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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-08 Euless Articles 7 Fort Worth area agencies team up to put armed robber behind bars Story by Teresa Gubbins • 5d An armed serial robber and convicted felon was found guilty of robbing five cash loan businesses across Fort Worth in May 2024, according to a release from Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham. On March 26, following a two-and-a-half day trial, a jury convicted Charles Lenard Brownlee of one count of Hobbs Act Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery, five counts of Hobbs Act Interference with Commerce by Robbery, five counts of Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm during a Crime of Violence, and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. According to evidence presented at trial, Brownlee went on a spree, ro bbing five Cash Store businesses in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Euless, Hurst, and Grapevine between May 9-21. To elude detection, he wore a medical mask and different baseball caps and outfits. Detectives from the Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Euless, Hurst, and Grapevine police departments reviewed hours of surveillance footage from nearby businesses and were able to ascertain that Brownlee used the same vehicle —a black Hyundai Santa Fe equipped with a blue fuzzy steering-wheel cover—to drive to and from each of the five robberies. An eyewitness saw the robber drop a Black & Mild cigarillo as he was running from one of the robberies, and also saw him get into the SUV with the blue fuzzy steering wheel covering. Law enforcement retrieved that cigarillo for DNA testing. The FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team testified that the cellular phones tied to Brownlee placed him at or near each Cash Store location when it was robbed. For two of the robberies, Brownlee enlisted the help of his girlfriend and co -conspirator, who testified that she and Brownlee conspired to rob the Fort Worth and Euless Cash Stores—driving there together in the black Hyundai SUV and with her serving as the getaway driver. She also testified that after committing these “licks” (robberies), Brownlee planned to target jewelry stores and ultimately obtained a Mini Draco -style firearm to do so, since that gun had more “muscle.” Shortly after the May 21 Grapevine robbery, Brownlee was arrested, and authorities found a bunch of evidence as well as guns. Brownlee’s cell phone showed he had conducted multiple online searches of and for Cash Stores during the time span of the robbery spree. The jury also saw videos and images from Brownlee’s and his co - conspirator’s phones showing them posing with piles of cash and Brownlee smoking a Black & Mild cigarillo like the one dropped at the Euless robbery. Brownlee faces a minimum of 35 years and up to life in federal prison. His sentencing date is set for July 11. His co-conspirator pled guilty to one count of Hobbs Act Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. She will be sentenced on April 8. FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said in a statement that teamwork makes the dream work, stating "the collaboration with multiple agencies from Tarrant County resulted in a successful guilty verdict and sends a message that we will not tolerate acts of violent crime in our communities.” Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham praised the joint eff orts of all law enforcement agencies involved in the case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, Fort Worth Resident Agency, Grand Prairie Police Department, Fort Worth Police Department, Euless Police Department, Hurst Police Department, and Grapevine Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric B. Chen and Levi Thomas prosecuted and tried the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gordon for the Northern District of Texas provided appellate support. Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD to form Student Safety Task Force after violent fight caught on camera By Steve Pickett, S.E. Jenkins Updated on: April 2, 2025 / 10:20 PM CDT / CBS Texas A violent school fight among students in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District has heightened concerns over adequate response to those fights. Video of the graphic fight between two students from HEB ISD's Harwood Junior High School shows what some have deemed an assault on school safety: Adult staffers — teachers — from the school not immediately jumping in to stop the fight. The Bedford Police Department said just after 8 a.m., a Bedford officer serving as the School Resource Officer at Harwood Junior High responded to the student fight, where a school staff member was seen separating the students. The SRO "immediately took control of one student," the report states. The school nurse arrived and treated the other student for injuries. BPD said it investigated the incident and has made its referral to the Tarrant County Juvenile Justice Center. Steven Poole represents teachers aligned with the United Educators Association, teachers contracted with HEB ISD. Poole said districts statewide have safety plans to deal with fights and other acts of violence, but asking teachers to immediately intervene is a plan few teachers fight for. "Teachers didn't go into the profession to have noses broken, arms broken," said Poole. "They're not going to be indifferent