BRYAN, TX — On Feb 13, College Station police were sent out to a Motel 6, located at 1601 S. Texas Ave in Bryan, TX, on a report of a social media scam. Once on-site, CS officers began searching for suspects reported to have been falsely posing as homeless on Facebook, and openly accepting donations from local supporters.
One of whom had paid for their Motel 6 room… for a week.
Using the now-deleted Facebook group, “Brazos Valley Re-homing”, the suspects posted under their faux-identities as being two 24-year-olds, with the names, “Steven Ellis” and “Katy Ellis”.
According to the probable cause statement, “Katy”, was known to post how she was ‘pregnant and starving’ to spark sympathy from the other members of the Facebook group. However, on one documented occasion, the two had rejected an offer to have their groceries purchased for them, demanding money instead.
Arriving outside room #130, local CS officers were able to get the two to voluntarily speak and disclose their true identities as “Paula Puza”, a 40-year-old White male, and as “Kristen Adkins”, a 36-year-old White female.
Upon investigating, Puza stated he had nothing to do with the Facebook posts, stating Adkins alone, had been posting on behalf of the two. From there, Adkins confirmed this, and that she had been accepting help from the community, like their paid Motel 6 stay.
After these conversations, dispatch confirmed to the CS officers on-site that Puza had an active warrant for speeding 10 or more above the posted limit, and took him into custody. Conducting a search on Puza, CS officers found, “a plastic baggie containing 10 blue pills”, located in the right front pocket of his pants.
Initially, Puza stated the blue pills were ‘Adderall’. However, according to the probable cause statement, Puza quickly re-responded and stated they were actually ‘endurance pills’ from a convenience store. Upon testing at the Bryan Police Department, the pills in question were found to actually be 5.2 grams of MDMA.
Puza was subsequently placed under arrest for his outstanding speeding-related warrant, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of a Controlled Substance PG2 4g<400g.