9 Indicted for Assaults Using Guns, Knives, Chains and Cars

Violent crimes alleged to have been committed in March were brought before a Tom Green County grand jury this month, who handed down nine indictments to individuals accused of using steak knives, cars, guns and chains to cause harm to others. The victims range from the defendant's own child to perfect strangers, with one instance of a shooting at a victim who was also a witness in a pending aggravated robbery case. 

Of the 60 indicted in May, the nine below were the most violent. Others included 16 charged with drug possession, four with manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance and seven charged with burglary, theft or robbery. 

Girl Fight

Chelsea Breann Stewart was indicted this month on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after getting into an argument with her ex-girlfriend and swinging at her with a knife.

According to a complaint written by detective James Hernandez, the two had been broken up for about a month and a half on March 26, when the former couple met in a local park to visit with Stewart’s daughter.

After relocating to the victim’s residence, an argument broke out over her new relationship and Stewart fished a pocketknife out of the victim’s pocket and lunged at her. After a struggle, the victim convinced to Stewart to go outside for a smoke, then ran back into the house and locked the door. Stewart heaved a cinder block through the window in an attempt to get back inside, and the victim ran out through the front door. They were separated by arriving police.

The victim and defendant told detective Hernandez virtually the same story, except that Stewart claimed there had been no knife fight. Stewart was transported to the county jail, where she was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon.

Cockroaches

Two women were talking about cockroaches in their apartment at 321 Pulliam St. on March 19, when a 28-year-old man took personal offense and assumed they must have been talking about him, a complaint written by detective Jeremy Cannady states.

Approaching one of the girls and cornering her in a breezeway, Jonathan Huan Soto pulled out a 20-inch chain with two padlocks hooked to the end and begin swinging it at his side, asking why she’d called him a cockroach. The girl yelled for another man, who began to make his way downstairs to help her, and Soto went inside an apartment and sat on the couch.

As the man asked Soto why he’d threatened the girl, he turned in her direction to verify with her that it had been him and Soto swung the chain, hitting the man in the head with the padlocks. The victim hit Soto back and a struggle ensued on the ground, where Soto struck the man with the chain again, but didn’t have enough force to cause much effect.

Soto was arrested at the scene and booked into the county jail for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His charge has been enhanced to a first-degree felony in the indictment due to a prior conviction for burglary of a habitation.

Covered in Blood

Ruben Moreno Stakes was standing in the yard at 1715 N. Pope on March 4 when officer Benjamin Spencer arrived at the scene of the stabbing, a complaint written by detective Lynn Dye states. His shirt, torn, was covered in blood.

In the doorway to a small apartment, a woman, also covered in blood, lie with stab wounds to her face, forearm and thigh. Fourteen different lacerations, including those to her chest and abdomen, were counted as she was being treated at the hospital.

The victim told Sergeant Doug Thomas that Stakes, 42, had hurt her. Stakes was transported to the county jail for aggravated assault against a family member with a deadly weapon, a first-degree felony. He was indicted in May.

Brown Leather Belt

A 28-year-old father faces two to 10 years in prison for allegedly beating his 2-year-old with a brown leather belt.

According to a complaint written by detective James Hernandez, Austin Jay Rivera became upset with his son on March 16, when the toddler entered the kitchen. He then “spanked” the child with a brown leather belt, leaving various welts on his torso, buttocks and legs.

The mother of the child was cooking at the time and heard the spanking but thought nothing of it as Rivera had never hit the child before in that manner. She saw the injuries when her son came to her in the kitchen saying he hurt, pointing to his leg.

The parents got into an argument and the neighbors called the police. Rivera told detective Hernandez that he only hit his son once and did not intentionally harm the child, however Hernandez concluded that the injuries were not consistent with Rivera’s version of the story.

Rivera was booked into the county jail for injury to a child with intentional bodily injury, a third-degree felony. He was indicted on the same charge in May.

A Not-So-Peaceful Resolution

Gregory Gill, 28, and Jarrett Dez Jackson, 23, both faces felony charges after a convoluted gun and fistfight directed at the victim of an armed robbery for which Jackson was awaiting trial.

According to complaints written by detective Michael P. Gaeta, the incident started with a verbal altercation in the 500 block of W. 16^th St. when Jackson, Gill and a third individual pulled up in front of the victim’s family’s house.

Conflicting reports tell different versions of what happened next, Jackson claiming they just so happened to be driving by when the victim’s sister started waiving and yelling at them in the street, while the third individual said he and Jackson had gone to pick Gill up with the intention of driving over the residence to “try and clear things up in a peaceful manner”.

