CBS News. See it now anytime.
She was attacked. She was robbed.
She was raped and now she just wants
to go back to her home in Kansas.
Tonight she tells action
as Melissa Vega her story.
Her name is Kelly.
She doesn't want to show her face,
but she does want to tell her story.
It's a three day vacation
that turned into a nightmare.
Kelly arrived in Corpus Christi
back on June 11th with her 26 year
old daughter and her daughter's friend.
Her daughter's friend was
the one who drove them here and
was their only ride back to Kansas.
She drove down here and met
up with her ex husband,
unfortunately, and decided
not to leave. Though Kelly was stranded,
she was desperate to throw her
father's ashes into the water on June 12th.
That was the day her father died
10 years ago and was also her birthday.
Kelly says she found the closest
area of water she could right here.
Off the 10,000 block of SPID
over in Flower Bluff,
Kelly says she walked up to the water
and sat on a towel with her father's
ashes in hand saying goodbye and I
love you and this doesn't mean I don't
love you and and it's time to let
go and praying as she was saying
goodbye to her father,
Kelly says she was attacked from
behind and raped in broad daylight.
I was laying on a towel and after the
rape he grabbed the towel out from
under me and wiped himself off.
And when he did,
he just flung everywhere and
Kelly says after that brutal attack,
she managed to gain enough strength to
gather what was left of her father's
ashes and put them in the water.
Of course, ashes fly.
But he's in the water.
He's there fun. Kelly's attacker
also made off with her purse that
she had over $850 in, but I had
my savings in my travel money and my
rent money and my bill money in my purse.
And he took my purse and Kelly
says she has no money,
no ID and desperately wants to go home.
And we're just trying to get home.
We've got to get home.
Kelly says she's called a number
of different agencies around town,
but no one will help her.
Action 10 news called the Corpus
Christi Police Department and they
told us they will give Kelly and her
parents to go back to Kansas.
And while it looks like Kelly
may be on her way home,
she doesn't understand why
this had to happen.
It being being raped on trying
to let go of my dad's ashes.
My God, I mean.
Well, kind of a monster would
do something like that.
Melissa Vega Action 10 news.
Well, tonight CCPD is still
looking for the man suspected
of sexually assaulting Kelly.
Now here is what he looks like.
Police say he's a white man
between 20 to 25 years old.
He has dyed black hair with blonde
roots and he has tattoos on his
face and on his neck if you
recognize this man called Crime
Stoppers it's 888TIPS the verdict
in the United States versus Sitko
trial is now in the hands of the
jury and after deliberating briefly
late this afternoon they've
recessed until Monday.
Action 10's Andy Lascano is just
back from the federal courthouse.
Gended Sitko's Corpus Christi
refinery knowingly operate two of
its tanks without the required
permission to be used for
purposes of the defense.
Those are among the charges
against them and did they
knowingly expose more than six
megagrams of benzene into the
atmosphere?
Benzing that created such an odor
folks living in the nearby
neighborhoods were affected.
Some even testifying it woke them
from a deep sleep in the middle
of the night.
Prosecutor Howard Stewart said
they did that Sitko did in his
closing argument today.
The defense argued it did not.
The jury will decide based on
the evidence presented.
Sitko faces probation and a fine
of $1.5 million if charged.
The jury now will make the decision
and decide the verdict based on
the evidence presented live in
the News Center.
Andy Lascano Action 10 News.
It seems every major road on the
city's South Side is under
construction.
Crews pulled out jackhammers today
to tear up and repay Williams and
Corona between Everhart and Staples,
but the construction chaos
doesn't stop there.
Crews are working on Everhart,
McArdle and Wooldridge as they
improve road problems.
Another issue is growing driver frustration.
I think they should have planned this out.
Will do this side first and get this done.
Then we'll work on that side and
then we'll work on over there and I
just live off Williams so it's really
hard you know to pick a street to go through.
And so when will the construction
chaos come to an end?
Well, it depends on the project.
Wooldridge between airline and Rodfield
will not be completely finished
until October 2008.
McArdle, Corona and Williams will
be finished in about 10 weeks.
And it'll take about two months to
finish the construction on Everhart.
City officials are hoping to have
10 red light cameras installed by July 22nd,
but crews are running behind schedule.
Action 10's Ben Gegenheimer joins
us now with the details.
