Teens awake to cabin afire, escape unharmed

Three teens asleep in a house near Possum Kingdom Lake when a fire started escaped after waking up and smelling smoke around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Palo Pinto County Fire Marshal Barry Gill.

Volunteer firefighters from Possum Kingdom East and Graford put out the fire at the log cabin lodge in the 1300 block Willow Beach Road on Possum Kingdom Lake.

Gill said he believes the fire started as an electrical issue in the heater unit in the bedroom closet and spread underneath the house through the wiring.

“It was damaged quite a bit underneath the house,” Gill said.

The damage estimate was unknown but the house was repairable, according to Gill.

Student arrested for drugs on campus

A 16-year-old student was arrested at Mineral Wells high school around 1 p.m. Thursday for possession of a controlled substance, less than 28 grams, a class A misdemeanor, after another student reported him.

Police said the teen had two green pills and a white pill in his possession believed to be naloxone and pentazocine.

According to information from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, the prescribed combination of pentazocine and naloxone is used to relieve moderate to severe pain.

Missing person found

A 45-year-old woman reported missing Oct. 19 from the Crazy Water Retirement Hotel was located at a Metroplex hospital in critical condition Thursday after a major vehicle wreck, police said.

When Phyllis Stahle did not return to her residence that weekend, staff contacted police to report her missing and told the police investigator she was never gone for long periods of time.

At the request of the Mineral Wells Police Department, a local cable channel asked residents to report information on her whereabouts.

The manager told police Thursday they were contacted by Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. Stahle has reportedly been in a coma since a wreck around Oct. 18.

Church burglarized for second time

A church in the 300 block of N.E. 1st Street was burglarized Thursday for a second time in two weeks but police believe the burglar was scared off by an audible alarm before anything was stolen.

The intruder broke a window and entered an office around 4:45 a.m., according to the report.

The alarm was triggered when the office door was opened, and police believe the burglar left by opening another window and pushing out a screen.

Nothing was reported missing.

Entry was made to the church around 1 a.m. on Oct. 21 through an unlocked window on the north side of the building, the Index reported last week.

During that burglary, whipped cream was spread on the countertops and toilets and the intruder set off the alarm while leaving through a door, according to police.

In what police believe may be a related burglary, someone broke a window of a business in the 100 block of N.E. 2nd Street sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning and stole a set of tools.

The front door of a storage building was also found kicked in Friday morning at a business in the 1400 block of South Oak Avenue, police said. A power washer valued at $400 was reported stolen, according to police.

Arrests

Mineral Wells police reported making the following arrests:

• Deanna Lee Grottalio, 19, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Thursday for theft, more than $50, less than $500, for allegedly shoplifting at Walmart.

• Rebecca Kate Alcorn, 45, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Thursday on a Palo Pinto County warrant for off-bond on the charge of engaging in organized criminal activity.

• John Willie Mitchell III, 54, of Abilene, was arrested Thursday for public intoxication.

• Douglas Ray Warren, 46, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Friday for simple assault and public intoxication after he reportedly fought with a friend.

• David Wayne Tucker, 45, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Friday on a parole violation warrant and a police department warrant for criminal mischief, more than $50, less than $500.

• Irez Chavez Reyes Hardy, 30, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Friday for speeding in a school zone, talking on a cellphone in school zone, driving without insurance and driving with an invalid license.

• Scotty Cortez, 19, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Friday for driving without a license and insurance.

• Vyncent Christopher Hemphill, 20, of Mineral Wells, was arrested Friday for driving without insurance and expired vehicle registration.

Text Only