HOUSTON—A Houston police officer is accused of stealing money from citizens during traffic stops.

Officer Mathais Dornellien, 24, is charged with theft by a public servant, a third-degree felony.

After receiving a complaint about Dornellien, HPD’s Internal Affairs Department set up a sting operation in which an undercover officer posed as a citizen in a traffic stop.

When Officer Dornellien pulled the undercover officer over, investigators said Dornellien made the officer get out of the car, and then reached into the officer’s pockets, taking more than $100 in marked bills.

Investigators said other officers stopped Dornellien shortly after he left the scene of the traffic stop, and detectives recovered the marked cash.

If convicted of theft by a public servant, Dornellien could face from two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Dornellien was relieved of duty with pay after his arrest on Friday.  He has been with HPD since 2009.

story by khou

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The father of a 2-year-old Florida boy has admitted to the near-fatal beating of his son while teaching the child how to box, officials said Wednesday.

Lee Willie Dejesus, 23, of Homestead was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated child abuse and child neglect, according to the criminal complaint against him.

Miami-Dade police said the incident occurred Monday night when Dejesus was watching the child while his mother was at work. Dejesus told police that he put on boxing gloves and struck the child about 15 times on his face, head, torso and shoulders over a period of 15 minutes, punching him so hard at one point that the boy fell off the bed and struck his head on the tile floor.

The child was rushed to Children’s Hospital where he underwent surgery for bleeding on the brain.

The boy — identified by CNN affiliate WSVN as Willy Brown — was on life support Wednesday and not expected to recover from his injuries, said Ed Griffith, spokesman for the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office.

Griffith said the boy “may be brain dead,” and the attorney’s office expects to file first-degree murder charges against Dejesus as early as Wednesday night or Thursday.

The complaint alleges that Dejesus waited to call for medical help for as long as an hour after the boy became unresponsive. He eventually called 911 after the boy’s lips became blue, according to the complaint.

Dejesus initially told police that the boy was beaten by a babysitter before admitting he did the beating, the complaint says.

He is being held at a pretrial booking facility on $50,000 bond on the aggravated abuse charge and $7,500 on the child neglect charge, jail records show.

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A police officer is off the job for 31 days after an investigation revealed personal contact with an 18 year old male.

The 18 year old called police back in January because his cousin was afraid to go home.

The officer responded to the scene and offered to take the cousin home.  The 18 year old gave the officer his number and asked him to call him after his cousin got home safely.  The officer did.

According to the investigation, the officer continued to use the number – sending more than 100 text messages to the teen asking about his day, even offering him gas money.

Police subpoenaed the teen’s cell phone to obtain the records.

Lorain’s Director of Public Safety Phil Dore said the officer agreed to the suspension and will undergo psychological evaluation. He will not face any criminal charges.

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