Latest news with #Lufkin
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- The Guardian
A Texas man is seeking justice for his brother who died in police custody: ‘He was a good person'
Two days before he died, a 33-year-old father and US army veteran named Glenn Smallwood Jr was talking about building a house. His younger brother, John, was remodeling a home in Lufkin, Texas, where both brothers lived, and Glenn asked whether he could help. 'He was so happy about the idea of working with me and turning his life around,' John said. 'He was thinking positively about his future. I think about this memory often.' Roughly 48 hours later, on 16 June 2023, Glenn Smallwood was arrested for public intoxication. The body-cam footage would show he was clearly in the middle of a mental health crisis as, for most of his adult life, Smallwood had had schizoaffective disorder, a condition that can cause depressive thoughts, paranoia and hallucinations. Nevertheless, after he arrived in Angelina county jail, a team of officers strapped Smallwood to a chair, later telling his brother this was standard practice for people who are intoxicated. That's when Smallwood started retching and fading in and out of consciousness. Several of the guards laughed, then placed him in the holding cell where he would later die. (The coroner ruled it an accidental death from the effect of methamphetamines.) His death, and his shocking mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement, underscore how people with mental illness are at risk when they encounter the police in the US. The Washington Post's Fatal Force database shows that one in five people killed by police may have been experiencing a mental health crisis when their lives were taken, while another study shows people with mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter. Other data indicates this problem is particularly acute in Texas. In Dallas-Fort Worth, for instance, a 2021 investigation by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram revealed that one in three people killed by police from 2014 to 2021 were experiencing a mental health crisis when they were killed. In 2019, the University of Texas at Austin revealed that the police department in the state's capita had one of the highest rates of police shootings of people suffering from mental illness, while also pointing out that Texas has one of the worst records in the nation for providing comprehensive mental health services. In other words, Texas is where a troubling history of police brutality collides with poor mental health funding. Despite having the second-largest economy in the country, the state consistently ranks near the bottom of all 50 states in mental health services spending per capita. Greg Hansch, executive director for the Texas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said that Texas simply doesn't have enough mental health infrastructure. 'We don't have enough beds, but it's also more than just beds,' Hansch said. 'You need a full continuum of care. And a lot of people who would be involuntarily hospitalized would actually do better in a 48- to 72-hour stay in a crisis facility.' He added: 'Other states are doing a better job with building out the services that need to be in place to keep people out of jail. If you don't have this continuum, then police really are limited in their options in terms of a place to bring a person to. They will look for a reason to arrest the person, because they know if they don't arrest the person, there's not another place for them to go.' For Hansch, Smallwood's plight calls to mind Sandra Bland, a woman who was found hanged in her cell in Waller county, Texas, in 2015. The outcry and advocacy that followed her death led to a new law named for Bland, but before it was passed, key provisions were stripped from the bill. One such provision would have limited arrests for class C misdemeanors like public intoxication, the charge for which Smallwood was booked. That night in June 2023 wasn't the first time Smallwood was arrested, but John wants the world to know that his brother had 'a big heart'. He never wanted to hurt anyone. Indeed, he enlisted in the US army to help other people. His compassionate streak continued after he returned from military service. At one point, he literally saved a cat from a tree. 'Nobody wanted to get the cat because of how high up it was,' John recalled. 'Without hesitating, Glenn began to climb the tree to rescue the cat.' As Smallwood climbed higher, so did the cat. He finally caught and returned the animal to safety, then hugged its owner as she cried with relief. 'I was so proud of him,' John said. 'I thought it was the coolest thing ever.' Another time, when the Smallwood boys were growing up, John was frustrated that he had to share a bike with his sister. When Glenn caught wind that a neighbor was about to throw out an old, broken-down bicycle, he asked if they'd give it to him instead. He then fixed it up so his brother could have it. 