AUSTIN MAN smashes his wheelchair-bound grandfather's phone to keep him from calling 911 -- days after the old man took him in off the street to help him get back on his feet. His grandfather had to roll himself out of the apartment and go door to door until a neighbor let him use a phone to get help. Six weeks earlier, Julius Estrada, 22, had been arrested on a felony stolen vehicle charge. He was put in a DA Jose Garza diversion program for a felony theft case. It seems it did not rehabilitate him. Two weeks before he attacked his grandfather, police rushed to a Riverside bus stop after a caller reported two men holding a crying woman down on a bench. When officers arrived, they detained Estrada, who was visibly drunk. He jumped a concrete barrier and ran before officers caught him. In May, a man flagged down police at 1am saying a group had just tried to rob him at a 7-Eleven on Airport Blvd. Estrada was there and ran from officers before he was caught. Two weeks later he was arrested with 15 Adderall pills he admitted buying off the street. County Attorney Delia Garza's office declined to prosecute. In July, 4am, in Manor, he fled a traffic stop driving with no headlights in a car that wasn't his. He blew nearly twice the legal limit with a half-empty 4Loko in the cupholder. Three weeks later, a judge removed his electronic monitoring. Four days after that, he went through four cars in an apartment parking lot, ran from a sergeant, and jumped a fence. While officers searched for him with a drone, he climbed into a man's truck at a QuikTrip pump while the owner was inside buying a drink and put it in drive before the owner confronted him. 8 arrests in 17 months. 4 felony cases. 0 convictions. Next week, his cases are set for a mental health diversion hearing. Since prosecutors and judges don't treat him as a criminal who deserves punishment, his odds of being back on the street and abusing his grandfather again look very likely.

APD Chief Lisa Davis came to Austin from Cincinnati. Her department then created a new role in Austin, "Chief of Strategic Initiatives," and gave it to Maris Herold, another longtime Cincinnati cop. Maris's SPOUSE, Tamara Herold, has been paid $256,750 in no-bid APD consulting contracts for some reason. Also: Robin Engel, a Cincinnati colleague of both Davis and Maris, has been paid $241,750 for the same kind of deal. Odd.

Austin ICE arrests are up 300% in the last couple of years. Two Austin city commissions are now urging City Council to formally ask ICE to "cease operations in Austin." Their recommendation calls ICE's presence a "direct public safety risk." Since January of last year, ICE has arrested 1,368 people in Austin who were here illegally AND had a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge. In a county where the DA drops charges and repeat offenders walk out on bond, ICE is sometimes the only consequence they ever face If the commissions got their way, 1,368 rapists, murderers, drug dealers, and thieves would still be on the street.

ICE arrested the mom of a 9-year-old at a school bus stop in Austin, leaving him alone and crying. The video has profanity and is heartbreaking to watch, but it shows the fear/pain of what happened. This is evil. This is wrong. And it has to stop. Video: Leonardo Pelaez on FB

Worth asking why immigrant advocacy groups are going to the Texas border and urging towns, where smuggling routes run, to turn off Flock. Could it be because Flock is one of the best tools for catching illegal immigrants who are committing crimes all over the state? A few documented examples: A Flock camera in the Panhandle flagged a stolen car, and two Venezuelan men ended up in jail on ICE holds. A teenager accused in 12 shootings across Austin fled to Manor. Flock found his car, and he now has an ICE hold. In Burleson, a Flock alert cracked a gift-card fraud ring by two illegals involving more than 4,000 cards worth an estimated $1.7 million. In Galveston County, the constable says Flock searches have led to several arrests of criminal illegal aliens. And when cities pull the plug on Flock, which groups celebrate? Mano Amiga Action, which works on immigrant rights, called Hays County's vote to cancel Flock a victory for residents tired of being "treated like a suspect in their own community." Austin's anti-Flock coalition, backed by immigrant advocacy groups, claimed its own "Victory!" These anti-ICE groups are all very happy about over a dozen Texas cities turning off Flock, as well as the governor freezing state funding of tech that law enforcement depends on.

Austin, San Marcos, Pflugerville, Leander, Bastrop and lots of other Texas cities have turned off their Flock cameras. But not Kyle, which credits the cameras with: - Finding a stolen car with an infant inside - Catching a man accused of shooting a teen at a convenience store - Arresting two armed robbery suspects within hours - Locating two young children missing with an impaired sitter - Flagging a shooting suspect as he entered Kyle, leading to his immediate arrest A police commander audits every search each month. The police chief told the council there has been no complaints or evidence of misuse. The council voted 6-1 to continue its contracts