HOUSTON – One of Texas’ most-wanted fugitives — a man convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping — was arrested in Houston earlier this month, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Paul Matthew Berry III, 56, was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping with intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually in 1988. He received a 60-year sentence for his crimes. In 2008, Berry was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and served 11 years out of his 20-year sentence before being released on parole in Harris County in May 2019.
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He violated his parole in June 2021. The following month, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for Berry’s arrest for sexual assault of a child and he was subsequently placed on the state’s most-wanted list.
Texas Department of Public Safety Special Agents, assisted by state troopers, apprehended Berry at a house in north Houston. His arrest was the result of tip information received through Texas Crime Stoppers. A reward will be paid, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Another most-wanted fugitive, John Oliver Talmadge McMickings, 38, of El Paso, was also arrested in April.
Walton County Sheriff’s deputies apprehended McMickings near Loganville, Georgia on April 14.
An El Paso native, McMickings was convicted of sexual assault of a child for an incident involving a 14-year-old girl and was initially sentenced to five years of probation. His probation was revoked in 2013, and McMickings was sentenced to 10 years in a prison. He was released on parole in August 2019.
He violated parole in 2021. Several months later, the El Paso District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest for failure to register as a sex offender. Soon after, he was placed on the most-wanted list.
McMickings’ arrest was also the result of tip information received through Texas Crime Stoppers.
Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Commission, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives or Sex Offenders.
So far in 2022, DPS and other agencies have arrested 21 people off the lists, including six gang members and 14 sex offenders. In addition, $46,000 in rewards has been paid for tips that yielded arrests.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).
All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.