TRINITY – A 32-year-old Trinity man was in critical condition in a Tyler hospital early this week after being shot three times at a mobile home located off Rockdale Street in Trinity.
Jarvis “J.D.” Tyson was taken by helicopter ambulance to Tyler after being shot twice in the stomach and once in the forearm.
Police subsequently returned to the Rockdale residence on two occasions in connection with the shooting investigation and made seizures of crack cocaine on both visits. Drugs with a street value of almost $1,300 were seized.
According to Trinity Police Chief Steven Jones, the shooting was reported at about 11:18 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1.
A warrant charging Tommie “Bug” Simmons, 22, of Trinity with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon has been issued and police are currently “actively searching” for the suspect.
Jones said the shooting took place at Simmons’ residence, which is located in a “high crime area” known as Northside.
“Apparently, there has been an ongoing feud between the victim and the suspect that lead to the shooting,” Jones said. “At this time, we are not sure what started the feud.”
Sgt. Thomas Park was the investigating officer and was able to gather enough information to obtain the arrest warrant for Simmons by about 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jones said.
“Sgt. Park then put together a team of officers that included Jay Robinson, Travis Bryan and Chief Deputy Donald Fisher of the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department. They went back to the residence in an attempt to serve the warrant and arrest the suspect,” the police chief said.
Once at the mobile home, Jones said two of the officers went to the rear to cut off possible escape routes while the others approached the front door.
The officers covering the rear entrance came upon another man sitting on the back porch with what appeared to be a partial “cookie” of crack cocaine.
When cocaine is turned into “crack,” it is liquefied and then allowed to dry in cookie shapes. The cookies are then broken up into “rocks” and are sold to drug users.
Jones said when the officers were sighted, the suspect on the porch escaped by running into a thick patch of woods and underbrush.
Warrants charging Tarence Terrell “T.T.” Simmons, 26, with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor evading arrest have been issued in connection with the incident. Tarence Simmons is the brother of the shooting suspect, Tommie Simmons.
Jones said that while the suspect escaped, the officers did recover the crack cookie, which had an estimated street value of about $460.
The police chief noted that he was out of town on Friday and that Park was in charge of the department.
“I’m very proud of the way Sgt. Park handled the situation in my absence,” Jones said, adding that on Monday, his first day back on the job, he decided to make another visit to the Rockdale residence in another attempt to located Tommie Simmons.
Accompanied by Parks and Officer Millard Stains, Jones went to the residence but again did not locate the shooting suspect.
However, when they arrived at the residence at about 8 a.m., they found three men standing outside and approached them.
“We’ve had a lot of problems in that area, including shootings, so when we approached the men, I asked if they were carrying weapons,” Jones said.
When he checked one of the men, he found a vial containing 38 rocks of cocaine – about 13.6 grams – with a street value of about $760.
The man managed to break free and escape before officers could place him into custody. Charges of felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor evading arrest were pending early this week.
A second man at the scene was taken into custody when Park found two rocks of crack cocaine in his pocket. The rocks had an estimated street value of about $40.
Donald Ray Hobbs, 30, of Trinity was booked into the city jail Monday morning on a state jail felony charge of possession of a controlled substance.