Cindy Davis writes on Nov. 7, 2002: Do I have the story right? 1. Garland driver intentionally kills cyclist. 2. Police catch the driver & put him in jail. 3. Judge lets him go with no punishment. 4. Garland police refuse to provide accurate information about the case. Opus replies: 1. Garland driver intentionally kills cyclist. It seems that way from witness reports, yes. 2. Police catch the driver & put him in jail. It's a first, but yes they did catch him, and he did confess and take the police to the murder weapon. 3. Judge lets him go with no punishment. Well, that's the part where things get unclear. The killer was transferred to the Dallas County Jail. Bail was reduced from $50k to $1500, a surety bond was posted (property that will be seized if the defendant fails to show for his court date) and the killer was released with no court date. Problem is, I can't find a judge to match the name given on the release. The name on the release was given to me as "Lusk" (and I asked about spelling) and the title given was "County Magistrate". When I went to the Dallas County Courts Web site I looked up all the County Magistrates and "Lusk" was not among them. 4. Garland police refuse to provide accurate information about the case. Aside from a single press release the police refused to provide any information on the case. The information I have gotten so far has been from TV news, the press release, and public information from the Dallas County Jail. Oct. 15, 2002 First, let me say this case attracted my attention for 2 reasons. I was a victim of hit and run last year, where the last thing I heard was the driver swearing at me to get off the road. Second as I checked into the case I found it was being handled by the same cop that told me finding out who tried to kill me (and came extremely close to succeeding) was too much work and he wasn't going to try. OK, I have been doing some research on the case from public records. Here's what I have found so far. The victim's name is Carlos Suarez, a legal immigrant who spent 12 years getting his visa to escape the violence of his native Colombia. He was riding his bike home from work in a Garland grocery store, northbound on 1st street in Garland and was near Stadium Drive at the time of the incident. He was struck from behind at a high rate of speed by what witnesses said was a Chevrolet Astrovan either light blue or grey in color, late '80s to mid '90s in vintage. Witnesses reported the van seemed to line up on Mr. Suarez, and impacted on the driver's side of the front of the vehicle. Mr. Suarez was dead at the scene. The suspect's name was Lorenzo Saavedra. He was driving a light blue 1992 GMC Safari van, the GMC version of the Chevy Astrovan. His bail was initially set at $50,000, but was reduced to an unknown amount and Mr. Saavedra was released on the same day. Mr. Saavedra did not turn himself in as was originally reported, but was arrested as a result of a tip GPD received the Friday before the arrest on Tuesday. According to police it took that long to get a warrant from a judge for the arrest. The suspect confessed to the killing and led police to the murder weapon in a local body shop, where the evidence was being destroyed. It is unknown if the shop gave the tip, or even the name of the shop. It is unknown if the shop will be charged with evidence tampering. Other things not yet known are what the bail was reduced to, and the name of the judge or JP that reduced the bail and released Mr. Saavedra. Also unknown is whether Saavedra was the driver that hit me last year or had contact with that driver. More information as it becomes available. Oct. 17, 2002 I finally got in touch with the Dallas Sheriff's Dept. PIO today. Lorenzo Saavedra was bailed out by his brother Juan after bail was reduced from $50000 to $1500. The judicial officer involved was County Magistrate Lusk who is up for re-election next month. Nobody at the Sheriff's office bothered to check Saavedra's immigration status, nor has a court date been set for the preliminary hearing. To bring the rest of you up to date Carlos Suarez was killed by a hit and run driver on 09/30/02. The driver reportedly lined up on Suarez and hit him with the driver's side of the front of the vehicle. Acting on a tip Garland police arrested Lorenzo Saavedra on Tuesday 10/08/02. Saavedra confessed to the crime and took police to the murder weapon, and was released that afternoon. More on the murder of Calos Suarez as of 10/31/02 I have been trying to find out more about the judicial officer that released Lorenzo Saavedra for $1500 after Mr. Saavedra confessed to killing Carlos Suarez. The PIO for Dallas County Sheriffs said the release was signed by County Magistrate Lusk, but when I tried to find out more about Mr. Lusk, I couldn't. There is no Judge, JP, or Magistrate by that name listed on the Dallas County Courts web site, no mention of him in any on-line articles, and no Lusk in my phone book. Since I don't have a current SBC phonebook for Dallas, could someone see if there is a Lusk listed in Dallas County? Something funny is going on here, but I'm not laughing.