Jasper County Sheriff’s Report - 11/25/2025

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office would like to announce that Officer Veronica Hanks has been named the employee of the month for October. Officer Hanks has been employed with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office for 18 years. She has been married to her husband, James, for 31 years; they have four kids and six grandkids. Officer Hanks has worked at the Jasper County Jail for many years. She is often asked to fill in as a supervisor because she has a wealth of knowledge and experience. She is extremely professional and treats others exactly how she would like to be treated. She is always calm and doesn’t get rattled. Congratulations, Officer Hanks! We appreciate your service to Jasper County!

On November 17th, 2025, several of our employees received their Taser certification. They learned the laws, policies and regulations regarding legal Taser use. Several employees volunteered to be tazed in class to show the effectiveness of a Taser deployment. November 18th and 19th, Texas Jail Commission Inspector Mike Garrett, came down from Austin and instructed “The Basics in Jail Operations” course. We had over 25 students and they were taught the importance of being professional and complying with jail rules and state laws while working in our jail. A well-trained Sheriff’s Office not only benefits our employees, but it benefits every citizen in our county. We will continue to train and become more educated so we can give the citizens of Jasper County the absolute best law enforcement service that they deserve.

On November 17th, 2025, the Jasper County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to the 4400 block of US HWY 96 South, in reference to improper physical contact with a minor. Upon arrival, a JCSO deputy began an investigation. It was learned that the suspect, Alan Jesus Vargas Gutierrez, 27, of Jasper, did make inappropriate physical contact with a female juvenile victim. Based on the information given, Gutierrez was arrested and charged with Indecent Assault, Class A Misdemeanor and transported to the Jasper County Jail.

On November 18th, 2025, deputies with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to FM 252 south of Jasper in reference to a reported shooting with one deceased person. Upon arrival, deputies located Norman Shubert, 62, of Jasper, who was experiencing a drug-induced psychotic episode. Deputies determined that a single round had been fired; however, there was no crime scene and no one had been shot. Schubert was arrested for False Report Inducing an Emergency Response, a Class A misdemeanor. This incident is similar to a prior event on October 5th at the same location involving the same subject, during which time approximately 30 rounds were fired inside his residence.

On November 18th, 2025, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen. The citizen advised our dispatcher that she believed she saw an individual walking on Milam Street in Jasper wearing black and white “striped” clothing. Due to the nature of this call and it being in close proximity to our jail, the jail was immediately locked down and an inmate count was conducted (twice). Additionally, our staff reviewed video footage from around our facility. The surveillance footage did not indicate any individual to be near or leaving our facility. All 129 inmates were in the Jasper County Jail and were accounted for.

On November 20th, 2025, I attended the community dinner at the Roganville Baptist Church in Roganville. The food was awesome and there was plenty of it. The fellowship and conversation were even better. I appreciate Brother Paul Swearingen and the members of RBC for having me. It’s always good getting out and mingling in the county and hearing from the people who employ me and every member of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

On November 20th, 2025, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Federico Camacho, a 96-year-old male from Jasper, left his residence located at 726 Hunt Street in Jasper. He left on foot and went in an unknown direction. After taking the initial report, we immediately organized search teams consisting of Jasper County Sheriff deputies, members of the Jasper County Emergency Corp and members of several local Fire Departments. We also enlisted a bloodhound team from the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, along with our Drone that is equipped with a state-of-the-art thermal imaging device. The K9 team was able to trail Mr. Camacho’s scent down a set of railroad tracks located near his residence. Although we had a trail on his scent, we searched throughout Thursday night and into Friday morning without locating him. We contacted Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch and requested his resources. We also contacted Commander Jeff Conrad, with Texas Search and Rescue and the Warden at the Gib Lewis Prison Unit, Bob Castleberry, in Woodville. All these gentlemen immediately deployed their resources to Jasper County. They began conducting grid searches with cadaver dogs and live human tracking dogs. All of the search teams, along with our local first responders and volunteers, worked diligently all-day Friday searching very tough terrain.

On November 22nd, 2025, at approximately 10 a.m., Mr. Comacho was found alive by members of Texas EquuSearch and was coherent and healthy. He was transported to the Jasper Memorial Hospital as a precautionary measure. Major Crowell and I checked in with Mr. Camacho and his family at the hospital a short time later. They were in good spirits and were very appreciative of the collective search effort. I would like to personally thank each and every person for their contribution and effort in assisting us with locating Mr. Camacho.

On November 22nd, 2025, we had a great turnout at the Toy Bash fishing tournament at Rayburn. Many thousands of dollars and toys were collected. We appreciate Clint Wade and his organization for allowing the kids of Jasper County to benefit from this. Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard to help make this successful. As a sidenote- the fisherman also had a great time and several of them won some money!

On November 22nd, 2025, our concert at the Jasper County Airport was also a success. There were a lot of people in attendance. The food and the music were great. There were a lot of people who worked really hard to make this happen. It was great seeing so many familiar faces. The people of this county always come together. We certainly appreciate the hard work and the generosity of so many people.

On November 22nd, 2025, at approximately 9:50 p.m., deputies with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office assisted deputies with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies, executing a search warrant in Newton County regarding an active dog fight. The search warrant was executed at a piece of property located off of FM 1004 in the Call community. When law enforcement arrived, two dogs were inside of a ring actively fighting. A large crowd dispersed into a wooded area, but most of the suspects were later apprehended by officers. In total, 45 arrests were made. Additionally, over $73,000 was seized and about 35 vehicles were towed from the property. Several of our officers were called out and we utilized both of our transport vans to transport these individuals to the Newton County Jail. I would like to commend our employees for always being available to our office and to the people of Jasper County. We were certainly more than pleased to assist Newton County Sheriff Colton Havard and his office with putting these individuals in jail. This is an ongoing investigation and is being led by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.

I'd like to give a big shout out to Coleman ‘s Mortuary in Jasper. I attended their Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway event Sunday at their office in Jasper. Coleman’s provided each family a free turkey and various other food items. They also provided hot meals for everybody that came out. I really appreciate them, including me, and their generosity for the community is appreciated. There were a lot of other community members who were cooking and volunteering to make this a success. I had a great time and I enjoyed the good food and fellowship. If you’ve never tried a banana pudding fried pie, you’re missing out!

Last night, I was able to attend an appreciation dinner at JC3 for “Bibles and Bulls”. I enjoyed the fellowship and the meal was awesome. They do an awesome job with educating our youth about faith, fellowship and the love of God. If you’ve never been to one of their rodeos, I would encourage you to attend.

Everyone listed in this report is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

We work as a team here at the Sheriff’s Office. Each and every job is vital to our success in providing the very best for the citizens we serve. I appreciate the hard work and dedication of every employee at the Sheriff’s Office.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. It is a privilege and honor to be the Sheriff of Jasper County. As always, call us if you need us. Stay safe.

Respectfully,

Chuck Havard

Jasper