Austin, TX

Felony charges against Austin homeless man rejected by DA; residents outraged

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Felony charges against Austin homeless man rejected by DA; residents outraged

Charges against homeless man rejected by DA

A homeless man is back in a Southwest Austin neighborhood iafter the District Attorney rejected felony charges against him. FOX 7 Austin’s Meredith Aldis has more in this week’s CrimeWatch.

AUSTIN, Texas – A homeless man is back in a Southwest Austin neighborhood intimidating residents, cutting down trees, and screaming at all hours of the day after the District Attorney rejected felony charges against him.

Residents are desperate for change and said they want their neighborhood back to some sort of normalcy.

“One morning there is a guy with an ax just screaming violent profanity and chopping on trees and I called the police,” Westgate neighborhood resident James Murff said.

Murff said that was about five years ago and his first encounter with Rami Zawaideh in the Westgate neighborhood. Since then, Zawaideh has been wreaking havoc.

Residents hope for more action on homeless man with chainsaw

Residents in the Westgate and Stassney Lane area have been reporting sightings of a homeless man chopping down trees with a chainsaw in a nearby greenbelt.

FOX 7 Austin first started reporting on Zawaideh in November when residents said he was cutting down trees in the Greenbelt and screaming at all hours of the night.

“It’s really odd times and just chopping, and a saw going off, and then you’ll wake up or come back home and then there’s just more of these weird monolithic structures and just stacks of what I believe to be Greenbelt trees,” Westgate neighborhood resident JJ Pepper said.

In January, residents said Zawaideh took a sledgehammer to city property.

“This level of escalation with the boulders is just really worrisome, this is our community, we have a walking trail 10 feet away from us here, we really can’t have this happen,” Cherry Creek neighborhood resident Frankie Hefley said.

Homeless man blamed for wreaking havoc in South Austin neighborhood

Residents said he uses a chainsaw and machete to cut down trees in the middle of the night and now he’s taking a sledgehammer to city property. FOX 7 Austin’s Meredith Aldis spoke to the man who explained his actions.

Zawaideh was charged with felony criminal mischief and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On January 26, court records show he had an order of commitment. Last month, the Travis County District Attorney rejected the felony charges.

“He is doing things that are not supposed to be allowed. I’d like for those things to be followed up upon whether it’s him camping, at least in a place you’re not supposed to be camping, or digging giant holes, or cutting trees. None of those things are supposed to be allowed. Whatever the legal consequences of that are, like very least, that seems fair,” Murff said.

Zawaideh has been arrested in Travis County six times in less than a year and all the cases have been dismissed or rejected. Murff said this is an example of a bigger problem in this city.

Homeless man destroying city property in South Austin arrested

A homeless man accused of causing a lot of problems in South Austin has been arrested, according to court records.

“I understand the cops are not going to arrest them because they also know it won’t be prosecuted. It will be the DA will evaluate it and do whatever decision the DA does, which generally means not prosecuting and not holding people accountable, so we’ve got a huge issue there as well,” Murff said.

Zawaideh is now back at it in a different spot. He has set up camp near a trail where Murff and his wife walk their dogs.

“Every time we’d walk by he’d start yelling at this imaginary friend that he calls Polly and he says, ‘hey, Polly, where do you bury all those bodies? How many murders have you got?’ and all this stuff and just yelling and we always felt like it was sort of for effect to intimidate us,” Murff said.

Police open investigation into homeless man’s actions in South Austin neighborhood

The Austin Police Department says it has opened an investigation into Rami Zawaideh. He is blamed for wreaking havoc in one neighborhood and could be facing a 3rd-degree felony charge.

Murff said something needs to be done.

“I think most people would say he’s living in not great conditions and he’s struggling with a lot of things and what we all want is for him not to be struggling, but there’s also a point at which you just, you got to be held responsible for it,” Murff said.

“The idea of locking him up is not great, but also, we do sometimes lock people up because they’re a danger either to others or to themselves. I’m hesitant to say that that’s a desired outcome, but if the people who are in a position to evaluate him determine that is the best outcome for him or the appropriate outcome for him, I’m ok with that at this point. What’s going on now is not sustainable.”

The District Attorney has not given FOX 7 Austin an update on this case.