Thanks Jen.
City officials plan to have four
red light cameras up by today's date,
but they only have one in operation so far.
However, police have already seen results
from the camera at the intersection
of Everhart and Holly since it
was installed two months ago.
Nearly 350 drivers have received
violation notices in the mail for
running that light a $75 fine.
Police Captain Jay Vestley says
that there is no doubt the red light
cameras will have an effect on
people's driving habits.
If Corpus Christi is the same as other cities,
what we're going to see is remarkable
decrease in red light running
throughout the entire city,
not just that where the red light
cameras are, but any place that
there's a stoplight because most
people get in the habit of stopping
when there's a lot of lights about
to turn red as opposed to trying to run it.
Now, city officials say that the first
four cameras will be up by next weekend,
and that everything seems to be on
track to have all 10 cameras up and
running by July 22nd deadline in the
studio Ben Gegenheimer Action 10 News.
Well, starting today,
Corpus Christi police officers are
using a new weapon in their fight
against crime.
50 police officers are now carrying
taser guns. The guns release a
paralyzing 50,000 volts shock,
and as you just saw,
officers themselves had to be
tased before they could be
cleared to carry the guns.
Also joining the rank of CCPD's new
crime fighting tools is their newest
weapon against tagging the graffiti
truck was unveiled earlier this week,
and it hit the streets today.
Power blasting graffiti at Chiquito Park.
Now this truck is equipped with 100 feet
of
power.
Power washers to blast away the mess.
Contrary to what some former members
are saying, the Corpus Christi Chamber
of Commerce says it is not in
disagreement over the proposed
Crosstown Commons outdoor mall near
the Crosstown Expressway in Holly.
Now the chambers now the chamber CEO
says he has the authority to speak
without prior consent of the board members.
I hear some of what he said today.
I am authorized by contract to speak
on behalf of the board of directors
when they're not in session on any
issue and they have full faith and
confidence in what I say and do.
Obviously,
as an organization we don't want to see
is cannibalization relocations from
from from one existing business to another.
Chamber CEO Terry Carter went on to say
the Chamber of Commerce supports equal
opportunities for new and existing businesses.
That bike is a crowd stopper.
Hooks fans lined up for a look Thursday
evening and as we've been telling you
all week it could be yours through the
one sweet ride campaign benefiting the
American Diabetes Association raffle
tickets or $10 and act fast because
they are selling faster than you can say.
ADA out.
You can get the tickets here at the
Action 10 studio or at Hooks home games
and every dime of that is going to the
local chapter of the American Diabetes
Associations will have hogs aren't your
style. Maybe this is today is international.
Take your pet to work day.
Our David Mazza has his four legged friend,
Miss Willow, to help him out
with the weather today.
Dave, that's right.
I have Miss Willow with me.
I brought her to work today celebrating
God National Pet Day or take your pet to
work day and it's to help boost morale
around the station.
I know all my coworkers have enjoyed
having Willow here, but I'll tell you what.
It has been quite a workout for me.
Chasing around all over the studio
and still doing weather in the
meantime and speaking of weather,
we do have some heavy rains down
towards the South of us,
which could produce flooding
across parts of the coastal bend.
I'll run down the complete forecast
coming up in just a minute.
Hi thanks Dave.
Well coming up, death is no laughing matter,
but one death row inmate is making
light of his own will explain straight ahead.
Also ahead, if you're scratching your
head as to why your pets are scratching
their paws off, stay tuned and see why
fleas are worse than they've been in a
few years.
You're watching KZ TV Action 10 news at 6.
With Jennifer Lita meteorologist David
Maza and Roland Rodriguez.
Hi folks, Brian Williford here
with our Williford Chevrolet.
Summer is. His days are numbered,
but despite the grim future,
one Texas death row inmate plans
to go out with a laugh in the coming week.
Patrick Knight will be executed for a
double murder he committed 16 years ago,
and for his final words,
he'll tell a joke.
He launched an Internet joke contest
from his prison cell and will choose
from hundreds of suggestions.
Now victims rights advocates say it is
insensitive to the victims families,
while Knight has this to say.
I don't think it is.
I'm not. It has nothing to do with him.
I know that sounds cold right there,
but it has nothing to do with the
victims didn't get to say goodbye.
Tell a joke laugh.