'We didn't have much,' John said, 'so he would always make up games for us to play or find things to entertain us, while my mom worked two jobs.' Later, John added, 'I would like everyone to know that Glenn was more than his mistakes. He was a good person.' Jail records detail what happened to Smallwood once he was inside that holding cell. The treatment he endured is at the center of a lawsuit filed by his brother. Smallwood remained confined to the restraint chair – a practice long decried by the United Nations – and, when a nurse found him unconscious, she forwent any calls to a hospital or a physician, instead relying on smelling salts to keep him awake. Less than two hours later, after the nurse had left, officers noticed Smallwood had stopped breathing. An ambulance was called to take him to the hospital, where he died shortly after. The choice to keep him in the chair for hours at a time, even as he retched, vomited and drifted in and out of consciousness, is a key point in John's lawsuit, through which he's suing the county, one of the Lufkin police officers, the nurse and the for-profit healthcare entity that employs the nurse. Why, John wonders, did none of these people call for help sooner? 'Restraint chairs are designed to secure violent, aggressive or uncontrollable people,' said one of John's lawyers, Erik Heipt. 'Yet, the Angelina county jail routinely uses them on people like Mr Smallwood who pose no safety threat. This practice is unconstitutional.' Worse yet, the morning he was arrested, Smallwood walked into a health facility seeking medication. Facility staff put in motion a transfer to a hospital where he could receive longer-term care, but he left before the transfer could be made. Through a judge, the facility then issued a mental health warrant, also known as an 'emergency detention'. This gave police the authority to take Smallwood to a mental health facility, though that of course didn't happen – even though police encountered him that same day. According to Krish Gundu, co-founder and executive director of Texas Jail Project, law enforcement officers often don't have access to people's full histories, including warrants like these. 'We've been saying that a very key piece of data that's missing is emergency detentions,' she said. 'Because how many times do we hear about people going through emergency detention over and over again, and the officers not knowing that there was this history, and they end up in jail, or they end up being murdered by the officers or use of force, because law enforcement and jails do not have access to that essential history of multiple emergency detentions.' That said, in the body-cam footage of Smallwood's arrest, one of the arresting officers can be heard talking to a dispatcher who shares how Smallwood ran away from a treatment center that same day. 'They were looking for him,' the dispatcher tells the officer, who moments later places Smallwood in a car en route to the jail. After shutting the door on their detainee, the two arresting officers agree the arrest 'went better' than they had thought it would. Gundu said this was the first of 'multiple failures'. Even if they hadn't known about Smallwood's well-documented history of mental health issues, the officers could have driven back to the hospital. Or, upon the arrival of the sheriff's office, they could have done the same thing. Instead, five officers worked together to tie Smallwood to a restraint chair, despite the footage showing that he was docile and compliant. What's more, according to records reviewed by the Guardian, jailers didn't complete the required continuity-of-care query on Smallwood, which would have used an online system to review his history of mental health care. Further, according to the sheriff's official timeline of events, at least 16 minutes passed between two of the checks jailers are required to document when someone is in restraints. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards calls for checks to be conducted 'every 15 minutes, at a minimum'. The sheriff's office did not respond to a request for comment. At the state capitol, there's some legislation that could help people with mental illness, including a bill filed by the Democratic representative Donna Howard. The bill, which needs to make it out of committee before it can be voted on, would authorize paramedics to temporarily detain people they believe are experiencing a mental health crisis. The lawmaker has been talking with Republican colleagues in an effort to sell the legislation, and she says some are receptive – especially those who hear from law enforcement officers overwhelmed by mental health calls. 'This is not about saying paramedics are going to have to be police officers,' Howard said. 'To approach [mental health calls] with more of a public health-centered approach than a law enforcement-centered approach is really the overarching goal here.' Meanwhile, John Smallwood isn't waiting for new bills to seek some kind of justice for his brother. 'Life has been a blur since my brother's death,' he said. 'I still haven't come to terms with it, to be honest.' He often wakes in the morning with a pain in his chest, and for that moment, he feels like Glenn's death happened all over again. It feels like he just got the call that came almost two years ago. 'He's my big brother,' he said. 'I was born into this world knowing him. I think about him all the time. He always gave me advice and encouragement. He believed in me, and I could depend on him for support. I lost all that. It's now gone forever.' 'When he died,' John added, 'a piece of me died.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas allows certain children to get married. Lawmakers may close that loophole.
