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A Polk County jailer who was put on leave two weeks ago after a complaint of excessive use of force was filed has been terminated, per sources.

On Feb. 22, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of a Lieutenant at the Polk County Jail allegedly using excessive force on an inmate in the jail. PCSO administration notified the Texas Rangers and requested the Rangers’ assistance in conducting the investigation.

The jailer was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. Between the PCSO and Polk County Jail, there are currently 14 job openings listed on the Polk County Texas website.

U.S. Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft fly in formation during Cope North 21 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 9, 2021. Cope North is an annual multinational exercise designed to increase capabilities and improve interoperability among partner nations, and this year’s exercise focuses on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) operations, large force employment and combat air forces training. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Divine Cox)

TYLER COUNTY – A report from a concerned resident about an aircraft in distress led to a large-scale search effort that ultimately ended with good news.

At approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a military plane flying low to the ground, with smoke coming from an engine, according to Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford. The report came from a resident living on FM 1450, who reported what appeared to be a plane in distress, as well as smoke coming off of the ground. The sighting was reported near the county lines of Tyler and Polk.

According to Weatherford, the first responders concentrated their search efforts around and near FM 1943 west of Warren, to US 190 west of Woodville, into Polk County. Tyler County Emergency Management Coordinator Ken Jobe said there were two AMBUS units staged in the two counties: one in Warren and one in Midway on 190.

The search lasted for two hours, after the responders received information that the aircraft had made a safe landing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, La. Jobe said the report that launched the massive search was “a true mistake,” that the person who made the report saw the smoke on the ground, which was likely from a controlled burn that was taking place on the A-C reservation, and with the smoke coming from the plane, along with the fact that it was flying low, put the elements together and feared the worst.

Jobe added there were probably a total of 12 or 15 ambulances involved, as well as three fire departments. “We had a whole lot of medical care response in about an hour,” Jobe said.

Polk County OEM Coordinator Courtney Comstock and Alabama-Coushatta Tribal OEM Coordinator Willo Sylestine were also part of the efforts, Jobe said.

Along with TCSO, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Game Wardens and Forestry Service also participated.

Jobe said that although the search was the product of “a legitimate error” from a concerned resident in the area, emergency personnel will likely treat the experience as a training exercise.

There will be an after-action review on Wednesday, Jobe said, which will be done cumulatively with the Emergency Management offices that were involved.

FILE PHOTO Blue Light

SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY – A multiple-vehicle crash in San Augustine County left a young Colmesneil woman dead, another seriously injured and a community in mourning.

According to the crash report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, on Tuesday evening, at approximately 5:45 p.m., a Kia passenger car was northbound along FM 1277, and failed to yield to the right-of-way from a stop sign and headed into the path of an eastbound vehicle on state highway 103. The driver of the Kia was identified by DPS as 18-year-old Lacy Reynolds of Colmesneil, and she was pronounced dead at the scene by a San Augustine Justice of the peace. A passenger in the vehicle, Kaitlyn Byrum, 17, of Colmesneil, was transported via helicopter to a hospital in Tyler.

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the fatal crash, identified as Joe Worry, a 37-year-old San Augustine man, was transported to CHI St. Luke’s Hospital in Lufkin for treatment. There is no report on Worry’s condition, but sources indicate that Byrum has undergone tests and is showing some improvement.

While investigators with DPS were investigating the crash, a Freightliner tractor truck semi-trailer was eastbound and, according to the report, took evasive action to avoid the crash, and left the roadway, striking a parked pickup truck.

The news of Reynolds’ passing sent shockwaves through her hometown. The 18-year-old recent graduate of Colmesneil High School was involved in the community and a myriad of extracurricular activities in school. She was the 2019 CHS Homecoming Queen and represented Colmesneil as a Dogwood Princess last year.

Reynolds was attending Stephen F. Austin State University, majoring in business, where she’d recently been named to the President’s List. Her mother, Chrissy Reynolds, in a public social media post following the crash urged everyone to pray for Byrum, her cousin, and stated that although the family’s “hearts are completely shattered,” the family and friends know that Lacy “is walking those streets of gold.”

Several events that were scheduled for CISD were canceled or postponed in light of the crash. The crash remains under investigation by DPS.