The Mexican rodeo in Bedford County where an alleged illegal immigrant was said to have gotten intoxicated before he killed someone in a car crash still has a license to sell beer.
Authorities, however, have gotten certain complaints about that establishment, Rancho La Herradura, said Troy Thompson, chair of the county’s five-member Beer Board, which grants permits to businesses to sell beer.
Thompson said he and his colleagues on the board haven’t gotten any phone complaints about Rancho La Herradura — but they heard a few last week, at a county Rules and Legislative Committee meeting.
“We had a full courtroom of concerned citizens. We have heard complaints since that time,” Thompson told The Tennessee Star Tuesday, when asked if board members plan to suspend the Mexican rodeo’s permit to sell beer.
“We don’t have anything factual to take action on, but the people in our Circuit Clerk Office are supposed to be working on something.”
County commissioners, whom Thompson did not identify, have also contacted him to complain about Rancho La Herradura, he said.
Thompson also said he and his fellow board members are awaiting the results of a Tennessee Highway Patrol report on the establishment and Edgar Torres-Rangel. As reported, Torres-Rangel allegedly drank at the Mexican rodeo before he got behind the wheel of his vehicle and killed Keri King later that night.
“The lieutenant at the THP didn’t sound like he would have a report in a timely fashion,” Thompson said.
“But if we get something back soon to go on then we will go from there.”
Until then, Thompson said no Beer Board meeting is scheduled.
Board members, Thompson went on to say, meet about four or five times per year.
As reported, a few county commissioners suspect the Rancho La Herradura in Bell Buckle of allowing drug deals, prostitution, gambling, and human trafficking, among other things.
As The Star reported, one county commissioner wrote a letter to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement describing concerns about the establishment.
That same commissioner, who has asked that The Star not identify him, also discussed Torres-Rangel.
Torres-Rangel was reportedly injured in the crash he allegedly caused. Members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol reportedly transported him to Vanderbilt.
As reported, what happened to Torres-Rangel afterwards is unknown. He is no longer a patient at Vanderbilt.
District Attorney Robert Carter, meanwhile, refused to answer when asked if he knows Torres-Rangel’s present location.
For his part, Bedford County Sheriff Austin Swing said Torres-Rangel is not in the county jail.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Facebook page, members of both that agency and the THP want Torres-Rangel on charges of vehicular homicide.
Both agencies have kicked in reward money, which totals up to $5,000 for information leading to his arrest, according to the TBI’s Facebook page.
If you have information about Torres-Rangel then contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or [email protected]
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
