Full Notification

Last night Van PD Chief Kelly Smith, Sgt. Cook, Officer Roberts, Officer Richardson, Sgt. Gary McDaniel and Van ISD Chief Donnie Payne went to a residence on County Road 1412 outside of Van to find James Terry McIlvain. Upon arrival Judy Kruegar, who resides there, was found to be in possession of Marijuana. It was seized along with drug paraphernalia from the residence. Officers did not want to be reactive in a situation like this and believed that a proactive arrest of the suspect would help to minimize or eliminate any other threats or possible harm that he could do.

McIlvain, earlier this week, told school officials that he was going to do damage to the school. Then, he approached two students and inquired about two school officials. A warrant affidavit was completed by Chief Smith and was obtained from Judge Scott Shinn for Terroristic Threat a 3rd degree felony. Chief Smith noted in the affidavit the circumstances involved in this case and that McIlvain, at times, could be dangerous. Judge Shinn recommended a $1 Million bond.

A THIRD DEGREE FELONY PUNISHMENT is as follows:

(a) An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than 2 years.

(b) In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the third degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Officers spent several hours tracking McIlvain down and located him in Dallas, Texas at about 4:00 am. Sgt. Cook contacted the Dallas Police Deparmtnet and McIlvain was located. Eight Dallas Police Officers surrounded the residence where McIlvain was staying for the night. Chief Smith and Chief Payne traveled to Dallas to pick McIlvain up and bring him back to Van Zandt County to appear before a magistrate. McIlvain acted out a seizure and was checked by EMS personel at the Van Police Department. In spite of McIlvain's roles in movies such as Lonsome Dove, Pure Country, and Platoon his seizure act was not sufficent. He was transported to the Van Zandt County Justice Center and held on the one millioin dollar bond. McIlvain was very apologetic yet, it was explained to him that his acts regardless of how he meant them would not be tolerated. The protection of our most valuable gifts, the kids, is paramount without any exceptions.

I invite everyone to tell five of their friends about Nixle.com so that the Van Police Department can communicate with its citizens effectivly.