PORT ARTHUR — Police in Port Arthur are still looking for more than a dozen people including a former Port Arthur Police officer wanted for parole violations.
Port Arthur officers ,US. Marshals and Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies spent most of Tuesday, from early morning through about 2 p.m., searching for 22 violators and picked up eight by the time they finished according to police.
One of the subjects has been murdered but police did not release their name.
Former Port Arthur Police officer Quydan Nguyen, who was the first Vietnamese officer hired by the department, is one of the 13 subjects police are still looking for according to Port Arthur detective Mike Hebert.
"It was very difficult for all of us, he lost his job here and we always talk about the streets pulling people in," Hebert said who was a friend of Nguyen's. "Sometimes policeman are susceptible to that and in this case it happened to him."
The parole violations varied among the list of people from simply not reporting, to drugs and violent crimes.
"I've been asked why this roundup came today and obviously it was because of the increased violence in the city," Hebert said. "That's the one thing we're trying to stop right now."
The eight apprehended Tuesday are...
- Timothy Jean
- Carrie Gregory
- Kenneth George
- Kelvin Bryant
- Moses Castillo
- Kevin Roy
- Austin Tisino
- Donald Jacobs
List of people arrested Tuesday
"We look at it as a success in one way, but with the violence that is committed we still have families that are out there suffering and we're sensitive to that,"said Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso.
Of the 14 who remain at large police are actively focusing on six, including Nguyen and Javier Palacios.
Police believe Palacios is involved in a shooting that took place two weeks ago on Jefferson and 25th Street in Port Arthur.
In that shooting a man survived being shot multiple times while sitting in a vehicle Hebert said.
Palacios is also a known gang member and law enforcement have had an eye on him for awhile according to police.
"We have been tracking him for the last two weeks and again we missed him today," Hebert said. "We talk about Javier specifically because this is one of the reasons why we do this roundup."
Palacios has used social media to show his dislike for police and insinuated that he's always armed posting photos of him with guns.
The six subjects police are actively seeking are...
- Javier Palacios
- Rodney Cleveland
- Quydan Nguyen
- Brian Hite
- Ervey Chavez
- Juan Torres
PAPD persons of interest list
"This is just the beginning, we have other plans to continue to go after individuals who are wanted," Chief Duriso said, "We want people to feel safe in Port Arthur, we want our visitors to feel safe in Port Arthur."
Police encourage anyone who may know the whereabout of these persons of interest, to call crime stoppers at 409-833-TIPS.