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Austin police announced the arrest of David Olmos, who confessed to a series of 10 armed robberies, on Friday. (Austin Police Department)
The Austin Police Department announced the arrest of David Olmos, 34, who confessed to a series of 10 armed robberies around Austin, on Friday.
Olmos robbed a series of convenience stores, a Cricket Wireless store and two individuals between May 15 and Tuesday, threatening his victims with a silver handgun and fleeing the scenes in a silver Chevrolet Silverado.
During the eighth robbery, which took place on North Lamar Boulevard last weekend, Olmos shot at the victim, who started chasing him after being robbed.
The final robbery occurred earlier this week, when Olmos carried out a carjacking at 4918 Burleson Road in Southeast Austin. The stolen vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracker, which allowed APD to track down Olmos, who was arrested on the scene and found in possession of the stolen vehicle keys, cocaine, methamphetamine and a silver handgun.
APD recently arrested Juan Sebastian Salto-Garcia, 18, in relation to two armed carjackings in the Westlake area. The department did not immediately respond to questions about whether Olmos may be connected to those events.
Olmos' arrest arrives amid various efforts to address gun crime in Austin.
Save Austin Now, the nonprofit that successfully campaigned to reinstate a ban on public camping, launched a new petition effort on Wednesday to address concerns about public safety, including rising violent crime rates, police staffing levels and diversity within the force.
APD launched a gun crime prevention program in partnership with the Travis County District Attorney's Office last month in light of rising violent crime rates, and U.S. Attorney Gregg Sofer announced Operation Undaunted, a new federal program designed to address violent crime in Austin, in December.
Our @Austin_Police officers continue to encounter and remove illegal guns from our city streets every night. I'm proud of their efforts to keep our community safe, as we work on driving our gun violence rate down! #OneAustinSaferTogetherpic.twitter.com/Qoy1TipR4Z
— Joseph Chacon 👮🏻♂️ (@Chief_Chacon) May 28, 2021
There were 72 robberies in Austin last month, down 18% from April 2020. Although some violent crimes, including murder, have seen significant year-over-year increases, crime is actually down slightly year-over-year, according to the chief's latest monthly report.
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Popular
(Tesla)
Giga Texas, the massive Tesla factory in southeast Travis County is getting even bigger.
The company filed with the city of Austin this week to expand its headquarters with a new 500,000-square-foot building. The permit application notes “GA 2 and 3 expansion,” which indicates the company will make two general assembly lines in the building.
More details about the plans for the building are unclear. The gigafactory has been focused on Model Y production since it opened in April, but the company is also aiming for Cybertruck production to kick off in mid-2023.
While there is room for expansion on the 3.3 square miles of land Tesla has, this move comes after CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the state of the economy and its impact on Tesla.
In a May interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Musk said the gigafactories in Berlin and Austin are “gigantic money furnaces” and said Giga Texas had manufactured only a small number of cars.
And in June, Musk sent a company wide email saying Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10%, then later tweeted salaried headcount should be fairly flat.
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(Dullnig Ranch Sales)
You’ll have to leave city limits if you’re looking for a proper ranch property like 417 Acres Shipp Lake Ranch, aptly named for its acreage. The property comes built out with three farmhouses, one of which has bedrooms and two bathrooms and two of which have two bedrooms and one bathroom. The nearly untouched property, which surrounds the 100-plus-acre Shipp Lake, has remained in the same family since the early 1900s and gives you picturesque views for the making of a dream home. In fact, the previous owners ran a water ski camp on the property.
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Got dreams of becoming a real Texas rancher? 7814 Brown Cemetery Rd. is the perfect place to start with 40 rolling acres of land and its very own swimming hole. Just east of Austin in Manor, the modest-on-the-outside home clocks at 4,412 square feet with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, but there are an additional two living structures on the property. The horseshoe-shaped pond sits in the heart of the property and comes equipped with a water slide, diving board and a fishing dock.