learned shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday the stolen items were located on property on Donald Circle and he confirmed the items were there upon his arrival.

After deliberating just under three hours, an Ector County jury convicted a Mississippi man of murder in the death of an Odessa woman who was shot while trying to de-escalate a fight between the defendant and another man. However, the jury found Shemar Harrington, 22, not guilty of aggravated assault...

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Odessa Police Department is currently working through issues regarding 911 dispatch calls. Those calling 911 and the non-emergency numbers have either not been able to get through or the calls have dropped, according to OPD. AT&T is currently working to resolve the problem.

The Odessa Police Department and the Ector County Sheriff’s Office seized one pound of marijuana and two ounces of cocaine Tuesday while executing a search warrant. According to an ECSO report, authorities found the drugs while searching an apartment in the 4600 block of Oakwood Drive and arrested Steven Tovar, 41, on suspicion of possession of marijuana, a state jail felony, and possession of cocaine, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man was arrested earlier this week after investigators said he used drugs and then crashed his vehicle while driving his 9-year-old daughter to summer school. Camron Bruce Sawyer, 26, has been charged with Driving While Intoxicated with a Child Under 15 Years Old, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by […]

An Odessa man is spending his 62nd birthday in the Ector County jail after authorities said he purposely set fire to his Mazda pickup truck. According to an Ector County Sheriff’s Office report, a deputy received reports of a truck on fire near 65th Street and Austin Avenue around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday and when he arrived, fire personnel told him a man walking south on Austin had set fire to the 1998 vehicle.

A Mississippi man told jurors Wednesday he accidentally shot and killed an Odessa mother of four while defending himself from another man who had earlier threatened him with a gun. Shemar Harrington, 22, is facing a murder charge in the death of Erika Peña and an aggravated assault with a...

Family of Rebecca Demory still searching, three months after disappearance ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The search continues tonight for 32-year-old Rebecca Demory, known to her loved ones as “Becky”- she went missing from Odessa earlier this year. Her family tells ABC Big 2, she was last heard from in February of this year. Today, after three […]

ODESSA, Texas — UPDATE 4:42 p.m.: The city says that phone lines are back to normal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The City of Odessa is warning citizens that they are experiencing some issues with their 911 phone lines. According to the city, those calling 911 and their non-emergency numbers have not either...

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man was arrested on a warrant late last week after investigators said he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend at a Midland gas station, and then drove away with her young child. Samuel Esli Maulas-Torres, 38, has been charged with Aggravated Kidnapping.  According to court documents, around 4:00 a.m. on May 14, […]

ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Ector County Sheriff’s Office has been receiving information regarding individuals posing as Law Enforcement Officers and Retired Law Enforcement Officers, requesting money, according to a Facebook post. This scammer has been reportedly posing as Lt. Thomas Paz and Steve Belknap, both of which are retired Ector County Sheriff Deputies. ECSO says […]

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man was arrested last weekend after investigators said he allegedly followed a man for several miles and repeatedly rammed into his truck. Juan Salazar, 20, has been charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. According to an Odessa Police Department report, around 3:00 a.m. on […]

An Odessa Police sergeant who announced his retirement while he was under investigation for an alleged hazing investigation was named the Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace by the Ector County Commissioners Court May 23. Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett said the commissioners were unaware of the investigation into Sgt....

ODESSA, Texas — Odessa Fire Rescue crews extinguished a fire at Peppertree Apartments Tuesday afternoon. According to the City of Odessa, when OFR responded to 4600 Oakwood Dr., they found the exterior of a single-story apartment building and some wood fencing on fire. Firefighters stopped the fire from extending...

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man who said he hasn’t had a job since 2016 and has made his living selling drugs was arrested earlier this month after a Midessa Violent Crimes Task Force operation. Kody Hendrix, 42, has been charged with Delivery of Marijuana and two counts of Manufacturing and Delivery of a Controlled […]

Jurors who must determine the fate of a 22-year-old Mississippi man accused of taking the life of an Odessa mother of four heard opening statements Monday along with the testimony of a forensic pathologist and her best friend . Assistant Ector County District Attorney Elizabeth Howard told jurors gathered in...

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa man allegedly caught driving a vehicle stolen in Lubbock was arrested last week after investigators said he fled during a traffic stop and then crashed into a parked car. Nathaniel Ochoa, 27, has been charged with Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Evading in a Motor Vehicle, Possession of a Controlled […]

A 21-year-old Odessa man was arrested early Saturday morning after his uncle accused him of shooting him in the leg and foot. According to an Odessa Police Department report, Michael Robert Jay Whinery’s grandmother called 911 around 2:15 a.m. Saturday from a home in the 4000 block of East Everglade Avenue to say he’d shot her son.

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The “Hollywood Mural” in Odessa was defaced by vandals who painted graffiti across the iconic faces of some of the biggest Hollywood starts throughout history. The artwork is located on North Grandview Avenue on the side of the historic Rio Theater. “It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to see someone selfishly damage something from […]

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - In a hearing on Tuesday, Michael Dean “Spider” Gonzales’s defense team argued that there is evidence proving that Gonzales does not deserve the death penalty. The defense claims that they can prove that Gonzales is intellectually disabled, by using expert witnesses and lay...