From the Houston Chronicle:
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced the arrest of 13 Louisiana fugitives who went into hiding during the evacuation from Hurricane Katrina.
All 11 men and two women were wanted in connection with some type of violent crime, including three on charges of homicide. Nine were arrested in Houston, two in Fort Worth, one in Austin and one in Conroe.
The fugitives were captured in late November and December, using information provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security. Law enforcement officers in Harris, Tarrant and Montgomery counties assisted in the arrests.
"Texans rightly opened our arms and hearts our Louisiana neighbors as they fled the devastation of Hurricane Katrina,'' Abbott said today in a prepared statement. "But even as we provided a refuge for evacuees in need, we will not allow fugitives from the law to exploit the situation by hiding in our state.''
The fugitives who were arrested applied for FEMA aid, Abbott. He said it was difficult to get a list of people who applied for financial assistance.
"We worked and worked and worked with FEMA for weeks on end and FEMA failed and refused to give us the information we needed," he said. "They put up roadblocks."
Abbott would not say if he thought Katrina evacuees were contributing to an increased crime rate in Houston, but acknowledged that some evacuees have
committed crimes in the state of Texas, including one man who was arrested in
the Dallas area for molesting a child.
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