HOUSTON (AP) — An ex-Army pay agent from Texas has been accused of theft and fraud related to military invoices he processed in Iraq.
Prosecutors in Houston on Thursday announced the indictment of Abuzuike O. Ukabam of Humble. Investigators allege the former Army captain, who was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles, stole about $110,000.
A nine-count indictment returned July 30 and unsealed Wednesday charges Ukabam with wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering and making false statements.
Ukabam in 2006 deployed to Iraq and processed invoices from Iraqi contractors working for the U.S. military.
Prosecutors accuse Ukabam of changing some totals, paying the contractor the original amount and keeping the difference.
Ukabam is expected to be returned to Houston.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston woman has been charged with killing her spouse during an argument that included her daughter.
Police say 46-year-old Dedra Jackson was being held Monday on a murder charge. The case involves Saturday night's fatal shooting of 44-year-old Nathaniel Jackson at a residence.
Police say Dedra Jackson had a confrontation with her 22-year-old daughter and her husband was shot when he tried to intervene. Nathaniel Jackson was dead at the scene.
Bond has been set at $75,000 for Dedra Jackson. Online jail records did not list an attorney for the woman, who was booked on Sunday.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — A 73-year-old Houston woman has been hailed for scaring off a suspected burglar by stabbing him with a barbecue fork.
Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said Monday that nobody has been arrested.
Margaret Jackson says she stopped by her daughter's house Friday afternoon when she saw a young man trying to break in through the back door.
Jackson, who was alone in the home, says she looked around the kitchen for some utensils to use as weapons. She grabbed a barbecue fork and scissors.
Jackson says she flung open the door and struggled with the youth. Jackson says she stabbed the suspect in the neck with the fork as he ran away. She wasn't injured.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police say an infant has died after being shot while in a car with her mother and some of the woman's friends.
Police on Monday did not immediately release the name of the victim or further details on whether anyone has been arrested. Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the gunfire.
The shooting happened early Sunday in a Houston neighborhood as two men on foot opened fire on a car.
Sgt. Peg Jewell says an SUV then drove by and the occupants fired more bullets into the car. The wounded baby was transported to a Houston hospital, where she died. Nobody else was hurt.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
MARLIN, Texas (AP) — Investigators in Central Texas say a man's body has been found near where a missing Texas A&M student's vehicle was located.
Police in Marlin says search dogs located the body Monday night in a wooded area. No identity has been released. Police Chief Darrell Allen says an autopsy has been ordered.
Relatives say Anthony Joseph Carey of Houston left home last Thursday, bound for school in College Station. Allen says a car belonging to the 22-year-old senior was found Saturday along a road in Marlin, about 25 miles southeast of Waco.
Investigators have not said whether foul play is suspected in the death.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police say a dispute over one dancer bumping another led to gunfire that left three men dead and three women wounded.
Police on Tuesday appealed to the public to provide information in the search for the gunman.
Police say the incident began early Sunday inside Club ICU then moved to the parking lot where a fight broke out.
Police spokesman John Cannon says the initial dispute was over one woman bumping the other while both were on the dance floor.
Police identified the three men who died as 38-year-old Gilbert Kibble, 22-year-old Curtis Stewart and 26-year-old Felipe Castillo. Names of the three women who were wounded haven't been released.
Cannon says police are trying to determine whether the two women who originally argued were among the three injured females.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Searchers have discovered a woman's body in a wooded area of Houston.
Police are trying to identify the body located Monday night by volunteers with Texas EquuSearch.
Relatives of 48-year-old Norma Jean Scott had asked group members to help look for the woman, who's been missing since Thursday.
Frank Black with Texas Equusearch says volunteers are not sure if the body they found is the missing woman.
Officer J.C. Padilla says police were contacted after the body was located in an overgrown vacant lot.
An autopsy has been ordered.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police have shot and killed a man who allegedly fired into his estranged wife's office then tried to enter the building.
Internal affairs officers are reviewing Tuesday afternoon's shooting. Police say the officer who fatally shot the suspect has been with the force since 1984.
Police say a 911 call from the woman, who had a restraining order against her husband, summoned officers.
Investigators say the suspect, who briefly ducked into a waiting taxi he apparently took to the building, refused to put down a pistol and threatened to harm his spouse. An officer shot the husband before the suspect could enter the woman's building.
