Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1989 Page: 1 of 26
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II
18 PAGES IN 2 SECTIONS
THURSDAY
EDITION
Vol. 24 No. 26
January 5, 1989
BURLESONS
..
S PRESS
NATION
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
For Mall Dolivary
295-0486
Officials begin new terms of office
WMi
I
Judge To Judge
sworn into office at the Cleburne courthouse. Cooke won the
judgeship in the general election, opposed by Judge J.L.
Phlnney. ____
Inmate threatens jail
officer with knife
BY DOTTIE WILSON
Mark Johnson of Cleburne
arge
ssda
and his bond amount TUesday
night when he threatened a cor-
rectional officer at the Johnson
County Jail.
Although threatened by the in-
mate with a "boot" knife, Jesse
Ruiz of Joshua (who has been
with the sheriff’s office as a cor-
rectional officer for a good num-
ber of years), "handled himself
well and in a very professional
manner," during the assault, ac-
cording to Sheriff Eddy Boggs.
No major injuries occurred,
other than bruises which Ruiz
sustained from struggling with
the inmate during the incident.
Mark Duett Johnson, 20, of
1304 N. Wood, Cleburne, had
been arrested in October, charged
with aggravated robbery of the
Dtmbleweed Nursery in Cleburne,
according to a Johnson County
Sheriff's Office spokesperson.
His bond was set at $100,000 on
the original charge. After the
alleged assault on Ruiz outside
the prisoner’s jail cell about
10:15 TUesday night, Johnson
was additionally charged With
aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon on a correctional officer.
An additional $100,000 bond was
set on the second charge after
Judge James Graham of Rio
Vista handled the inmate's
araignment at the Johnson
County Jail the same night.
According to the JCSO spokes-
person, Johnson was in a single
cell on the top floor of the jail
Tuesday when he asked to leave
his cell to pick out a book. The
officer escorted the inmate to the
bookcase, was momentarily dis-
tracted when another inmate
asked for medication (Maalox),
and was escorting Johnson back
to the cell when he was attacked.
That’s when Johnson threw his
weight against Ruiz and pulled
the knife on him. "A boot knife
has a short handle and blade; it’s
easily concealed. They haven’t yet
ascertained how he (Johnson)
got the knife,” said the spokes-
person. v
The inmate attempted to pull
Ruiz into the cell, saying he
didn’t want to hurt him—just “to
get out." Ruiz was successful in
taking the knife from' the inmate
following a scuffle, calling for
assistance on his radio at that
time. Corp. John Dunning and
another correctional officer, Ken
Lay, (who were located in other
parts of the jail) answered the
call.
"Johnson isn’t a large man; [on„.
he’s tall and thin, only about 140
pounds. There wasn't anywhere
■ a ’ . . . _ .
he i
could go and he knew it. This
kind of possibility is why the of-
ficers don’t cany weapons and
why each floor is separately
locked—so that if something like
this happens an inmate can't get
additional weapons and there’s
no way for them to get out.
Where he (Johnson) got the
knife, we just don't know yet,’’
she said.
Johnson hadn’t caused any
trouble at the jail recently; his at-
tack on the officer was unexpec-
ted. However the aggravated
portion of the original charge of
robbery (with a weapon) was
most likely the reason for
Johnson being incarcerated in a
single cell; rather than with other
inmates, she said.
All privileges (television, com-
misary, etc.) were taken away
from the inmate following the
incident.
BY DOTTIE WILSON
' It was kind of like old home
week for some of the elected of-
ficials who were sworn into of-
fice TUesday morning at the
Glfeburne courthouse.
tesday, Jan. 3 was officially
first day of office for 10
county officials, and- oaths of of-
*$0ce were the first order of the
tlay. The official swearings in
jbegan just before 9 a.m. with a
deception following in the cor-
ridors of the first floor of the
Courthouse before the special
Commissioners court session
resumed at 10:15.
I County Judge Wayne Bridewell
“id the honors in the com-
lissiotiers courtroom for the
o hew commissioners, Jack
[ewlett.and Bobby Estes; County
Assessor/Collector W.E.
:d” Carroll; County Attorney
ile Hanna; and three of the
ecinct constables,' Steve Curlee
'ct. 2), Charles Hauk (Pet. 1),
Tommy Poteet (Pet. 4).
JUST PRIOR TO those oaths,
ly-elected 18th District Judge
.C. "Kit" Cooke was sworn in by
iunty Court-at-Law Judge Tom-
ly Altaras; then Cooke recip-
icated by swearing in Sheriff
Jdy Boggs and District Attorney
an Boulwarc (both in second
irms) in his office. Those three
Ticials aren’t newcomers to
ebume or to elected posts with
hnson County—they’ve all ser-
in their offices before
ough Cooke was district judge
249th District Court in pre-
terms of office).
