Exclusive: Lavaca County OLS saving lives through traffic enforcement, emergency response

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(The Center Square) – With a new sheriff in town, Lavaca County is becoming known for its commitment to the rule of law. Under Sheriff Steve Greenwell and all four city police chiefs, the county’s law enforcement officers are part of an elite border security task force and working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Greenwell, with decades of experience in Homeland Security Investigations, was elected in 2024 and joined an Operation Lone Star Task Force on his first day in office. For years, Greenwell had been warning about fentanyl and meth pouring into the county during the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. Border security was a key election issue. 

Greenwell and the police chiefs of Hallettsville, Moulton, Nixon and Yoakum are aggressively pursuing border related crimes, including stolen vehicles and trailers, narcotics and illicit drugs. They’re also taking dangerous criminals off the road. The county is located roughly four hours from the border and 1.5 hours from Houston.

Traffickers use multiple routes to reach I-10 to make their way to Houston, OLS Task Force members have found. Lavaca County OLS officers regularly pick up illegal border crossers in trucks who’ve made their way north identified by Brooks County OLS members. They’re also stopping those with warrants out of Kinney County but due to OLS funding shortages Kinney County Sheriff’s Office can’t pick them up, The Center Square reported. 

All four law enforcement agencies are participating in ICE’s 287(g) Task Force model; the county is participating in all three models advanced by the Trump administration. 

“It's a tremendous impact on the community, on the contribution to the safety and security of the citizens here because the more and more we do this, the more and more that criminal element goes elsewhere because they're going to take the path of least resistance and that's not in Lavaca County,” Greenwell told The Center Square. 

During a recent three-day multiagency OLS Task Force operation, The Center Square joined LCSO Deputy Austin Hannah on patrol. Hannah is driving a new bulletproof vehicle funded through ICE’s 287(g) program. His and other deputies’ salaries are augmented through OLS and 287(g) funds enabling them to add interdiction efforts to their regular patrol duties.

Hannah and others are prioritizing traffic enforcement to keep local residents safe. In one stop, Hannah pulled over a driver on a traffic infraction. Unbeknownst to him, the driver was in the country illegally, a high-ranking MS-13 gang member and wanted by Salvadoran authorities for torturing and beheading four people with a machete. 

“If I wasn't stopping cars, there would still be a guy who beheaded four people and tortured them in a different country out here roaming free. Traffic enforcement is a huge way to limit criminal activity,” he said. “There are people living in our communities who committed crimes and could keep committing crimes. They're here completely undocumented. They're driving around with no driver's licenses, no insurance, and in very, very, very unsafe vehicles. Our families are on these roads.” 

He’s also arrested many with convictions, including for murder, sexual assault, robbery, family violence, drunk driving, theft, stolen vehicles and who’ve been previously deported multiple times, he said. “They are too many to count,” he said.

On the ride along, OLS Task Force members pulled over the driver of a Camero near Shiner, Texas. He was in the country illegally and spoke broken English. When the officer asked him for his ID, he gave a birth date. When asked if he had documents with his name on it, he said he didn’t. When asked for consent to search him and his wallet, he replied, “I plead the Fifth” and then agreed to a search. The deputy found a Mexican ID and called ICE.

The vehicle’s registered owner came to get the vehicle, but he had no driver's license. His friend arrived to pick it up, but his driver’s license was suspended. The Mexican national was detained and transported to an ICE detention facility and the Camero was impounded. 

In another case, OLS Task Force members searched for a wanted sex offender working on a local ranch as a ranch hand. The ranch owners “had no idea that he was an illegal wanted for a very violent crime, indecency with a child. We got word he was there and I tracked him down and we picked him up,” Hannah said. The ranchers thanked them. 

During the recent operation, OLS Task Force members conducted 396 traffic stops, resulting in the arrests of 30 illegal foreign nationals who were detained and transferred to ICE. They also made arrests for controlled substance and weapons violations, found and arrested two fugitives wanted by law enforcement, arrested two individuals for organized retail theft, recovered a stolen vehicle and trailer, seized a semi-automatic handgun and illicit drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, THC vapes and marijuana.

During the operation, the LCSO received two simultaneous calls requiring a heavy emergency response from law enforcement, fire, and EMS. OLS Task Force members immediately responded to a head-on motor vehicle crash that resulted in fatalities and found a lost special needs child in a rural area. 

“For rural communities, where agencies often operate with limited personnel and resources, partnerships like those created by Operation Lone Star and the OLS Task Force are essential. They enhance public safety, strengthen interagency collaboration, and ensure that when our citizens need help most, we have the support in place to respond quickly and effectively,” Lavaca County Sheriff’s Office Captain Josh Vaclavik said.

Those participating in the OLS Task Force operation were from the sheriff’s offices of Brooks, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Kleberg, Lavaca and Wilson counties and the police departments of Hallettsville, Kingsville, Moulton, Nixon and Yoakum.