DA dismisses charge against man accused of running over slain Caldwell Co. deputy constable's arm

AUSTIN, Texas - The Travis County District Attorney's office has dismissed an assault charge against a man accused of running over slain Caldwell County deputy constable Aaron Armstrong's arm in January.

22-year-old Ronaldo Ernesto Colindres-Simon was charged with second-degree felony assault on a peace officer, but those charges were dismissed in April, with the DA citing "insufficient evidence - request of law enforcement" as the reason.

What they're saying:

"The allegation was that this defendant had run over Deputy Armstrong's arm with his car. There was an eyewitness who thought that that is what he saw but as the detective reviewed the case, he learned first of all that there were no injuries to the deputies’ arm and that the video evidence did not show this defendant running over his arm," District Attorney Jose Garza said.

"And so when he saw this evidence, he called our prosecutor and requested that we dismiss the case because he didn't think that the evidence substantiated the charge," Garza said.

This is what Miguel Aguilera, Colindres-Simon’s attorney, said happened: "There was a lot of panic, a lot of commotion, my guy leaves at maybe 2 miles an hour, he’s backing up slowly and the officer’s foot moves to the left as the wheel of the vehicle is going in reverse, it pushes the foot, pushes the leg out of the way."

Garza said the detective requested the charge be dismissed. Aguilera said that was the right thing.

"He didn’t have to reach out to the DA, it could have been very easy for him to take a step back, let the course play out, him go to trial and potentially lose, it all came down to intent, whether he intended to run over the foot," Aguilera said.

"We obviously did a independent review of that evidence and confirmed his conclusion and concurred and dismiss the case," Garza said.

That decision came even after Colindres-Simon had been indicted by a grand jury.

"When it comes to a grand jury, the evidence is probable cause, which is the same level of evidence that is needed to make an arrest. That was the evidence they had that justified the arrest on the scene and the evidence that justified that indictment," Garza said.

Dig deeper:

Colindres-Simon was one of two people charged in connection with Armstrong's death; the other is 38-year-old Thomas Vences.

Armstrong was shot after escorting Vences out of Club Rodeo. Investigators said Vences spit blood on Armstrong, lingered in the parking lot, then returned and shot Armstrong.

Court documents said Vences later told police, ‘I didn’t want to shoot him, but I shot him.’

Vences is still in the Travis County Jail on capital murder of a peace officer and multiple other unrelated charges as he had five active warrants to his name at the time of the shooting.

He is being held without bond per court records.

"We thought that the evidence of this crime was so egregious when combined with the defendant's criminal history," Garza said. "Our prosecutors made the decision to put on evidence of his danger to his community and to seek no bond. The judge agreed and that is what happened in this case."

Vences has a pre-trial hearing set for July 7th. 

The backstory:

On Jan. 4, just after 2 a.m., APD responded to an "assist agency hotshot" call saying a constable had been shot at Club Rodeo, at 9515 N. Lamar Boulevard.

When officers arrived, they were flagged down by pedestrians in the parking lot and pointed towards two parked cars where they found a uniformed deputy constable, later identified as Caldwell County Pct 3 deputy constable Aaron Armstrong, on the ground. A bystander had started a tourniquet and told police they had seen at least one gunshot wound to his upper right arm.

The bystander told police that a man had been in an altercation inside the bar and was escorted out by the deputy. The man left the parking lot, but then returned and was told by the deputy that if he kept causing issues, he would go to jail.

The man appeared agitated and was held back by two other men and a woman. One of the men was later identified by police as Colindres-Simon.

The bystander said the man had retrieved a gun from one of the cars. An expletive was yelled and the bystander said he heard a gunshot. He helped the deputy constable to the ground and began life-saving measures, including the tourniquet.

He told police that he saw Colindres-Simon get into one of the cars and try to leave. Colindres-Simon told the bystander he didn't want anything to do with this and wanted to leave. Despite the bystander's protests, Colindres-Simon allegedly got in the car and reversed over the deputy constable's arm with one tire.

The bystander prevented him from doing it to the deputy constable's other arm and yelled at him that he was running him over. The car then drove off.

Officers were able to identify the sedan Colindres-Simon was reportedly driving through a social media post, which showed a license plate not belonging to the sedan. Officers also determined two other vehicles had been involved; two of the three vehicles did not have license plates.

Officers did a traffic stop on the sedan for not having a license plate and matching the description of the vehicle that had fled the scene and run over the deputy constable's arm.

The driver of the sedan was identified as Colindres-Simon, who reportedly told police he was parked at Club Rodeo but left because he heard gunshots. However, footage from Armstrong's body camera showed Colindres-Simon as one of the men holding back the shooting suspect. He also matched the description given to police by the bystander.

Crime and Public SafetyNorth Austin