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Texas homeowner claims squatter who sold furniture in yard sale was repairman hired off TikTok as lawmakers blame police

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Texas homeowner claims squatter who sold furniture in yard sale was repairman hired off TikTok as lawmakers blame police


The Texas woman whose home was turned into a squatter’s “drug den” and sold her furniture in a yard sale said she hired the man as a recommended repairman from TikTok.

Terri Boyette appeared in front of a Texas Senate committee on Wednesday to reveal the horrors she faced while trying to remove the vagrants from her home. 

“This is burglary. This is breaking and entering,” said Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt, the committee chairman, according to Fox 4 Dallas. 

“He was selling your possessions on your front lawn. I am outraged. This should not happen in Texas, and it will never happen again after we get this bill passed.”

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Boyette’s nightmare started when she fired the worker off the social media platmore last June to make repairs on her home while she cared for her elderly mother in Florida, according to WFAA.

While away, the repairman began squatting in Boyette’s Mesquite home, about 14 miles from Downtown Dallas, and allowed other strangers to do so with him. 

A painter had broken in and wrecked the place, leaving crack pipes in her oven and needles in a drawer, Boyette told The Post in March.

The homeowner hired the worker to help fix up her home while she was in Florida helping her elderly mother last summer. ABC 8

For nearly a year, they turned her home into a biohazard zone, with police telling her they were unable to resolve the issue. 

In December, a judge finally granted an eviction notice to remove the worker from the home, but with the holidays approaching, the judge extended the squatter’s appeal by 30 days.

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“She didn’t want him to be homeless over the holidays, which left me homeless over the holidays,” Boyette told WFAA.

Once the suspected squatter knew he would be evicted from the home, he started selling off her washer, dryer, refrigerator and dining room table.

Terri Boyette said for nearly a year, the squatter and the other vagrants made the inside look like a biohazard zone.  ABC 8

The alleged squatter was served with his final eviction notice on Feb. 6 and was formally evicted on March 20. 

But as it nears a year since the repairman and others began living in the home, Boyette said she’s still been unable to move back in due to the havoc and disarray left behind by multiple vagrants

Boyette’s Mesquite home was one of 475 such squatter cases in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, according to Bettencourt.

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But he and other lawmakers plan to put the issue to rest with new legislation.

The repairman had begun squatting in Boyette’s house and allowed other strangers to do so with him.  ABC 8
She said in June, she contacted the Mesquite police, who explained to her there was nothing they could do to remove the squatters from her residence. ABC 8

Bettencourt found that Texas, like many other states, does not clearly define a squatter or what a homeowner can legally pursue to define a person as such in court.  

He has since launched the committee to find an answer for the legal loopholes many vagrants use to shack up in homes they don’t pay rent on or illegally enter and claim to be tenants. 

Sen. Royce West, one of the legislators who sits on the committee, asked Boyette why the Mesquite Police Department wasn’t able to remove the squatters. 

Boyette detailed how police left her high and dry for months, and the issue was only resolved after months of back-and-forth in the courts.

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As it nears a year since the repairman and others began living in the home, Boyette said she’s still been unable to move back in due to its conditions. ABC 8
The Mesquite Police Department said that Boyette’s issue has been resolved, and it was “handled appropriately and professionally, with due regard for existing state law.” ABC 8

“I called the police. They said, ‘How long has he been there?’ I said about two weeks. They said this is a civil matter,” she told the committee.

Boyette revealed the alleged squatter returned to the home in April, banging on the door and demanding to enter. 

Boyette appeared in front of the committee to detail her story with the squatters. Fox 4 Dallas
Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt. Fox 4 Dallas

The man was later arrested on a criminal trespass complaint. 

“It makes no sense. No sense at all. I am starting to get outrageous as well,” West proclaimed. “I want to know from Mesquite PD what they don’t understand about the statute.”

“They said because no one was living there,” Boyette told the senator. 

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“That’s a bunch of crap,” he replied about the ineptitude of law enforcement.

Legislators from both parties have demanded answers from the police.

Bettencourt has requested the Mesquite Police Department to attend their next meeting to explain why the man was not removed from the home. 



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Texas Man Finds Hidden GPS Tracker in His New Truck: “They Didn’t Want Me To Find This”

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Texas Man Finds Hidden GPS Tracker in His New Truck: “They Didn’t Want Me To Find This”


A man in Texas, suspicious about his newly acquired truck, decided to take a look inside. To his surprise, he found a GPS tracker that was monitoring his every move. As expected, people online reacted as they normally do: a collective meltdown.