LUFKIN — Child marriages in Texas could end this year, as state lawmakers debate a proposal that would close a loophole from a 2017 law that allows certain 16- and 17-year-olds to wed. House Bill 168 by state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat, would also nullify all existing marriage licenses involving minors, including those who move into the state after being married elsewhere. The Texas House could vote on the matter as early as Saturday. For it to become law, the legislation would also need approval from the Senate. Marriage among teenagers is rare after lawmakers took steps in 2017 to curb the practice. Still, Rosenthal believes the practice must be abolished entirely. 'My first concern was with a handful of marriages that we have in this state over the last few years where 40- to 50-year-old men are marrying 16 to 17 year old girls,' Rosenthal said. 'While it was only a couple or a few cases a year, I just saw that as horribly egregious.' Opponents to the legislation told a House committee in April that legal avenues for young people to get married were important for teen mothers. At least one legal expert also suggested the provision that nullifies out-of-state marriages violated the U.S. Constitution. [New state law seeks to reduce the number of child brides in Texas] The proposal is backed by the Tahirih Justice Center, a national nonprofit advocacy group that has advocated for the abolition of child marriages nationwide. Since the center's campaign began 10 years ago, 13 states and Washington D.C. have outright banned child marriage. The center also backed the successful campaign to drastically limit the types of marriages involving minors allowable in Texas in 2017. The change to Texas law dramatically reduced the number of people under 18 getting married. The 2017 change required a minor to be emancipated before they were married. The rates of child marriages declined significantly, according to data from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. There were more than 200 marriages involving minors in Texas in 2016 alone. There were less than a dozen marriages involving minors in 2021, the latest data available. 'We always knew that this law would need to be revisited, because it is an imperfect law, even if it's having a really positive effect,' said Casey Swegman, Tahirih's director of public policy. 'One child married is too many, and the only way to get to that is to set a bright line of 18.' Victims of child marriages feel the consequences for the rest of their lives, even if they do divorce, according to a report by Child USA, a nonprofit think tank for policies on children's issues. Girls who marry before 19 are 50% more likely to drop out of school than their unmarried counterparts. By and large, these girls will have more children, fewer lifetime earnings and experience more intimate partner violence. Brigitte Combs, a survivor of a 1984 child marriage that took place in Hays County, has become an advocate to end the practice. She has been outspoken in Virginia and Washington, D.C., where they passed laws prohibiting such marriages. She wants to see her home state put an end to the practice that set her life on a much more difficult, and often terrifying, trajectory. Combs' mother first attempted to marry her off at 11, she said. Two years later, she met the 35-year-old man who would become her husband. He bought her her first milkshake and took her to her first movie. She was pregnant and married by 15. 'I was scared,' Combs said. 'I was scared because now we're doing this legal thing. I was standing there and the judge, she even asked me if this was something I wanted to do. What am I going to say? No? No. This is not what I want to do. My parents were standing there.' Opponents in April argued that minors ought to be permitted to marry, especially if they're pregnant. 'I do not think that single-parent households are as beneficial to raising children as a two-parent household. Please oppose this bill,' George Brian Vachris, a former high school teacher from Houston ISD, said at a hearing. Cecilia Wood, a family law attorney from Austin, argued it took away parental rights. Marriages involving minors were legal in all 50 states until 2017, according to Unchained At Last, a survivor-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending forced marriage and child marriage in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2018, more than 40,000 Texas children – mostly girls – were married, the organization reported. Tahirih and other organizations took up the mantle to end the practice, which has resulted in 13 states outright banning child marriages. Other states, like Texas, installed stricter guidelines for marriages involving minors. The age floor in Texas was raised to 16, and the law requires the child to be emancipated first. But Texas' emancipation laws don't offer much protection for the children they impact and there is no guidance from the state on how to determine the best interest of the child, Swegman said. 'Anyone who's getting married in Texas now represents the most vulnerable, most groomed and most coerced person,' Swegman said. 'They had to get through this process of emancipation for the purposes of being married as a child.' Young women still married men several decades their senior in the last few years. In 2021, the latest data available, one Angelina County girl married a man 20 years her senior. And in 2020, a girl from Kaufman County married a man 31 years her senior. Rosenthal was prepared to narrow the legally acceptable age gap between those wishing to marry minors to three years or less, and saw widespread support among his colleagues. But his mind changed when he spoke with advocates. 'The statistics are staggering,' Rosenthal said. 'The divorce rate is super high. The suicide attempt rate is high. These young ladies that get married, especially in rural areas, even with the sort of consent and support of their families, often feel trapped in the marriage.' Disclosure: Texas Department of Health and Human Services has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
AFFIDAVIT: Lufkin man arrested for murder after speeding dispute ends in shooting
LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) – A Lufkin man has been arrested for murder after allegedly fatally shooting a man during a speeding dispute on Wednesday night, an on-view arrest complaint from the Angelina County Sheriff's Office reveals. 'Dead men can't testify': East Texas judge accused of coercing plea with death threat According to an on-view arrest complaint, an Angelina County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a call from a man identified as Phillip Hunter Gersbach of Lufkin, who told dispatch that he had shot someone at around 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday. A deputy responded to the scene after the suspect, identified as Phillip Hunter Gersbach, of Lufkin, called 911 on Wednesday at around 11:15 p.m. and told dispatch he had shot someone. The deputy noticed an unresponsive man on the ground and performed CPR on the victim while Gersbach remained near the patrol unit. Once the second deputy arrived, they took over chest compressions on the victim while the first deputy took the suspect into custody. The deputy put the suspect in the back seat of her patrol unit to deescalate the situation as a woman at the scene was 'irate and hostile.' EMS arrived on the scene and declared the man dead at 11:37 p.m. after no pulse could be found. The arrest document states that Gersbach was then read his Miranda rights and interviewed about what happened. In body camera footage described in Gersbach's arrest complaint, Gersbach stated that he was driving home when a woman stopped him for driving too fast past her home. A man then came up behind her and asked Gersach not to yell at his wife. Gersbach reportedly stated that he saw the man move something behind his back before pointing it behind Gersbach's headrest and saying he'd shoot. Man arrested for slapping Mabank 82-year-old, assaulting officer Gersbach said he felt threatened and shot the victim before he could shoot him through the headrest, according to the arrest document. The woman who waved Gersbach down was also interviewed and said the truck had been driving by their home fast multiple times when the victim asked her to stop the truck. The woman explained in the arrest document that they were in an altercation where Gersbach allegedly called kept calling her a 'b*tch' when the victim approached and said 'I'll f**cking shoot your *ss' to Gersbach several times. According to the woman, Gersbach shot the victim multiple times while sitting in the vehicle before he got out and shot him 'several more times.' Angelina County Sheriff's Office investigators then arrived to collect evidence from the scene and Gersbach's clothes. Gersbach was arrested for murder and booked into the Angelina County Jail, where he was released on Thursday after posting a $15,000 bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Lufkin police investigate targeted shooting in residential area
LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) – The Lufkin Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred in a residential neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. Houston County Sheriff's Office arrest suspects in connection to death of 16-year-old teen According to officials, the shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. outside a home near Wilson and Culverhouse streets. The suspects were seen driving a gray four door Nissan sedan according to Lufkin PD. Nobody was injured during the shooting and officials believe this was a targeted incident. Witnesses were unable to identify a suspect and Lufkin PD is still seeking information. Anyone with any information about the incident is encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at 639-TIPS or contact the Police Department's non-emergency number at 633-0359. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to |
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Lufkin Industries Announces Sale of North America Downhole business to Q2 Artificial Lift Services
HOUSTON, March 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lufkin Industries ('Lufkin'), a global leader in surface production equipment and automation solutions, has announced the sale of its North America Downhole ('NAM Downhole') business to Q2 Artificial Lift Services ('Q2'), a leading provider of downhole reciprocating pumps. This transaction aligns with Lufkin's strategic focus on its core surface business and Q2's focus on subsurface business, positioning both companies for long-term growth and profitability. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 'This transition allows us to focus on Lufkin's core strengths of Software, Automation, Surface Equipment and comprehensive service to our domestic and international customers, areas where Lufkin has for over 120 years been an industry leader,' said Brent Baumann, CEO Lufkin Industries. 'By transitioning our NAM Downhole business to Q2, we are ensuring that our customers continue to receive world-class support while allowing Lufkin to invest further in innovation and growth within our core areas. We are confident that Q2 will be an excellent steward of the NAM Downhole business and great partner to the customers and employees transitioning as part of this sale.' Under the terms of the agreement, both downhole pump and rods assets team members and related customer relationships within North America will transition to Q2, ensuring continuity of service and support. Q2 Artificial Lift Services, known for its commitment to excellence in the sale, service, engineering and manufacturing of downhole reciprocating pumps, will integrate the NAM Downhole business into its portfolio, further strengthening its capabilities and expanding its reach into rods. Doug Quinn, CEO/President of Q2 ALS, said 'We are extremely excited about this particular acquisition as it immediately strengthens our artificial lift products and services and expands our employee roster with highly skilled technical depth. Additionally, with respect to US Rod, this part of the deal further expands our ability to provide a complete downhole system for our customer base. We have built a very dominant presence in the market, and this acquisition further demonstrates our continued commitment to the downhole artificial lift community across all of North America.' Both companies are working closely to ensure a seamless transition for all customers, employees and business partners. The sale reinforces Lufkin's commitment to its flagship surface production and automation business while enhancing Q2's position in the downhole market to include rods as well as expanding its downhole pump capabilities. For more information about Lufkin Industries please visit For more information on Q2 Artificial Lift Services please visit About Lufkin Industries Lufkin Industries is a leading provider of surface production equipment, automation solutions, and oilfield services, helping operators optimize efficiency and maximize production. With a legacy of engineering excellence and innovation, Lufkin has been at the forefront of the energy industry for over 120 years, delivering high-quality Beam Pumping Units, advanced automation technologies, and global service solutions. By focusing on its core strengths, Lufkin continues to drive innovation and support the evolving needs of the oil and gas sector. For more information, visit locations strategically located across Western Canada and the United States. For more information, visit