Cleburne natives, the three
men sworn in—and Altaras—
grew up together in that city.
ft little tiw TViesd&jfc
recalling Former days when some
played Little League baseball
together (Boggs and Cooke), at-
tended grade school and high
school as classmates, and later
Baylor Law School (Cooke,
Altaras, and Boulware). Their
first day of office was a day for
brief reminiscing among the
long-time old friends.
less of county govern-
ment is demanding, though.
the 18th District Court, but even
considering the number of cases,
Cooke considers working out the
scheduling efficiently as a chall-
enge of the office. “I'm looking
forward to getting started," he
said.
The new commissioner for Pet.
1, Jack Hewlett, commented after
his oath of office that getting
there had been a long process.
"It’s been 13 months since I first
filed for office, and it’s been a
learning experience. I believe
everyone should serve in a public
capacity. This will be my second
time to do so, and I’m looking
forward to the next four years.”
ALSO NEW TO the Pet. 3 spot,
Bobby Estes commented that a
lot of people helped him get elec-
ted to the position and that he
fully intends to represent all the
people of his precinct and
Johnson County.
Carroll, beginning his third
term as tax assessor/collector for
the county, stated that we have a
good county government system
a ltd he will do his part to keep it
that way. "I'm looking forward to
working with the judge and com-
missioners in performing a good
service for everyone in Johnson
County.”
County Attorney Dale Hanna
deferred comments because of a
pending jury trial in an upstairs
courtroom, and the three con-
stables each commented on their
appreciation of county officials
and citizens within their pre-
cincts, who have worked well
with them to allow them to carry
out the duties of their positions.
Dale Hanna (left) was unopposed In his bid for re-election as
ss
Tuesday.
After a few vignettes from former
days, each of the officials got
back to the business of their res-
pective offices, ready to tackle
the challenges of the day. Cooke
commented that a recent meet-
ing with Boulware has focused
attention on the date Jan. 30,
when criminal jury trials on the
docket for his court will begin.
’There are close to 500
criminal felony trials and about
1,000 on the civil docket. Even
though the numbers are less.
lougr
chedu
scheduling for the criminal cases
is the most critical because of the
time involvement. So we’ll set
three jury weeks per month to
start getting those taken care of,”
said ,Cooke. He added that his
court had six months of new
Grand Jury cases to hear.
In between the jury trials, civil
cases and criminal cases to come
before the court wilT be scheduled,
he added. There is much to do in
*5
r
Tax Assessor/Collector
W.E. “Ed” Carroll (at right) began his third term as county tax
assessor collector Tuesday morning. A reception for newly sworn
county officials was held outside the commissioners courtroom
after the official words were spoken.
Home is lost in
New Year’s morning
structure fire
Mound
First Day Back To School
. s^itsally suunnsoN
entary
weren't
SM1 &
time to
nts had a little over two weeks off for Chrfetmns and
Years then It wns back to the books, classes, teachers,
BY SALLY ELLERTSON
The Burleson Volunteer Fire
Department had its evening of cele-
bration cut short at 1:59 a.m. on
New Year's Pay when they were
called to a structure fire at the two-
story home of Glen Cline on CR
600, next to the Bent Tree Addi-
tion.
"The house was fully involved
when we reached the scene," Fire
Chief John Crocker said.
The firemen fought the fire for
2 1/2 to 3 hours before it burned to
the ground. No one was in the
house at the time of die fire.
Crock* said they were able to
contain the fire to the house,
keeping it from spreading to a
detached garage.
Alvarado, Lillian, and Briar-
oaks fire departments assisted at the
scene while Joshua stood by at the
fire hall.
As of press time Wednesday the
fire department did not know what
caused the fire. Fire Marshall
Richard Russell said that he will
not be investigating the fire because
it was outside of die Burleson city
limits. The county does not have a
fire marshall.
The Burleson Police Depart-
ment had a much calmer night The
citizens of Burleson and all of those
traveling through the city saved the
BPD a lot of paperwork and hassle
on New Year's Eve.
There were no arrests for dri-
ving while intoxicated on New*
Year's Eve when the DWI Task
Force was in action.
The fog that rolled in may have
had something to do with people
slowing down since they couldn't
see mare than a few feet in front of
them.
A 21-year-old Gainesville man
was involved in a one-car accident
at 4:55 a.m. on New Year's Day.
Hie man was driving a gold 1984
Chevrolet Silverado pickup north-
bound in the 1700 block of S.W.
Wilshire when he veered off of the
roadway into a ditch. He was not
»-!____-a
injured. i
A
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Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1989, newspaper, January 5, 1989; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth760865/m1/1/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.