The man in question is none other than David Allen, also known as ToTouchAnEmu. He is a very popular content creator who has over 9.8 million followers on TikTok alone.

And while he shares a wide variety of content, one of his latest videos addresses this apparent breach of privacy. He detailed how he was surprised and overwhelmed as he went through the terms and conditions after purchasing his new truck.

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His dealer had signed him up and paid for a one-year subscription to CarRx, a platform and mobile app that monitors vehicles’ data. David, however, was not too thrilled to find out exactly what that meant.

Tracking Everything

For starters, he showed that, under the terms and conditions, CarRx would sell all collected information to third parties. David was not too worried about that.

Instead, he showed all the data that the platform collects from vehicles. Understandably, he was shocked.

Monitored information includes the car’s VIN, mileage, oil and battery status, fuel, and charging history. The platform can also track a vehicle’s location, speed, crash detection alerts, braking events, and even camera image and sensor data.

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Finding the Tracker

David, still astounded by the revelation, knew that something was fishy. He asked, “I start thinking, how do they know all that information about my car if they don’t have some sort of GPS tracker on it?”

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And to no one’s surprise, and thanks to a Google search, it turns out that there was, in fact, a tracker installed in David’s truck. And not willing to let it slide, the man got to work immediately.

The Texas man searched for the tracker near the OBD port. He noticed a Y-cable right below it and found the tracker connected to it. The tracker had an IMEI, meaning that it had a SIM card in it, so tracking is pretty much a guarantee.

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Viewers React Accordingly

Of course, David’s video caused a multitude of reactions. Some took issue with how he labeled his SUV a truck, but most viewers were worried about their privacy.

“We need data privacy laws stat!” one said. Another one commented, “This isn’t new, unfortunately. I used to work for GM; they track everything. In real time.”

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The latter comment seemed to echo the majority of reactions. Other users, former car dealership employees themselves, said the exact same thing. 

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If you want more stories like this, follow Guessing Headlights on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.





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Texas Rangers investigating City of Trinidad after water issues, controversial arrests, firings

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Texas Rangers investigating City of Trinidad after water issues, controversial arrests, firings


After controversial arrests, alleged retaliatory firings and a litany of water issues, the Texas Rangers are investigating the City of Trinidad.

What we know:

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The Texas Rangers confirmed to FOX 4 they have begun an investigation into the City of Trinidad.

“We can confirm the Texas Rangers are investigating. As this is an active investigation, we have no further information to provide,” the Texas Rangers said to FOX 4 in a statement.

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Dig deeper:

The law enforcement agency’s investigation comes as multiple lawsuits have been filed against the city over retaliatory firings and controversial arrests related to the city’s water quality issues.

This week, former Trinidad City Administrator and Secretary Lindsey Patterson filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming she had “no record of discipline” when she was terminated in Feb. 2026.

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Patterson’s suit claims she was fired after reporting to the Trinidad Police Department that “public funds belonging to the city were being held by private individuals.”

Former Trinidad City Administrator Lindsey Patterson

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Trinidad’s current City Administrator, Cynthia Dosier, has been listed as a defendant in several of the lawsuits. She has not returned FOX 4’s request for comment since our first report.

On Friday, FOX 4’s David Sentendrey attempted to speak to Dosier at her office in Trinidad. Dosier had no comment when asked about the Texas Rangers’ investigation.

“It’s way bigger than just water”

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What they’re saying:

Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws previously called for an investigation by the Texas Rangers into the city’s now-public issues. He tells Sentendrey he’s glad that’s finally happening.

“I wanted people here to know that there is going to be transparency at the end of this,” Haws said.

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“We need to know that our office is in order and I think the best way to do that is with a third party having eyes on it and finding out what really is going on here.”

Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws

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The investigation wouldn’t have come without Henderson County resident Jennifer Combs’ arrest for a Facebook post concerning the city’s water quality. 

“To tell the story to someone they would think you were crazy. You know what I mean?”

She says she’s glad the Texas Rangers are investigating, but that the root of the issue remains: the city’s water issues.

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“I’m just ready for all of it to calm down and what’s going to happen is gonna happen, and the rest needs to be done so we can get back to the real issues of fixing the water. People deserve clean water.”