There is nothing the Texas Department
of Justice can do about it.
A spokesperson says the only thing
that death row inmates are prohibited
from doing is using obscenities.
When you add rainy days with the Texas
heat you get a perfect recipe for fleas.
According to a Houston veterinarian,
Texas fleas are stronger and
busier than they've been in years.
The population is on the rise and
they're starting to show some resistance
to traditional flea treatments
because of the strong season vets
recommend taking your pets into their
offices so that the pets can run flea free.
Good news at the pub.
Gasoline prices continue to ease.
According to AAA Texas,
the state average price of gas
dropped 4 cents since last week.
The state average for regular unleaded
is $2.91 a gallon,
but here in Corpus Christi drivers
are filling up for around $2.71 a gallon.
Industry experts expect prices to sizzle
in late July and August when
hurricane threats come.
Well, stay with us.
Chief meteorologist David Mazza and
Miss Willow will have your complete
weather forecast when Action 10
News at 6 returns.
Now your local.
In the morning you want weather
information for the day, right?
Now on Action 10 News Daybreak,
get your weather forecast instantly
with instant weather.
Right here every morning for
the entire newscast.
No more waiting for weather info.
It's instant weather brought
to you by Bolero Energy Builders
Association, Corpus Christi,
Aaron 1st Community Bank are
celebrating the 2007 parade of homes
Saturday, June 23rd through Sunday,
July 1st during the newest intriguing
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Get your parade map at any first
Community Bank location or champion Toyota.
First Community Bank is a proud
supporter of the Builders Association.
Thanks to our sponsors.
Champion Toyota American Bank,
the Grass Company, Time Warner Cable,
and these other funds.
This portion of the news is brought to you
by Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries program.
And now your action Doppler 10
forecast with chief meteorologist David Mazza.
And welcome back looking at our Doppler
10 storm tracker live this evening.
A lot of showers and thunderstorms,
especially down towards the southwest
Jim Hogg County, seeing a good deal of
rain and some of these tops extremely
cold just looking at last hour cloud
tops 80 degrees below zero Celsius
with some of these so very cold,
very tall clouds out there and you
can see these heavier rainfall
returns with those red and dark
maroon colors now looking at our
storm tracker live rainfall estimates
from the past 12 hours so when the
sun's been out look at some of these
areas south of fell or south of
Hebronville that is we're looking at
nearly 7 inch rainfall estimate totals
out there just in the last 12 hours
south of fell furious we're looking
at numbers at about near 3 inches.
And also up near parts of Jim or
Jim Wells County that is we're seeing
rainfall totals near 2 inches also.
So we've seen a lot of rain
throughout the day today and we
also saw some interesting weather
out at the coast.
We've got a picture of a water
spout taken by Julie sod rock.
I hope I got her last name correct.
Thank you very much for sending us
these beautiful pictures of a water
spout off Port Aransas at about
2 o'clock this afternoon.
Let me move out of the way this
afternoon to show you you can see
this rope like structure going all
the way out towards the water and a
lot of times if you are near the
water during the water spot you can
see a lot of things shooting out of
the water including water and
occasionally some fish of something
interesting to show you this afternoon.
Julie, thank you very much for that picture.
Now as far as the water vapor imagery goes,
this shows how much water is in the air.
These darker spots,
these black spots in the purple or the
kind of orange colored spots,
I guess you call them are the dry
air in the white and the green are
the dry air in the orange and the
green are the dry air in the green.
So we have a jet stream.
It's kind of zonal across the country,
except for that little twist that
followed my hand down there,
but we are continuing to see a little
ripple in the jet right through North
Texas and we do have a wave that's
going right through the center of the
state down here in the South Texas.
And you can see that wave erupting
here across South and the South
Texas and the coastal bend this evening.
That's where all that rainfalls came through.
We've got a ton of rain to work with,
so it looks like over the next couple of hours.
The thunderstorms go, but the rainfall
will continue for most of the night,
especially out towards the West.
Now we do have a couple of flash
flood watches in effect,
one for Duval County and a flash flood
warning in effect for Jim Hogg County
until 7 o'clock this evening.
You can see temperatures have been
cool throughout most of the day today
because of that rain cool there and
very cloudy skies and it looks like it
will be sticking around as we head
towards the weekend. So Supercast live.
