Phony IRS calls to the Mahendra Thakrar home started about a month ago, claiming the family filed fraudulent income tax returns.  Shobhana Thakrar took the first one.

“And that scared me first and then I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And he said, ‘You’ve been summoned to appear in the court and you haven’t responded so in half an hour you’re going to be arrested.’”

Panicked, Shobhana called Irving police who unexpectedly arrived inside that half hour window.  “Looking at the police I just started shivering and I don’t like it. And I asked, ‘Are you come to catch me?’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve come to save you.’

Irving police Officer James McLellan said callers seem to be targeting people with southeast Asian names, especially Indian.  “The scammer will call and they will threaten or intimidate the victim into thinking they have some kind of overdue IRS debt.”

Callers are sophisticated.  McLellan says they’ve manipulated computer software so the target’s caller ID seems to display a legitimate IRS or police phone number.  “We’ve had anything ranging from just a few hundred dollars up to $16- or $17,000.”

Dr. Mahendra Thakrar, Shobhana’s husband, said a colleague informed him the calls are part of a nationwide scamming attempt.

“He said, ‘Mahendra, don’t worry.’ His sister-in-law got a similar phone call [and] his sister in California got a phone call. There are a lot of phone calls — mostly targeting East Indians.”

Still, Mahendra finds it all unnerving. ” It’s scary, somebody should go after this guy.  Someone told me they made millions out of this kind of phone call.”

Later Friday Mrs. Thakrar had another conversation with the phony agent.  It went, in part, “…we have received a legal affidavit against your name,” for taxes allegedly unpaid between 2008 and 2012. The man said, “It was rather a willful act that was done with an intent to defraud the Internal Revenue Services.”  Later in the conversation he told Thakrar, “The total amount you owe the Internal Revenue Services is exactly $1457.”  The caller further said, “This means an IRS would make a legal lien on your debt, your house, your property, and your car, along with your all bank accounts would be frozen and confiscated.”

Officer McLellan cautions that because of the complexity of tracking digital crimes, and the fact the criminal may be overseas, it’s unlikely the person could ever be prosecuted.   The best defense is to get the caller’s name and badge number, then call the real IRS or police.

♦♦♦ Click here to read the complete warning from the Irving Police Department ♦♦♦

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“I’ve been involved with drinking and driving in my life,” says Capellan in a direct message. “It was very tragic.”

His message is meant to reach UT Arlington students.

“I wanted to create something to where I can help others not make the same mistakes that I’ve made in my life,” says Capellan.

The former Texas Tech student was driving drunk when he hit and killed a young woman riding a bicycle. While out on bail Capellan moved back home and enrolled at UTA.

Within a few months he started developing a student run safe ride program called Gallop Safe Ride.

“Our pain comes from the life he took,” says sister Roxy Ropos “…for her to have been taken away by his decision that could have easily been avoided is what hurts us.”

While he’s in jail his sister is running the program and says it’s something they had to do, “We want to prevent the tragedy and the pain that comes with the loss.”

The service is provided to students for free.

Anyone from campus can call for a ride home if they are too drunk to drive. A car and driver will then be dispatched to pick up the student and take them home anywhere in Arlington.

“I had a friend who died several years ago because somebody was drunk driving and he was in car accident,” says upcoming UTA student Lauren Moreau “I would definitely use that program, because I don’t want to put anyone else in danger because of my bad choices.”

Capellan will finish his jail sentence in May. His sister hopes to have the program up and running by the time he’s home. The non-profit already has the cars, but is still looking for sponsors.

A UTA Spokesperson says the university does not offer a ride-home service specifically related to intoxicated persons, however there is an after-hours security escort service for anyone who might be walking alone on campus after dark.

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The Dallas Police Associations said they believe one recruit repeatedly failed the driving test but was allowed to keep taking it until he passed.

Chief Brown launched a review Thursday, then released a statement Friday that said the facts don’t support the associations concerns.

Internal Affairs is looking for the source in order to investigate more fully.

