By Juan Montoya
The recent indictment and arrest of American Surveillance owner Jaime Escobedo are based on his lax oversight of a former employee whose security guard license had expired, carried a gun onto school campuses without a license, and stole money from at least three public entities while collecting for the company's armored car service, court records show.
Escobedo was charged with eight counts for alleged violations of the Texas Private Security Act. As owner of the company, he is legally responsible for making sure his employees adhere to the licensing and background requirements to be security guards or to carry a weapon.
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The charges were made based on the Act's Section 1702.386. UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person contracts with or employs a person who is required to hold a license, registration, certificate, or commission under this chapter knowing that the person does not hold the required license, registration, certificate, or commission or who otherwise, at the time of contract or employment, is in violation of this chapter.
The Private Security Act comes under the jurisdiction of the Texas Occupation Code and has a board that oversees the operations and activities of private securities companies. The board assisted by the DPS applies the law and prohibits individuals from performing security activities without meeting the proper safety procedures and regulatory requirements.
On Monday, eyewitnesses reported that they saw four plain clothes DPS agents in a black SUV swoop upon Esobedo as he walked in the City Plaza parking lot on St. Charles Street and took him to the county's Rucker-Carrizales corrections center to be booked, bonded and then released pending trial. Records indicate he was indicted on eight charges of violating the Private Security Act in his role as the licensee of a security company.
But the roots of Escobedo's troubles with his security and armored car companies date back further.
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On October 18, a Cameron County grand jury handed down a six-count indictment against former American Surveillance armored car guard James Michael Coronado for "knowingly purport to exercise a function that required registration as a noncommissioned security officer or a security officer commission...(and ) acted like a commissioned security officer when his registration was expired."
Those offenses date back to November and December 2016 and were issued by a Cameron County grand jury at the request of the Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.
A seventh count charged Coronado with carrying a handgun during the time of the previous offenses. All the charges are misdemeanors under the Act.
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However, a second five-count indictment handed down on the same day contains four felony charges that Coronado – at the same time his security guard registration had expired – was carrying a gun without a license on the campuses of Egly and Breeden and Sharp elementaries, the Cameron County Probation Dept., and the BISD main office.
The fifth count specifies that from September 2016 to January 2017, while employed by American Surveillance, Coronado stole $2,500 from the BISD "money drops," from the company's armored car, $750 from the probation office, and $750 from the money drop of the Brownsville Public Utility Board.
Escobedo has said in the past that when he first heard about the missing money from the county auditors, he quickly moved to ascertain the culprit and discovered it was Coronado. However, the other entities – especially the BISD – were slower in detecting the missing funds. Escobedo said he dismissed Coronado, reported him to police, and made the entities whole by replacing the funds.
However, the DPS indictments against Escobedo under the Private Security Act go to his responsibility in assuring that all personnel in his employ be duly registered and licensed as required by the state.
"He should have known the registration status of those security guards under his employ and assured that they were licensed to carry a weapon, especially when they were sent into elementary school campuses, probation offices or other public facilities," said another private security company administrator. "The laws were made to protect the public and to make sure that these employers are legally licensed to carry out those duties."
The recent indictment and arrest of American Surveillance owner Jaime Escobedo are based on his lax oversight of a former employee whose security guard license had expired, carried a gun onto school campuses without a license, and stole money from at least three public entities while collecting for the company's armored car service, court records show.
Escobedo was charged with eight counts for alleged violations of the Texas Private Security Act. As owner of the company, he is legally responsible for making sure his employees adhere to the licensing and background requirements to be security guards or to carry a weapon.
The charges were made based on the Act's Section 1702.386. UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person contracts with or employs a person who is required to hold a license, registration, certificate, or commission under this chapter knowing that the person does not hold the required license, registration, certificate, or commission or who otherwise, at the time of contract or employment, is in violation of this chapter.The Private Security Act comes under the jurisdiction of the Texas Occupation Code and has a board that oversees the operations and activities of private securities companies. The board assisted by the DPS applies the law and prohibits individuals from performing security activities without meeting the proper safety procedures and regulatory requirements.
On Monday, eyewitnesses reported that they saw four plain clothes DPS agents in a black SUV swoop upon Esobedo as he walked in the City Plaza parking lot on St. Charles Street and took him to the county's Rucker-Carrizales corrections center to be booked, bonded and then released pending trial. Records indicate he was indicted on eight charges of violating the Private Security Act in his role as the licensee of a security company.
But the roots of Escobedo's troubles with his security and armored car companies date back further.
Those offenses date back to November and December 2016 and were issued by a Cameron County grand jury at the request of the Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.
A seventh count charged Coronado with carrying a handgun during the time of the previous offenses. All the charges are misdemeanors under the Act.
However, a second five-count indictment handed down on the same day contains four felony charges that Coronado – at the same time his security guard registration had expired – was carrying a gun without a license on the campuses of Egly and Breeden and Sharp elementaries, the Cameron County Probation Dept., and the BISD main office.
The fifth count specifies that from September 2016 to January 2017, while employed by American Surveillance, Coronado stole $2,500 from the BISD "money drops," from the company's armored car, $750 from the probation office, and $750 from the money drop of the Brownsville Public Utility Board.
Escobedo has said in the past that when he first heard about the missing money from the county auditors, he quickly moved to ascertain the culprit and discovered it was Coronado. However, the other entities – especially the BISD – were slower in detecting the missing funds. Escobedo said he dismissed Coronado, reported him to police, and made the entities whole by replacing the funds.
However, the DPS indictments against Escobedo under the Private Security Act go to his responsibility in assuring that all personnel in his employ be duly registered and licensed as required by the state.
"He should have known the registration status of those security guards under his employ and assured that they were licensed to carry a weapon, especially when they were sent into elementary school campuses, probation offices or other public facilities," said another private security company administrator. "The laws were made to protect the public and to make sure that these employers are legally licensed to carry out those duties."