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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Home Depot helps church hurt by scam
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS., Wed., Oct. 16, 2002 -- A man posing as a carpenter from Florida has
disappeared after purchasing $3,000 worth of material from Home Depot
in Odessa designed to be part of a kitchen for a new local coffee house.
But as a result of actions by church members involved with the project,
the materials for the kitchen will be donated at the end of the month by
the Odessa store.
According to Danny Fitzpatrick of First Baptist Church in Pecos, a man
by the name of Glen Tougher, his wife Cindy, their 17-year old daughter Georgina,
and their youngest daughter Rachel showed up at his home.
The man had told Fitzpatrick that he and his family were traveling from
Lehigh Acres Florida to San Diego after receiving a settlement from his father's
estate.
And because their children were on a self-paced education program it was
possible for them to travel from the east coast to the west coast in a two-month
period.
However, during the family's vacation time, Tougher told Fitzpatrick that
their room had been broken into. He said everything was stolen, from credit
cards to $6,500 in cash, and because they had cancelled all of their credit
cards, they were not able to use them to get home.
Only having a full tank of gas, the man asked Fitzpatrick if he could
help them by providing them with a place to stay for the night and something
to eat.
He also told Fitzpatrick that he would be transferring money into his
account the following day.
With that Fitzpatrick and the First Baptist Church agreed to help the
family out. He took the family to eat at McDonalds and provided them with
a hotel room in Odessa.
While at McDonalds, Fitzpatrick said Tougher told him that he was a carpenter,
and Fitzpatrick began to tell the man about the kitchen the church is trying
to build as part of a coffee house on West Third Street.
After showing Tougher the plan Fitzpatrick said that he then offered to
come back and build the kitchen, adding later that that he would donate the
materials to build the kitchen as well.
He also told Fitzpatrick that he had a friend in Big Spring who had all
of the tools that they would need to build the kitchen.
With that said, the man then told Fitzpatrick that he would call him so
that they could meet at the Home Depot in Odessa the next day so they could
purchase the materials.
Having to go to Odessa anyways, Fitzpatrick did not think that he would
receive a phone call from the man.
"I wasn't sure whether to believe him," Fitzpatrick said. "But then he
called me and asked me `Where are you at? I am waiting for you here at Home
Depot.'"
According to Fitzpatrick, when he arrived at Home Depot, Tougher was outside
waiting for him.
As they began to purchase $3,000 worth of material, Fitzpatrick said that
the design of the kitchen began to change from simple to elaborate.
"We were purchasing kits to make the cabinets," Fitzpatrick said.
After the materials had been purchased, Fitzpatrick said that they brought
them back to Pecos and stored them in their building.
But after that, Fitzpatrick said that things began not to add up.
"His friend from Big Spring would not show up," Fitzpatrick said. "The
bank had never heard of him."
At that point, Fitzpatrick then went back to Home Depot and told the manager
that he did not know this man.
"I don't think he is telling the truth," Fitzpatrick told the manager,
Mike Jones.
Fitzpatrick then added that he only knew the man for about three days
and that out of those three days he had talked to him for about a total of
three hours.
The manager then told Fitzpatrick that he appreciated the fact that he
was being honest with them.
And because Fitzpatrick was being honest, Home Depot said that they promised
to donate the material on November 1.
"They promised to donate the stuff," Fitzpatrick said. "We will just have
to build it."
Fitzpatrick said that he would be going back to Home Depot on November
1 and bring the material back.
"There were things that made me believe this man," Fitzpatrick said.
According to Fitzpatrick, Tougher had a brief case, which had a contract,
and a plan of a house the man had apparently built.
"He even had a receipt book for some of the things he had paid for," Fitzpatrick
said. "The family was also very supportive and creative about decoration
ideas."
Fitzpatrick also said that the family kept saying how they have wanted
to move to West Texas.
"The talked about Big Spring,' Fitzpatrick said.
However, he added that their friend who supposedly lives there does not
have phone and his business does not exist.
According to Fitzpatrick, David Stevens had also given the man $300 to
work on his roof. However, the man never showed up.
With that Fitzpatrick and Stevens then called the police and informed
them of this man.
"After talking to the police we realized that it would cost us more to
pursue this," Fitzpatrick said.
In helping the family, Fitzpatrick thinks that they lost about $250 to
$300.
"We decided to forget it and let it go," Fitzpatrick said.
Though they will have to build the kitchen themselves, Fitzpatrick said
that it is almost a Cinderella story because of their honesty, Home Depot
has promised to donate the materials.
"Honesty is the best policy," Fitzpatrick said.
Abandoned house, dumpsters burned overnight
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS., Wed., Oct. 16, 2002 -- Pecos Volunteer firemen were busy overnight
battling two different fires on the east side of town, both of which
officials believe were arson related.
Firefighters were called out to a dumpster fire at about 1:30 a.m., on
Martinez Street.