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“I don’t think we take as much for granted,” said David Woodard, a West resident who rebuilt his home that was destroyed in the explosion. “I think we realize that we’re thankful for each and every day and what we have.”

After the tragedy, the residents of West asked for one thing — prayers. In many ways, those prayers were answered.

“This is a strong community and they rebuilt a lot faster than we thought,” said Father Ed Karasck, of the Church of Assumption in West.

Those prayers continued Friday, when the Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Austin Roman Catholic Church diocese held a memorial Mass to mark the first anniversary of the April 17, 2013 fertilizer explosion.

Residents came together at Assumption Catholic Church to reflect upon those who lost their lives trying to save others and also pray for continued healing and growth for their town.

Of the more than 200 homes that were destroyed, 138 of them have been rebuilt, according to West Mayor Tommy Muska.

“Seeing people come back and all smiles on their faces when they see the progress that we’re making, it makes you feel good inside,” Woodard said. “It makes you feel good about where our city is moving towards.”

The road to recovery for an entire town has been a long one. While it’s far from over, the town has vowed to rise again.

“Buildings are sticks and mortar and they can be fixed. We grieve our loss,” said Muska. “But we can’t stay still. We have to move forward and that’s what this town has done.”

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The massive furniture store in The Colony is set to open in March of 2015 but drivers can already see the shell of what the company says will be the largest furniture store in the nation.

The store will have more than 560,000 square feet of showroom space and will anchor the 433-acre Grandscape development at the corner of State Highway 121 and FM423.

However, some say none of this sizes-up to the impact the mega store will have on The Colony.

“For a long time we have been a bedroom community,” said Keri Samford, the director of economic development for The Colony, “But now we are transitioning into commercial.”

The Warren Buffett owned furniture store has become a magnet for developers.

Nearby open fields are now filled with construction trucks and “coming soon” signs – paving the way for hotels, restaurants, and other retail stores.

Even the furniture store, Rooms To Go, is set to build its 52,000 square-foot flagship store directly across the highway from its new competition.

Retailers are hoping to capitalize on the anticipated increase in traffic to the area.

Ed Lipsett, the manager of the Nebraska Furniture Mart’s new Texas store, said based on its other two locations, in Omaha and Kansas City, he expect people to travel up to six hours to come to the store.

Top Golf opened its newest location in November near the intersection of State Highway 121 and FM 423 because Nebraska Furniture Mart is going in across the street.

“It’s going to bring a whole new set of guests who haven’t been here,” said Jeff Kowalski of Top Golf. “We are expecting Nebraska Furniture to being in guests from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.  It’s going to do nothing but great things for us here.”

The City of The Colony expects local sale tax revenue to double the day Nebraska Furniture Mart opens next March.

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Plano homeowner Steve Kriss understands the need to conserve. But he doesn’t understand why in Frisco and McKinney, residents can water once a week, if necessary, while residents in the water district’s 11 remaining cities can water only once every other week.

“It just adds to the confusion,” said Kriss.

A water district spokeswoman said they can’t require cities to follow the district’s exact restriction. Frisco’s public works director Gary Hartwell says the city’s weather system allows them to monitor how much water is being used every week. Based on that, they place a recommendation on the city’s website each week on how much residents should water their lawns, if at all.

Hartwell said despite a booming population, residents are using less water.  “The district has asked us to reduce water usage by 10 percent. We’ve done that and in fact, we’ve reduced our usage by 18 percent, so we’re meeting our goal.”

He said the city has had stage three restrictions since last June 1st.

“Since that time, we actually used 1.7 billion gallons less than the previous period from June, 2012.”

Hartwell says one way they’re doing that is by requiring all new homes being built to install a smart controller, which determines whether the yard really needs to be watered that day.

McKinney leaders say their city has also met the water district’s goals to reduce water usage by ten percent.
As for Steve Kriss, he said residents in existing homes are also paying attention.

“I think people are conserving, I think they’re aware of run-off, they’re aware of filling the pool and having it overflow, aware of leaving on sprinklers.”

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