Houston Update

By ROBERT CROWE and ANITA HASSAN

The last time Oda Soileau tried to take his property back from his ex-wife, sheriff's deputies had to come out to the Lazy Acres mobile home park to stop their fighting.

"Every time I had a confrontation with her, I would lose," Soileau said Monday.

So when he decided to take back the 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis he had given Cathy Deemer, Soileau hired a wrecker driver to do the job.

But Deemer, 53, didn't hesitate to fight with a stranger either. She died Saturday night outside Baytown trying to stop the tow truck from taking her car, Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators said. She was apparently dragged a distance and sustained a serious head injury.

"We didn't get along, that's no secret," said Soileau, 60. "Who intends for something like this to happen? I didn't."

Investigators following an anonymous tip found the wrecker driver at his home about 24 hours after the incident, said Lt. John Martin. The wrecker driver, whom Martin declined to identify, initially denied any involvement, though he later acknowledged the truck was his, Martin said.

"He claims he had no idea she had been struck by the vehicle or injured at all," Martin said.

No charges have been filed against the driver and the case will likely be referred to a grand jury, Martin said.

Wrecker drivers are required to notify the Sheriff's Office before repossessing a vehicle, in case the owner tries to report the repossession as a theft, Martin said. But such advance notification isn't necessary when the owner hires a wrecker to tow his own vehicle, Martin said.

Soileau and Deemer's love-hate relationship spanned four decades and included two tries at marriage that ended in divorce, most recently in 2004. They have two grown children together.

Terri Nichols, Soileau's adopted daughter from another marriage, said Deemer was a very close friend she considered a mother figure. The women often spent time together discussing the Bible.

"She was a good, Christian woman," Nichols said.

Woman Goes For Ride

By Karla Barguiarena

It’s unlikely Gerald Mayfield will ever forget what he witnessed just a few feet from his home near Baytown Saturday night.

Mayfield witnessed a suspicious white tow truck parked near his mobile home as if it was staking out the neighborhood.

Minutes later, he heard his neighbor screaming.

“I heard her screaming no, no, just screaming at the top of her lungs and they turned the corner there I mean just as fast as can be,” Mayfield said.

It was unclear exactly how the accident happened, but that woman somehow became caught on her car or the wrecker and dragged for several yards.



The woman noticed the wrecker towing her car away from her trailer and went after it.

Harris County sheriff’s investigators say the woman suffered severe head injuries and died at Methodist San Jacinto Hospital.

They are working to determine if the wrecker driver was stealing the woman’s car or if he was repossessing it.

However, no order to relinquish the car was ever filed with the county, a requirement for repossession.

“Cruel. She didn’t deserve it. She wasn’t that type of person,” friend Karen Wolfe said.

Wolfe said the victim was one of the few friends she could count on.

As she helped investigators gather the victim’s two beloved dogs, Wolfe said she hopes the driver either turns himself in or “finds a heart.”

The latter may be the only way to learn who was behind the wheel of the truck, since no one can identify him.

“I wish I would’ve looked at some markers on the vehicle, but I didn’t. I didn’t notice any,” Mayfield said.

Authorities were withholding the woman’s identity pending notification of family members.

No description of the wrecker or the suspect has been released.

FIND THIS GUY!

Springfield, MO.

The Douglas County Sheriff?s Department is asking for helping locating a Norwood man charged in a shooting incident.

Richard C. Hight, 55, has been charged with second degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action in an incident where he fired a gun three times at repossession agents in the early morning hours of May 15 outside his home in rural Douglas County, the sheriff?s department said.

There is an outstanding warrant for Hight on these charges.

Anyone who knows Hight?s whereabouts is asked to call the Douglas County Sheriff?s Department at 683-1020.

Recovery Agents Get Award

Repo Men Get Life-Saving Award For Saving Woman
Pair Honored In Aurora

(AP) AURORA, Colo. It's not often that the repo man is called a hero.

But brothers Heath and Kyle Main, who make their living repossessing vehicles, were honored by police Monday for using their towing equipment to lift a 3,500-pound car that had flipped and pinned a woman.

The Mains were on their way to tow the first of nine vehicles the night of May 14 when they came upon the wreck, which had pinned Arleen Meyer, crushed her pelvis and broke her left arm.

Several other people, including former Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers, had stopped but were unable to move the car.

It took the Main brothers only seconds.

"You've got to be fast when you hook up a repo," Heath Main said.

The brothers left before anyone knew who they were, and they came forward only after public appeals by police.

Police gave the brothers Outstanding Citizen Life-Saving Awards. Meyer was still hospitalized and could not attend the ceremony, but her husband, Duane, said she wants to meet the Mains when she is able.