"Two dumpsters out there were set on fire," said Town of Pecos City Fire
Marshal Jack Brookshire. "They were deliberately set."
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the two dumpsters,
according to Brookshire.
The second call came in at about 4 a.m., a structure fire at Sixth and
Walnut streets.
Brookshire said that the house was empty and nobody was injured in the
incident.
"It was an old abandoned, junked, one-bedroom house and nobody had lived
in it for awhile," said Brookshire. "It had to have been deliberately set,
because it had no electricity, no running water, nothing."
All fire trucks responded to the incident, which took about 90 minutes
to extinguish.
"It was definitely set on purpose, but nobody was around at the time we
responded," he said.
Brookshire said that if anybody has information about these incidents
to contact CrimeStoppers at 445-9898; the Pecos Police Department at 445-4911
or the fire marshal at 445-2421.
Alpine shooters capture league's closing match
PECOS., Wed., Oct. 16, 2002 -- The Pecos Rifle and Pistol Club High Power
League shot its final match of the season Saturday along with a John C. Garand
match sanctioned by the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
Jim Tom Cardwell of Alpine won his sixth consecutive high power match
scoring 428 out of a possible 500 points with an AR-15 type rifle, the civilian
variant of the military's M-16.
David Arnold of Alpine was a close second with 420 points. Arnold also
shot an AR-15.
Smokey Briggs of Pecos placed third with 414 points shooting a World War
II era M-1 Garand.
Cardwell's shooting throughout 2002 earned him the top spot in the League
standings for the year as well. League standings are computed by taking an
average of a shooter's best three match scores. Cardwell's average for the
year was 448 points, helped along by a club record 464 he shot in the August
high power match.
Club Vice President Mike Mason took second overall for the year with an
average of 422 points. Both Mason and Cardwell shot their winning scores
with AR-type rifles.
Smokey Briggs took third place in the overall standings with a 421-point
average. Mason edged out Briggs for second place by just six-tenths of a
point.
Briggs shot his matches with an M-1 Garand.
Other notable shooters included David Arnold of Alpine (403) and Larry
Longoria of Pecos (404). Arnold shot an AR and Longoria an M-1.
"Shooting above 400 is pretty fair shooting," Mason said. "You have to
average the eight ring to shoot 400 and that is not easy."
Mason said that 2002 was the first year the Pecos club sponsored a high
power league.
"High power shooting is sanctioned by the National Rifle Association and
so are the leagues," he said. "At the end of the year the scores are sent
to NRA national headquarters and shooters receive a classification."
Mason said that most high power matches involve either a 50 or 80-round
course of fire with shooters shooting from different positions at ranges
of 200, 300 and 600 yards.
The Pecos matches are 50-round matches, he said.
The Pecos Club also sponsored eight John C. Garand matches this year.
Mason said that the Garand matches are sanctioned by the Civilian Marksmanship
Program (CMP) and that the scores from the matches are sent to the CMP.
"The Garand matches are limited to World War II battle rifles _ M-1 Garands,
M-1 Carbines, 03 Springfields and 1917 Enfields," he said. "The club supplies
the ammunition for these matches and the rifles have to be "as issued" by
the military with no modifications. It makes for an interesting match."
Larry Longoria took first place for the year in the Garand matches with
an average score of 272 points out of 300. Smokey Briggs took second with
an average score of 255, edging out Masons average of 253 points.
At Saturday's match Briggs shot an M-1 Garand and won with a score of
256. Longoria took second shooting a 1903 Springfield with 228 points and
Jimmy LaBaume of Alpine took third with an M-1 and 204 points.
"Shooting these old rifles with no modifications and using stock military
30.06 ammunition is a real challenge," Longoria said.
Mason said that the Club was planning on shooting a non-league high power
match on November 9th as well as another John C. Garand match.
League competition will begin again in the early spring.
Benefit plate sale scheduled Friday at Saragosa Hall
PECOS., Wed., Oct. 16, 2002 -- A benefit Enchilada plate sale for Clovis
(Bobby) Baca will be held this Friday, at Saragosa Hall, at Sixth and Pecan
streets.
The plates will be sold from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. for $4.
Weather
PECOS., Wed., Oct. 16, 2002 -- High Tuesday 71. Low this morning 51. Forecast
for tonight: Increasing cloudiness with isolated evening showers
or thunderstorms. Lows 50 to 55. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph in the
evening, becoming northeast 10 to 15 mph late. Thursday: Mostly
cloudy and cooler with a slight chance of showers. Highs near 70. East
winds 10 to 15 mph. The chance of rain is 20 percent. Thursday night:
Cloudy with a chance of rain and thunderstorms. Lows 50 to 55. The
chance of rain is 40 percent. Friday: Cloudy with a chance of
rain and thunderstorms. Highs 65 to 70. The chance of rain is 50 percent.
Obituary
Fransisco Baeza
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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