Here's that rainfall out towards the West.
The Bulls Eye still staying over
Webb County by tomorrow morning,
but you can see a little flank
of rain into the coastal sections
that will continue to move
northward tomorrow afternoon.
So make your outdoor plans indoors
for tomorrow as we're going to see
a pretty good chance of rain,
but it will fade out tomorrow night.
And Sunday looking like the better
of the two weekend days as we should
see some more sun with just a
slight chance of rain.
So this evening,
if you are going to be out and about,
bring the umbrella 78 where we're dropping
off 275 for the overnight low thunderstorm.
Still possible and they'll pick up again
tomorrow afternoon with a high right
around 88 degrees.
I think that'll come right around lunchtime.
We'll see some rain over the next seven days.
Lots of chances of rain and afternoon highs.
Check this out the next seven days.
Not a single 90 on the map.
They'll all stay in the upper 80s.
Well, it was a wild night at
Whataburger Field last night.
You're telling me check this out.
Both teams combined for 25 hits and 17 runs.
That crazy. That's pretty good.
That's a lot of offense.
Anyway, we'll talk more about
the hooks next in sports.
This portion of the news is brought to you
by your Corpus Christi and Alice Family
Eye centers. This is your action 10 news
sports report with Roland Rodriguez.
Hello South Texas. Hope everything is going
well last night. The Corpus Christi hooks
now swinging the bats against Frisco,
racking up 12 hits to go with their 11 runs.
Hooks now two and one in the second half
of the season with their 11 six win over
the Rough Riders. Both teams will go at
it again tonight starting at 705.
You know we can get everything
rolling at the same time.
You know we had a little problem early
on with the with the pitching,
especially bullpen,
but they seem to be coming around a little
bit. We've always felt that we were going
to swing the bats and catch the ball so
long with the hitting. I think we'll be fine.
Yeah, there was a there was a little
adjustment period and we we got some new
guys in that have done a good job and
there was an adjustment period where we
had to get used to double A. We had a
lot of first year double A guys and
they've done a good job of adjusting
and learn to play this level.
Alright, the 18 and 20 Coastal Bend
Aviators on the road tonight,
starting a seven game road trip.
Three in Pensacola and the next
four in Fort Worth.
Aviators sitting four games at the
first place behind 22 and 16 El Paso
stand on the baseball time and Thursday.
North Carolina beat Rice 7 four to
advance to the Collins World Series
Championship round and for the second
straight year the top ranked Tar Heels
will go up against Oregon State.
The defending champs game one of this
college World Series Championship
game Saturday night. You know what?
I think it's time to talk a
little indoor football.
Why don't we coming out for the
Corpus Christi Hammerheads?
They'll be in action Saturday at
the American Bank Center.
The one in nine sharks still looking
for their second win of the season.
And by the way they you know they've
been playing pretty good football as of late,
so I'm going out on the limb and
I'm going to tell you they will
beat Laredo Saturday night.
Laredo is one in nine on the season.
Just in case you're wondering the
8 and one Corpus Christi Hammerheads
will be looking for their 7th straight
victory when they play Louisiana.
At the same time we feel like we're
more talented and we feel like
we're better coached. We you know.
To us we are the elite of the league
and we have to come out and prove that.
You know we got beaten championship
game last year and really felt
like we were the better team and
we gotta come in this year and
prove that and yeah we do.
Louisiana is a great team.
It seems that whenever we play them,
whoever has the ball last ends up
winning the game so we know
they're a very athletic team.
We're going to have to, of course,
not have a shootout.
We're going to have to make it not.
We're going to make sure it's not a shootout.
We're going to make sure offense
gets down and scores and defensively.
We've got to make them take as long
as possible to get in the end zone,
but we know they're definitely
going to get in there so we just
have to jump back and just stay
at him, stay at their throats.
Good luck fellas and that is.
Hi folks, Brian Williford here again
with Al Wilford Chevrolet.
And guys, we do have some rain
in our forecast tonight and
unfortunately as we head towards
tomorrow also the weekend looking
a little bit wet, but Sunday
looking like the better day.
Alright, well you can hardly see her,
but she's still up there.
Miss Willow made her debut today.
Thanks so much for making
us a part of your day.
We'll see you back here for
more news tonight at 10.
You know our only Jeep Wrangler can go.