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Austin, TX

Texas boasts 10 restaurants on OpenTable’s top 100 list for 2024

Published

4 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

Texas boasts 10 restaurants on OpenTable’s top 100 list for 2024

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas had a strong showing on OpenTable’s 2024 Top 100 Restaurants with 10 establishments making the list.

What You Need To Know

The best foodie city in Texas, at least according to OpenTable, was Austin, with seven restaurants making the list

The rest of Texas’ major metropolitan areas–Houston, Dallas and San Antonio–each only had one restaurant on the list

OpenTable compiles its top 100 list every year by looking at diner reviews from its 14 million verified users

The Lone Star State had the second-most restaurants on the list, tied with Illinois, behind California, which had a whopping 19 restaurants featured.

The best foodie city in Texas, at least according to OpenTable, was Austin, with seven restaurants making the list.

Aba – Austin
J Carver’s
Jeffrey’s Restaurant
Red Ash Italia
Sammie’s Italian
Uchi Austin
Uchiko Austin

The rest of Texas’ major metropolitan areas–Houston, Dallas and San Antonio–each only had one restaurant on the list.

Steak 48 – Houston
Signature – San Antonio
Hudson House – Lovers Lane – Dallas

OpenTable compiles its top 100 list every year by looking at diner reviews from its 14 million verified users.

According to OpenTable’s website, restaurants with enough reviews are automatically considered and are evaluated by their ratings, percentage of five-star reviews, number of alerts set, percentage of reservations made in advance, percentage of capacity and direct searches.

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Austin, TX

‘Superman!’ Jelani McDonald Proves to Be Crucial Piece to Texas Longhorns Defense

Published

12 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

‘Superman!’ Jelani McDonald Proves to Be Crucial Piece to Texas Longhorns Defense

AUSTIN — Texas defensive back Jelani McDonald made his mark in the Longhorn secondary on Saturday.

McDonald recorded his first career interception, and it was one for the books.

With five minutes left in the first half as Texas led 14-7, Kentucky had possession. The crowd went wild as McDonald dove for the ball to get possession back to the Longhorn offense. Commentators described the play as a “Superman” performance.

WENT FULL SUPERMAN FOR THIS PICK 👀🤯@TexasFootball x 📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/ZV5AxOSWo7
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 23, 2024
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McDonald’s teammates also had their takes on the play.

“Superman…I mean everybody knows how athletic Jelani is, we’ve been talking about that all season, and even tied back to last season,” Michael Taaffe said. “He’s so athletic. I’m glad he finally got to show that and for you all to see, because we’ve known that forever.”

McDonald has totaled 22 tackles this season, playing in every conference and two non-conference games.

While he’s not a name on everyone’s mouths, like Quinn Ewers, Isaiah Bond, Taaffe or Kelvin Banks Jr., McDonald proved once and for all his impact on the team. McDonald could very much have a breakout season in 2025, and this play, which recorded Texas’ 16th interception of the season taking the national record, opened up the doors for his campaign.

That pick could even be awarded play of the year.

“I’ve been just happy to see him grow and get better as a player,” Anthony Hill Jr., who played with McDonald in the Freshman All-American game, said.

“He was playing corners, so I was like ‘Who’s this guy,’ and then one the game, he’s playing linebackers, and at one game he’s playing safety,” Hill said.

McDonald has one more shot to showcase his talent in the regular season as Texas faces Texas A&M next Saturday. But with two years left of eligibility, the sky is the limit.

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Austin, TX

No. 3 Texas ends UK’s bowl chances

Published

21 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

AUSTIN, Tx. (WKYT) – The Kentucky Wildcats (4-7, 1-7 SEC) ended their SEC slate with a 31-14 loss on the road against the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (10-1, 6-1 SEC). For the first time in eight seasons, UK will not be bowl eligible.

Junior quarterback Brock Vandagriff started the game for the Cats, going 3-7 for 51 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The staff opted to once against start true freshman Cutter Boley in the second half. The LCA alum wet 10-18 for 160 yards and an interception in the loss.

The Wildcats went 1-2 in the red zone and just 2-12 on third down conversions.

Senior inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson had a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown, and also led the defense in tackles with eight.

Texas junior QB Quinn Ewers went 20-31 for 191 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns.

The season concludes next week as Kentucky hosts the Governor’s Cup game against Louisville at Kroger Field. Kick-off is set for noon on the SEC Network.

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