Posted 12:08 am Monday, October 08, 2012
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Commissioner, son facing aggravated assault charge
Staff and KYTX CBS19 Reports
Upshur County Precinct 3 Commissioner Lloyd Crabtree and his son have been charged with aggravated assault against a public servant after they allegedly disarmed a state game warden at gunpoint on private property in the county Saturday afternoon, a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
The elder Crabtree, 52, and his 28-year-old son, Todd Allen Crabtree, were released from county jail in Gilmer Sunday after Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace W.V. Ray set their bonds at $40,000 each that morning.
Lloyd Crabtree told the Tyler Morning Telegraph Sunday night he is withholding comment on the incident until he hires an attorney.
The game warden, Sean Bailey, was making a routine check of hunters on the property and was there legally when the incident allegedly occurred shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, said TPWD spokesman Mike Cox.
Two men emerged from trees while Bailey was “moving through the woods,” confronted him with firearms and disarmed him at gunpoint, Cox said Sunday night. Bailey was somehow able to call 911 on his cell phone, and numerous officers responded to the scene within minutes, Cox said.
The standoff only lasted 20-30 minutes, and no shots were fired nor was anyone injured, the spokesman said. Cox said he did not know whether Bailey was riding a four-wheeler at the time.
The elder Crabtree, 52, and his 28-year-old son, Todd Allen Crabtree, were released from county jail in Gilmer Sunday after Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace W.V. Ray set their bonds at $40,000 each that morning.
Lloyd Crabtree told the Tyler Morning Telegraph Sunday night he is withholding comment on the incident until he hires an attorney.
The game warden, Sean Bailey, was making a routine check of hunters on the property and was there legally when the incident allegedly occurred shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, said TPWD spokesman Mike Cox.
Two men emerged from trees while Bailey was “moving through the woods,” confronted him with firearms and disarmed him at gunpoint, Cox said Sunday night. Bailey was somehow able to call 911 on his cell phone, and numerous officers responded to the scene within minutes, Cox said.
The standoff only lasted 20-30 minutes, and no shots were fired nor was anyone injured, the spokesman said. Cox said he did not know whether Bailey was riding a four-wheeler at the time.
Cox said he also did not know whether Bailey was in full uniform, but that the game warden had a right to be on the property whether he was or not.
He said Texas state game wardens are fully commissioned state peace officers who can enter “private property perfectly legally any time they want to” to check on hunters and fishermen.
The Crabtrees surrendered and were arrested before 3 p.m., Cox said. He said Texas Rangers and the internal affairs unit of TPWD are investigating the incident.
Cox said he could not confirm a report that the incident happened on the elder Crabtree's property on Dial Road in Big Sandy.
Crabtree was defeated by Frank Berka in the commissioner's bid for reelection to a third four-year term in the May 29 Republican primary. The commissioner is scheduled to leave office Dec. 31.
Crabtree was among three county officials charged in December 2010 with having a man illegally removed from a meeting of the Upshur County Commissioners Court for putting duct tape over his mouth in protest of the court's decision to ban public comment. The misdemeanor charges against Crabtree were dropped months later.
CBS19's Courtney Friedman and Special Correspondent Phillip Williams contributed to this report.
He said Texas state game wardens are fully commissioned state peace officers who can enter “private property perfectly legally any time they want to” to check on hunters and fishermen.
The Crabtrees surrendered and were arrested before 3 p.m., Cox said. He said Texas Rangers and the internal affairs unit of TPWD are investigating the incident.
Cox said he could not confirm a report that the incident happened on the elder Crabtree's property on Dial Road in Big Sandy.
Crabtree was defeated by Frank Berka in the commissioner's bid for reelection to a third four-year term in the May 29 Republican primary. The commissioner is scheduled to leave office Dec. 31.
Crabtree was among three county officials charged in December 2010 with having a man illegally removed from a meeting of the Upshur County Commissioners Court for putting duct tape over his mouth in protest of the court's decision to ban public comment. The misdemeanor charges against Crabtree were dropped months later.
CBS19's Courtney Friedman and Special Correspondent Phillip Williams contributed to this report.
