AUSTIN, TEXAS -- The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced on Monday that a Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and a Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender were captured on July 13.
Briggs Clinton Lawhon, 57, was arrested last Thursday in Brazoria County and Erasmo Zapata, 45, was arrested the same day in San Patricio County.
Working off tip information, members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force, including DPS Special Agents, took Lawhon into custody without incident at a location near Angleton in Brazoria County.
As the arrest was made thanks to an tip, a reward of up to $7,500 will be paid, according to a DPS press release. Brazoria County Sheriff's Office deputies also assisted in the arrest. Lawhon, affiliated with the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, had been wanted for parole violation and theft. He had been a fugitive since December 2015.
For more information, see Lawhon's captured bulletin at: http://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/capturedDetails.aspx?id=369.
Zapata, a convicted sex offender, is now in custody after turning himself in at the San Patricio County Sheriff's Office in Sinton. He had been wanted since January of this year for his parole violation.
In 2006, Zapata was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child/sexual contact after an incident in San Patricio County involving a 12-year-old girl. He subsequently received a 15-year prison sentence.
For more information, see his captured bulletin at: http://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/capturedDetails.aspx?id=370.
So far in 2017, DPS and other agencies have arrested seventeen Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders, including eight sex offenders and nine gang members. DPS has distributed $48,000 in rewards for tips leading to these arrests.
To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the five following methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Text the letters "DPS" – followed by your tip – to 274637 (CRIMES) from your cell phone.
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip at http://www.facebook.com/texas10mostwanted by clicking the "SUBMIT A TIP" link (under the "About" section).
- Submit a tip through the DPS Mobile App. The app is currently available for iPhone users on the Apple App Store: (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/texas-dps/id902092368?mt=8) and for Android users on Google Play: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microassist.texasdps&hl=en).
All tips are anonymous – regardless of how they are submitted, and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. The current lists – with photos – can be found on the DPS website at http://www.dps.texas.gov/texas10mostwanted/.
DPS urges citizens to never attempt apprehending these fugitives, as they are considered armed and dangerous.
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