New information in the Pleasant Grove school bus assault, which led to a delay in serving arrest warrants on Thursday, should be reviewed by the middle of next week, a Texarkana, Texas, Police Department spokesman said.
"I do not know what the new information is, nor do I know where it came from. Whatever it was, a decision was made to take a step back for a short period of time to give the detectives time to vet that information to see if there is anything there to support or dispute the probable cause that the detectives used to obtain the warrants they now have," Shawn Vaughn, TTPD spokesman, said late Thursday afternoon.
"The warrants are still active; they were signed by a judge. We still have those; we have made the decision to temporarily put those on hold until we have the opportunity to look at the new info brought to us today," he said, adding that the investigation should be complete by the middle of next week.
About 1:30 p.m. Thursday, TTPD announced the issuance of felony arrest warrants for five Pleasant Grove Middle School students who are all 13 and 14 years old. The alleged victim is 13 years old. The students are believed to be involved in an assault that occurred on a school bus returning from a basketball game Nov. 30 in Paris, Texas. Charges range from sexual assault to indecency with a child, according to police.
About two hours after that announcement Thursday afternoon, TTPD issued another release stating detectives would delay serving the warrants because "additional information related to this case was brought to our attention," according to the news release.
"We have probable cause enough for a judge to sign the warrant before, and whatever this information was, we want to have the opportunity to look at that and evaluate that," Vaughn said late Thursday. "Should the investigation continue to indicate that probable cause exists we will serve the warrants, and we will make the arrests."
Pleasant Grove Independent School District Superintendent Jason Smith said he is aware of the warrants' being issued in the case and released the following statement.
"PGISD continues to work closely with TTPD regarding the investigation of this incident. I am thankful for the great working relationship between the PGISD middle school admin and the TTPD
"Some of the students involved in this incident were immediately removed from the classroom environment and will continue to be removed pending district determination of investigative findings. Serious allegations have been made, and we are taking these allegations seriously. Immediately following the incident, school district leaders evaluated current extracurricular transportation practices, and we will continue to evaluate our practices to ensure a high level of supervision is maintained. We are sensitive to promoting and providing a culture of high moral character throughout our school system. It is my priority to ensure that all children at PGISD are in a safe environment."
The district's school resource officer, Latriesha Grandy, who is a member of the TTPD, worked with the district on the internal investigation.
Original reports were that the investigation had been turned over to Red River County Sheriff's Office, but that is not the case, Vaughn said.
"From what I understand, we (TTPD) took the report initially, and we have conducted the investigation from the onset. Apparently, Red River County was not involved. It has been our case, so we have done the investigation here," Vaughn said. "In cases where there are questions about where something specifically happened, then the agency that makes the most sense to investigate it can."