Posted on 03/21/2003 9:14:39 AM PST by Technoman
HEBBRONVILLE, Texas A pair of Ranch Rescue volunteers arrested here Wednesday are facing two felony charges each, Texas Department of Public Safety officials say.
As WorldNetDaily reported yesterday, Casey Nethercutt of California and Hank Conner of Louisiana were arrested by Texas Ranger Sgt. Doyle Holdridge and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon and two counts of unlawful restraint for allegedly pistol-whipping and detaining a Salvadoran man and his wife early Wednesday morning.
Nethercutt and Conner were part of a four-man detachment from Ranch Rescue a property-rights activist group which was led by Texas chapter head and national spokesman Jack Foote. The four-man contingent, at the request of rancher Joe Sutton, was here to prevent criminal trespassers from crossing Sutton's property.
Law enforcement and other sources say the men are being held in a detention facility in nearby Falfurrias. Officials said yesterday that bond for each man had been set at $200,000. The men were expected to be arraigned in Hebbronville this morning.
Holdridge told WorldNetDaily that the Salvadoran couple a man and woman described as being in their mid-20s, but whose names have not yet been released bore some visible physical signs of injury. After Nethercutt and Conner were apprehended, the Salvadoran couple picked the men out of a photo array, said the arresting officer.
Foote said the charges are bogus. He said he and his team "never touched" the couple, "except to pat them down and search them for weapons" after discovering them lying down in brush early Wednesday morning around 1 a.m. He says he has pictures to prove it, although they weren't available at publication time.
After Nethercutt and Conner searched the two Salvadorans, said Foote, they "were taken by van" to the front of Sutton's property, which is guarded by a heavy, steel, sliding gate that remains locked along Hwy. 16.
In the interim, said Foote, the U.S. Border Patrol which mans an inspection station about seven miles north of Sutton's ranch was notified to come pick up the Salvadorans. But after waiting around 45 minutes, Sutton grew impatient and ordered his detachment to simply open the front gate and release the Salvadoran couple, said Foote.
The Border Patrol arrived about 10 minutes later, said Foote. Sources told WND the Salvadoran couple eventually turned themselves in to Border Patrol officers, but agency officials would not confirm that.
Border Patrol spokesmen in Hebbronville and Laredo had no comment, except to say the case was being handled by Texas authorities.
It was unclear how the Salvadorans' testimony was obtained; neither Holdridge nor Jim Hogg County Sheriff's Department officials would say. Holdridge did say Wednesday, however, that the Salvadoran couple did not swear out a complaint.
"I filed charges on behalf of the state of Texas," he told WND.
In addition to legal problems, Nethercutt, who is in his mid-30s, and Conner, who was described as being nearly 60, have experienced health problems since being incarcerated. Officials say Nethercutt is suffering complications from pancreatitis, while Conner is suffering from chronic high blood pressure.
Authorities allowed volunteers to bring Conner medicine early yesterday, but refused to allow them to visit Nethercutt. Officials were also unclear as to whether Nethercutt had been taken for treatment to an area hospital or whether he was being treated on-site at a detention center health facility.
Foote says he is confident the men will be exonerated, but believes they will have to endure a lengthy court battle to prove their innocence. He also said he is having difficulty raising bail money and that he asked Sutton to help, but that he refused.
Although the current "mission" on Sutton's ranch is over, Foote pledges that the incident won't permanently damage Ranch Rescue.
"We just have to pick our battles," he said. "Right now, I just want to get these guys out of jail."
Good company you keep.
You forgot to mention that these two Americans have been accused by known criminal invaders of breaking a Texas law. The key word there is *accused*. If the military were on the border we wouldn't have this problem.
Nethercutt and Conner were part of a four-man detachment from Ranch Rescue a property-rights activist group which was led by Texas chapter head and national spokesman Jack Foote. The four-man contingent, at the request of rancher Joe Sutton, was here to prevent criminal trespassers from crossing Sutton's property.
I hate to say it but the Ranger MAY have a small point.
If the individuals that captured an illegal alien were working for ANY type of compensation (even bottle water donated by the owner), they were operating as security guards. CCW holders are expressly BARRED for security work as that industry jealously guards its position via bought and paid for legilature members.
It is right ? Hell no; this Ranger is being an a$$. Is it legal; unfortunately yes.
"If the military were on the border we wouldn't have this problem."
That is such a pantload!
Sell that to someone with the IQ of coffee grounds!
Just tonight, in the middle of the Ops camp in Kuwait, guarded by the 101st Airborne, someone snuck in and threw a grenade into the Ops center.
And you are still in here advocating your idiotic ideas.
"Americans seem to be getting fed up with the domestic invasion."
You speak for Americans now?
The borders are no more "wide open" than your mind is.
There are men and women patrolling them, and your idiotic insinuation is a complete insult to their efforts. You "cry" when they are wounded in the line of duty, and crap on their efforts with your idiotic mantra.
You don't like the results?
Fine...but don't insult them, and the collective intelligence of the people in this forum my making asinine statements like that.
This is now, and has always been a free and open society.
You want to destroy that by making us a nation where the military enforces civil law.
Not my country, not in my time.
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