Trinidad Water Saga

Timeline:

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The saga in Trinidad, which claims less than 800 residents, began in May following Combs’ arrest over the city’s water issues.

Combs’ post stated that people had been hospitalized after drinking the city’s water. FOX 4 has not verified that anyone in Trinidad was hospitalized from drinking the city’s water.

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A Henderson County grand jury declined to indict Combs, who has since filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Trinidad and Gregory which alleges she was arrested in “an act of deliberate political retaliation.”

Since our initial report, FOX 4 has continued to receive images of dirty and discolored water from the residents of Trinidad.

Trinidad officials have admitted the city has struggled to keep its water clean. Combs said the water “looks like the Trinity River.”

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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) confirmed to FOX 4 it received a complaint regarding the water quality in Trinidad, and that an investigation is ongoing.

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One day after FOX 4’s initial report on Combs, citizen journalist Winston Noles protested outside Trinidad City Hall with a sign with expletives targeting “bad cops.”

Noles was arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for the sign. The Trinidad Municipal Judge, Shellena Bivens, later dismissed the charge.

On Wednesday, May 27, Alex Estrada and Colby Reyes, two former Trinidad employees, filed a lawsuit against the city claiming the city administrator fired them without cause.

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Reyes, the former Trinidad Water Clerk, says in the lawsuit that she was fired because she “refused to lie” on behalf of Gregory and City Administrator Dosier.

Reyes’ lawsuit claims Gregory publicly fabricated a story that Reyes was frightened by Noles in order to arrest him, in which Reyes says she put in writing she was “never offended” by Noles.

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A law firm representing Estrada and Reyes and Consumer Wellness Center Labs are organizing free independent water testing for people on Trinidad’s water supply as the TCEQ investigation continues.

At a May 28 Trinidad City Council meeting, Judge Bivens was fired as the city’s municipal judge. The issue of water quality in Trinidad was never addressed.

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Gregory, who made his first public comments since FOX 4 initially reported on the story, said he had “nothing to hide” in relation to Combs and Noles’ arrests.

Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws suggested to Sentendrey that the Texas Rangers should investigate the city and its police department after the recent arrests and water issues have come to light.

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Bivens is considering legal action against Trinidad, with her attorney saying her firing was unjust. “I’m a good judge. I’m a damn good judge,” Bivens told Sentendrey.

In June, a family in Trinidad alleged that after showering with the city’s water, their teenage daughter suffered a chemical burn.

An attorney for the family provided a preliminary water test strip result that showed “dangerous” free chlorine levels in the Logan family’s water. It remains unclear if Trinidad’s recent water treatment led to the Logans’ daughter’s rash.

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A planned meeting for Thursday, June 4 to give an update on the city’s attempts to fix their water quality issues was canceled. Mayor Haws said he did not receive a reason for the cancellation, though a small protest took place outside the planned meeting.

Gregory resigned from his position as Trinidad Police Chief following the multiple controversies. His final day with the department was June 19.

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Gregory has declined interview requests from FOX 4, citing pending lawsuits.

Following news of Gregory’s resignation, the Trinidad judge who approved the arrest warrant for Combs wrote a scathing letter against him and his police department.

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McKee’s letter questions “the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of information presented” to him by two Trinidad police officers in relation to Combs’ arrest warrant.

What’s next:

Interim Trinidad Police Chief Cameron Beckham told Sentendrey over the phone he has a meeting with the Texas Rangers in the next few weeks and plans to fully cooperate with their investigation.

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The Source: Information in this story comes from the Texas Rangers, the City of Trinidad and previous FOX 4 reporting.

TexasEnvironmentCrime and Public Safety



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Fetus found deceased along Lewisville Lake shoreline was discarded intentionally, police say

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Fetus found deceased along Lewisville Lake shoreline was discarded intentionally, police say


An investigation is underway after the Lewisville Police Department said a fetus was found deceased along the Lewisville Lake shoreline Friday morning.

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Police said a resident called them to report the discovery around 8 a.m. near Lake Park Road. Officers then began searching for evidence alongside investigators from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. The scene has since been cleared.

The department said the fetus appeared to have been between five and six months of gestation and appeared to have been intentionally discarded along the shoreline. The medical examiner’s office is now working to determine identity and other characteristics.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact Detective Craig Holleman by emailing cholleman@cityoflewisville.com or by calling 972-219-3620. Anonymous tips can also be shared with the Denton County Crime Stoppers online or by calling 1-800-388-TIPS.



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