According to this third individual, members of the victim’s family had been showing up at his residence and place of employment and confronting him about Jackson, who was scheduled for trial in May on two counts of aggravated robbery after allegedly robbing the victim on Volney St.

After the parties met in the street and the fight became physical, they eventually broke up and gun shots were fired as the trio retreated to the car. Jackson said he witnessed the victim point a gun in the air and fire rounds off, Gill returning fire. The third member of the trio said the victim shot at Gill and Gill shot back, while the victim’s brother said Gill shot at him and he shot back. The victim himself said he only heard the gunshots coming from the direction of the trio’s vehicle, but that he’d seen his brother shoot back.

Jarrett Jackson was arrested that same afternoon and charged with obstruction or retaliation. He has been indicted on charges of aggravated assault in retaliation, a first-degree felony, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, and obstruction or retaliation, a third-degree felony

Gregory Gill was arrested two days later and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. He was indicted on the charge in May.

Death Threats

Christopher Sandoval was getting drunk and listening to music when his girlfriend of five years got up to use the restroom on the night of March 11, a complaint by detective Jake Russell states. He told her she needed to stay in the room because he had a knife.

After using the restroom herself, Sandoval’s girlfriend took one of the toddlers to the bathroom as well, then returned to the room trailed by her boyfriend. As she lie in bed, Sandoval leaned over her with a knife and threatened to kill her, himself and all four children in the house.

The woman tried to calm Sandoval down but a physical fight ensued and she attempted to lure him out of the apartment. Sandoval, in turn, locked himself inside and continued his threats against the children.

As the woman banged on doors, Sandoval came out and approached her with the knife, dropping it and sitting down on the stairs as police arrived.

Highly intoxicated, Sandoval sat in the police car with vomit on himself and admitted to Russell that he had threatened his girlfriend with a knife and physically hit her. He was transported to the county jail where he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a family/household member. He was indicted on the lesser second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Running Down the Law

Jeremy Richard Zapata’s family were seeking donations on the internet for legal fees after the 27-year-old was thrown into the county jail on March 8 for running over San Angelo Police Officer Matthew Faz.

According to a complaint written by detective Kelly Lajoie, Faz responded to an unknown problem in the 200 block of Westwood on March 7, where he saw a four-door passenger car sitting in the middle of the residential street with several people surrounding it.

As officer Faz approached the vehicle, he saw a male and female in the driver and passenger’s seats, and the car began to move toward him. Faz told Lajoie that he yelled for the driver to stop and tried to get out of the way, slapping the hood of the vehicle that continued to travel toward him. The female passenger meanwhile, began screaming at Zapata, the driver, and telling him it was a cop and to stop.

As the vehicle sped by, Faz’s foot was run over and he fell backward, hitting his head on the pavement. The female passenger and the car were later located at the Stripes at Junius and Howard by sheriff’s deputies and Zapata was located some time later.

Zapata waived his Miranda rights and told Lajoie that he knew he had hit a police officer with his vehicle and that he had fled the scene because he knew he was going to be in trouble. He was jailed for aggravated assault against a public servant. He has since been indicted on the first-degree felony charge.

Facebook and the Food Fight

A man in the N. Bryant Whataburger sustained injuries to his legs and buttocks after being stabbed during a fight that broke out between himself and two neighboring tables on March 1.

According to a complaint written by detective Michael P. Gaeta, the victim his friends had just ordered their food when people at a nearby table began complaining about how long it was taking for food to be brought out.

Eventually, words were exchanged between the victim and the other party, and the victim threw down his cup, some of the liquid possibly splashing on the people at the other table. Those people then stood up and a brawl ensued that became volatile when a second table stood up and began attacking the victim as well.

At some point, a man later identified at 34-year-old James Nicholas Guzman attempted to hit the victim with a chair, but was stopped by another patron, and began stabbing the victim in the leg and butt.

As the investigation began into the case, detective Gaeta received links to videos on Facebook from the fight that depicted a portion of the brawl. He was also sent a picture of Guzman, who was believed to be the man behind the chair and stabbing.

On March 3, officer Cathy DeLaughter notified Gaeta that she’d seen a picture on Facebook she believed was the suspect and may have his identity, James Guzman, of Killeen. Another witness then contacted Gaeta with a video from an opposing angle, which clearly showed Guzman stabbing the victim.

Guzman was indicted on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in May, a second-degree felony. His photo, Facebook, and the video were matched up against mugshots from Killeen.

The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at the hospital.

In total, the grand jury passed down 60 indictments in May. View the whole list here.