Houston police believe the gunman, whose name was not immediately released, was also responsible for a shot fired into the building early Tuesday.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Union officials say a tentative four-year agreement has been reached with hundreds of striking janitors in Houston.
Authorities say the janitors will vote Saturday on the deal that would increase wages 12 percent, to about $9.35 an hour.
Nearly 500 janitors went on strike July 10 for better wages and increased benefits. Their contract expired May 31.
The agreement was announced in a statement Wednesday night on behalf of the unions, including the Service Employees International Union Local 1.
President Tom Balanoff says the agreement with janitors brings hope to security officers, airport workers and others trapped by what he calls "poverty wages."
The SEIU represents about 3,200 hundred Houston-area janitors.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston coach Gary Kubiak found "some ugly" when he broke down a replay of the Texans' victory to open the preseason.
The Texans beat Carolina 26-13 behind a dominant defensive effort Saturday night. The Panthers mustered only 137 yards and failed to gain a first down in the second half.
Trindon Holliday returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, rookie Randy Bullock kicked a long field goal and Houston's defense made eight sacks.
But the overall performance was far from flawless — Matt Schaub threw an interception, Arian Foster fumbled, and the Texans sputtered in the red zone and were called for eight penalties.
"There was some ugly," Kubiak said Sunday. "The thing I worry about in the first game, I tell the guys all the time, 'Hey, you're going to make mistakes, let 'em go. But I want to see you play hard.' We gave great effort in the game, so I'm very pleased with that. There are a lot of things for us to move forward on."
Kubiak said nose tackle Shaun Cody may miss some time with a "disk issue" in his back. Cody received an epidural injection on Sunday, and he'll be evaluated again on Monday.
But Kubiak expects receiver Andre Johnson and linebacker Brian Cushing to play when the Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) face San Francisco (No. 4) in their second preseason game on Saturday. Johnson strained his groin in the first week of training camp, and Cushing missed time last week with an illness.
Schaub and Foster only played the first quarter in Charlotte. Foster fumbled after gaining 11 yards on his only carry and Schaub was picked off on his sixth throw in his first game since fracturing his right foot last November.
Foster lost three fumbles in 2011, about the only stain on his second straight Pro Bowl season. Kubiak says Foster will get more carries against the 49ers.
"Arian knows he's got to hang onto the ball," Kubiak said. "I don't have to tell him that. I do tell him on a regular basis, but he knows that."
Inconsistent execution in the red zone, another issue last season, also emerged again.
The Texans ranked 23rd in red-zone efficiency in 2011, finishing with touchdowns on only 29 of 62 drives inside the opponents' 20-yard line (47 percent). Two Houston drives stalled inside the Carolina 5 in the first half, setting up field goals on Saturday, and the Panthers stopped another drive at the 9-yard line in the third quarter.
"I thought we had some opportunities to make some plays," Kubiak said. "The field gets smaller down there, you've got to make the little plays. It's something we've been working really hard on in practice. The key to us in the red zone is running the ball well. Overall, if we play better in the red zone, there are a lot more points."
Houston final broke through in the red zone when reserve running back Jonathan Grimes scored from the 3 in the third quarter. Grimes, a 5-foot-10, 209-pound undrafted rookie, rushed nine times for 37 yards.
The 5-5, 170-pound Holliday was another bright spot, returning six kicks (three kickoffs and three punts) for 182 total yards. Holliday spent the 2010 season on injured reserve with a left thumb injury, then played most of last season on the practice squad.
"It's a big step for him in the right direction," Kubiak said. "The biggest thing we're going to do is give him a chance to be our all-time returner."
A sixth-round draft pick out of LSU in 2010, Kubiak would like to see Holliday prove he could handle punt and kickoff returns full-time. Kubiak will keep Holliday out of the regular offense for now because he wants to watch rookies DeVier Posey and Keshawn Martin and others compete for the lower receiving spots on the depth chart.
Kubiak will also have to choose between kickers Shayne Graham and Bullock and both went 2 for 2 on field-goal tries in Carolina. Graham, a Pro Bowler in 2005, was good from 20 and 37 yards. Bullock, a rookie fifth-round draft pick, connected from 21 and 52 yards. Kubiak sent Bullock out to try the long one midway through the fourth quarter.
"I don't know that I'm kicking that field goal in a regular-season game, right there in that situation," Kubiak said. "But I wanted to give him a chance. He put it in the net from 52 or 53, so he's been very impressive. But Shayne's having a good camp, too, so it's going to be a very good competition."
Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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