Paris police officers responded Sunday to the 3500 block of Lamar Avenue in response to a complaint that a man was observed concealing several items of clothing underneath a hoodie and leaving the store without paying for them.
Officer Curtis Garrett, public information officer for the Paris Police Department, said officers located the suspect in a vehicle on the parking lot.
Through the investigation, Garrett said, it was determined that more than $600 was taken by the male and two female companions.
Arrested and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity were Mario Lereko Blackwell, 24; Teresa Yvette Fller, 37; and Mari Yvette King, 18, all of Paris.
Garrett said Blackwell has an outstanding warrant out of McCurtain County, Okla., for failing to comply as a sex offender.
Police responded to 104 calls for service on Friday, 77 calls on Saturday and 86 calls on Sunday.
Officials said an ambulance was struck on Sunday by a vehicle that was backing from a driveway while the ambulance was parked in the 1400 block of West Austin Street. Minor damage was reported to both vehicles.
In addition to the three just mentioned, arrests were made over the weekend on these charges:
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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