about the situation, but in a split second, they decide if they put themselves in harm's way, jumping in the middle of a fight." Wylie ISD, which has a similar-sized school system to HEB ISD, has designated adults to step in; however, teachers are not required to do so. The superintendent for HEB ISD has called the fight response "unaccep table," saying, "If the processes in place for the school district did not prevent this fight from occurring, then we must examine and be prepared to change that process that allowed these events to unfold." For HEB ISD, that means a School Safety Task Force to respond and act on fights is being established and the district is looking for community members to serve on that task force. The district said the task force, ideally comprised of 60-70 members, will "examine current processes and laws surrounding prevention and response to inappropriate student behavior." The group would then report their findings and recommendations to the HEB ISD Board of Trustees. The largest portion of the task force is expected to be parents of current HEB ISD students, the district said, as well as teachers, administrators, and other District employees; representatives from law enforcement and PTA; and a few high school students. The district asks those interested in serving on the task force to fill out a questionnaire by Friday, April 11. Made in Tarrant: Euless company courts success with basketball, racquet sports growth by Eric E. Garcia March 30, 2025 4:30 pm Editor’s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit your business here. Mark Kundysek’s $250 investment has evolved into a thriving business that has endured for decades. The Arlington resident was working for Grand Prairie-based Reed Plastics Corp. in 1989 when he learned about Sport Court, a manufacturer of residential courts. He became a part-time dealer once his kit of court samples and sales materials arrived and founded his company, NexCourt, two years later. The business initially operated out of a family home in Arlington, but was prompted to move to a brick-and-mortar location when the neighborhood was demolished around 20 years ago to make way for AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. “Thank goodness the Cowboys came along because it kind of pushed me along and said you gotta go,” Kundysek said. “You gotta go brick-and-mortar now and get your name out. We’ve been in Euless ever since.” Located at 1127 S. Airport Circle, the Euless-based business has installed thousands of sports facilities at homes and businesses throughout North Texas and Oklahoma. Kundysek spoke with the Fort Worth Report’s Eric Garcia about NexCourt’s continued growth. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Eric Garcia: With the rise in pickleball and all sorts of court sports, are you guys seeing increased business? Mark Kundysek: Both commercial and residential. You know, we’ve been promoting pickleball in DFW since 1989. When a family would buy a court, we would give them a fun pack, which included all your starter equipment. Inside that fun pack was always four to six pickleballs and a rule book, but no one ever played and we never painted pickleball lines. We painted what was called paddle tennis lines so we promoted paddle tennis (at the time). But now, every court we build has pickleball lines and we stopped painting paddle tennis. So yeah, pickleball has become a big part of our business as well as for families and organizations. Garcia: I hear badminton is becoming popular as well. Kundysek: Yeah, there’s a lot of investors out there that open up these pay-for-play sports facilities, and once or twice a year, we’ll get a group of investors that want to open up one and have, you know, pickleball, badminton, volleyball and things of that nature. So when we actually install the floors, we’re painting badminton lines as well. Garcia: Do you guys actually manufacture the courts or is that contracted out? How does that work? Kundysek: We’re a licensed dealer for Sport Court and we have been for 35 years. We take care of all of North Texas and Oklahoma. No one has a license to sell that brand except for us. Sport Court is made in America, it’s made in Salt Lake City. So when we sell a court to a family or to an organization, we place the order with Sport Court and its factory direct from Sport Court to our warehouse in Euless. Garcia: What kind of facility do you have in Euless? Kundysek: It’s about medium sized. It’s a combination office-warehouse, tilt-wall type building. We’re looking to grow. We made an offer on a building not too far from where we’re at right now, but they took it off the market. We just haven’t been able to find anything else right now. Garcia: What is your typical customer like? Kundysek: Right now, we’re about 60% residential, so homeowners, typically with children. However, we’re seeing an uptick in grandparents building these courts for their grandkids. And then the other 40% has been commercial. There’s a big demand in local communities and city groups as well as investors. And then there’s quite a few per year of (homeowner associations). We get a lot of HOAs that have existing tennis courts and they’re hiring us to convert them into pickleball. Garcia: Does anyone still play tennis these days? Kundysek: We’re still building tennis courts, but the number of pickleball courts outweighs that. Unless it’s commercial, tennis courts (for) residential is a little tougher because you’ve got to have the real estate because the tennis court is 6,000 to 7,000 square feet. It’s still there, it’s just not growing as fast as pickleball. Garcia: How much of your business is pickleball-related these days? Kundysek: Strictly pickleball and not other sports, I would say 30%. When we build a backyard court for a family, the way we design it is there’s up to 15 games you can play right in your own backyard and pickleball is one of them. But there’s also basketball, volleyball, badminton, paddle tennis, roller hockey, shuffleboard. … Pickleball cam e along and really blossomed like it has. Garcia: Does the rise of pickleball and badminton over tennis surprise you? Kundysek: I think pickleball has. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and I’ve seen other sports come and go. We had a sport back in the ’90s called roller hockey and there was a professional league called RHI — Roller Hockey International — and I think we installed at least five roller hockey rinks in North Texas, but over time that kind of faded away. And then the next sport that came along was called futsal, which is a form of soccer and it’s still active, but it’s not gaining the traction it had when it first came about. We teamed up with Donnie Nelson (former general manager) of the Dallas Mavericks and he started the PFL — Professional Football League — and we helped him do some promotions to try to build the game, but futsal has slightly gone away. And then when pickleball came through — we don’t think it’s going anywhere. We think it’s here to stay and it’s only gonna grow. We think you’ll see it in your high schools, your colleges and for some odd reason, there’s a lot of people wondering why it was not in the Olympics coming up in L.A. (in the summer of 2028). But it’ll probably make it there the next time. Garcia: What is the cost for a typical sort of court that you build? Kundysek: Well, we’re a full turnkey construction company. When we go into a backyard or a commercial site, we shoot grade, we determine the slope of pour concrete. We offer the lights, the fencing, the hoops and eve rything. Typically, for a pickleball court with a hoop and a light, things of that nature, you’re in the $35,000 to $45,000 range and that’s like I said turnkey. When we’re done, you can go out and start playing. Garcia: Are you finding more business-related or city-related projects? Kundysek: If you go back six to seven years, we were at 80% residential and 20% commercial, but now we’ve switched to 60% residential and 40% commercial. We just completed 10 pickleball courts for the city of Lantana, which is just north of the Flower Mound area. And we’re constantly being involved with the design (and) build of new facilities coming up. Garcia: Are courts customizable? Kundysek: They’re customizable. Typically, you’ll find some blues. You’ll find a couple of different shades of green. Those are probably your most popular. Garcia: Are you finding most of your customers are spread out throughout the metroplex? Kundysek: It’s truly all over. We also have the state of Oklahoma. We’ve been very busy there lately. We were in The Colony at Scheels Sporting Goods this past weekend and we are a partner of Scheels and we’ve been a partner of the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Mavericks Foundation for 25 years. Garcia: That’s a pretty big area so that must keep you guys busy with all the travel that involves. Kundysek: It does. I know our installers in our busy season get quite a bit of overtime because when they go to Oklahoma, depending on the size of the project, nine times out of 10, they’re going to be spending the night and working to finish it up. Garcia: How many employees does your company have? Kundysek: We’re at around 12. And if you had (to add up) all the experience in our company right now, we’re up to about 150 years of experience. Garcia: Euless is very central to the whole metroplex. Do you find that helps in your business since you’re driving all over the place? Kundysek: We are truly centrally located and it just helps better with logistics and minimizing the amount of time you’re on the road. Garcia: With your customer base, do you find that keeps growing with the popularity of all these court sports? Kundysek: Once pickleball started exploding, we went from three or four competitors to at least 12 to 15. … We have a lot of newbies in town right now. But we just kind of focus on our core values, our strengths, which is reliability and trust as well as our experience in court building and we stick with those. We think we’re going to be fine. Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Repo rt. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here. 30-Year Sentence for Man Caught w ith 3,000 Fentanyl Pills in Euless By Irving Weekly Staff| Published April 6, 2025 A Tarrant County jury on Friday, April 4, 2025, found 24-year-old Jacob Arriaga guilty of possession with intent to distribute Fentanyl, and he was immediately sentenced to 30 years in prison. The conviction stemmed from a traffic stop on January 31, 2024, when Euless Police pulled Arriaga over for speeding. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed a briefcase containing approximately 3,000 fentanyl tablets. The Euless Police Department and the Mid-Cities Drug Task Force collaborated on the investigation. The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Ferry, with DA Investigator Sean Wheetley contributing to the effort.