Crash near San Marcos kills three from Wimberley

June 18--SAN MARCOS

3 killed in crash

Three people from Wimberley died in a fiery crash Friday near San Marcos.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 22-year-old Ramiro Ramirez, 40-year-old Angela Mary Masullo and 44-year-old Daniel Stuart Masullo all died about 8 p.m. on RM 12, three miles south of San Marcos.

Three others also were injured in the wreck.

DPS officials said Ramirez's truck was headed north on RM 12 when it ended up on the wrong side of the road and clipped the rear quarter panel of another vehicle. That vehicle spun around and slammed into a guardrail.

Ramirez's vehicle continued barreling ahead until it slammed head-on into a Lincoln MKX driven by Angela Masullo. Daniel Masullo was in the passenger's seat.

Ramirez's truck caught fire after the crash, the DPS said.

-- Mark D. Wilson, American-Statesman

SAN MARCOS

Police ID driver in deadly hit-and-run

San Marcos police on Monday identified the driver in a hit-and-run crash that left a pedestrian dead Friday as 29-year-old Uriah Keith Robinson.

Robinson faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, failure to stop and render aid, escape, possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana for his role in the crash that left 48-year-old Tyrus Dennis Piano dead.

Police said Piano was walking at Riverside Drive and Interstate 35 when a van jumped a curb and slammed into him on a sidewalk.

A passenger in the van got out of the vehicle and took off, but Texas State University Police ran him down.

The driver, later identified as Robinson, continued driving toward a turnaround at the San Marcos River. He lost control of the van, jumped another curbed and slammed into a tree, police said.

He was arrested and taken to an area hospital.

Robinson's bail has been set at a combined total of more than $1 million, police said.

-- Mark D. Wilson, American-Statesman

WILLIAMSON COUNTY

Drowning victim at apartment pool ID'd

A man who drowned Saturday night in a pool at an apartment complex has been identified as 55-year-old Timothy Taylor, according to the Williamson County sheriff's office.

The drowning occurred at the Marquis at Brushy Creek apartments in the Brushy Creek area. Taylor lived at the apartment complex, said Patricia Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

Deputies were alerted at 6:50 p.m. Saturday and arrived to find Taylor, who officials said was unresponsive. They began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but their efforts were unsuccessful and Taylor died, according to the sheriff's office.

Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody had said foul play is not suspected. He said a surveillance camera showed Taylor behaving oddly, including at one point standing alone in waist-deep water repeatedly bobbing his face in and out of the water.

An autopsy is pending.

-- Claire Osborn, American-Statesman

ROUND ROCK

Police: Shotgun fired during pot deal gone wrong

Two men are accused of robbing a man selling marijuana in a deal that involved a shotgun being fired in Round Rock, an arrest affidavit says.

Bryan Almanza, 18, of Taylor, and Carlos Aldair Alvarenga-Realegeno, 18, of Round Rock, were both charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison.

A man who had marijuana stolen from him during the drug deal called police May 31 about shots being fired at him, the affidavit says. The victim later told police he had agreed to sell two ounces of marijuana for $300 to a man who called him May 30, the affidavit says.

It says the buyer later met him in a car with some other men the victim did not know, including Alvarenga-Realegeno and Almanza, in the 2200 block of Jasmine Path on May 30.

The victim got into the car with the men but as they began talking one of them pulled out a shotgun, police said. The victim saw the stock of the shotgun and got out of the car while the gun was fired, the affidavit says. It does not say who fired the shotgun.

The victim looked back as he was running away and saw that Alvarenga-Realegeno had removed a 9mm handgun from his waistband and had it in his right hand, the affidavit says. The victim's marijuana was stolen, police said.

The victim was able to identify for police the man who had first called him to buy the marijuana and then detectives were able to track down Alvarenga-Realegeno and Almanza, the affidavit says.

Almanza and Alvarenga-Realegeno were both being held in the Williamson County Jail on Monday with bail set at $100,000 for each.

The victim was not charged in connection with the marijuana, according to court records.

-- Claire Osborn, American-Statesman

GEORGETOWN

Deputies seize more than $80K in traffic stop

Williamson County sheriff's detectives seized more than $80,000 during a traffic stop on Interstate 35 in Georgetown on Wednesday, an arrest affidavit says.

Ana Ortiz, 27, of Pharr, was charged with money laundering, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Investigators believe the money came from illegal drug sales, according to the affidavit.

It says the incident started when a detective stopped Ortiz, who was driving a Volkswagen Passat at 11:58 a.m. Wednesday, for following too closely in the 4700 block of I-35 South in Georgetown.

Ortiz and a friend who was traveling with her told the detective conflicting stories about visiting a casino in Oklahoma, the affidavit says.

When the detective asked Ortiz if she had more than $5,000 in cash in her car she said she had $9,000 in her purse, the affidavit says.

It says that after the detective got Ortiz's permission to search her car he found 16 bundles of cash in her purse and in her luggage in the trunk of her car. The total amount of cash found was $80,085, the affidavit says.

"U.S. currency packaged and concealed in this manner is commonly associated with individuals who transport large sums of U.S. currency obtained from illegal narcotics sales from Mexico cartels and other criminal organizations," according to the affidavit.

She told detectives that the money was in her car because she receives large amounts of cash from wealthy friends as gifts, "but would not say what she does to deserve these said gifts other than that these friends just give her money," the affidavit says.

Ortiz was released from the Williamson County Jail on Monday after posting bail set at $20,000.

-- Claire Osborn, American-Statesman

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