Man receives 35 years for striking Kyle police officer with metal pipe
Elias Villarreal (Hays County Jail)
SAN MARCOS, Texas - An Elgin man has received 35 years in prison for striking a Kyle police officer with a metal pipe last year.
63-year-old Elias Villarreal was found guilty on July 12 of first-degree felony aggravated assault against a public servant, and third-degree felony resisting arrest with a deadly weapon.
The charges stemmed from a February 2022 incident where Kyle police officers responded to a verbal disturbance between a man and a woman at the intersection of Quail Ridge and East Post roads.
Officers arrived and found Villarreal wielding a metal pipe, who then jumped over a fence and struck, and significantly damaged, a patrol vehicle with the pipe, says the Hays County Criminal District Attorney's office.
Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the pipe and even attempted using a Taser to stop him, but he then confronted the officers with pipe in hand.
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He briefly turned away, which gave an opening for one of the officers to run up and tackle him to the ground. However, Villarreal turned and struck the officer with the metal pipe before he could be disarmed, and the officer sustained a minor injury.
Officers were then able to apprehend Villarreal and take him into custody.
This isn't Villarreal's first brush with the law, says the Hays County DA's office. Villarreal was previously convicted for voluntary manslaughter, forgery, burglary of a vehicle, and third-degree felony and first-degree felony assault-family violence.
The Hays County DA's office says Villarreal expressed no guilt for what happened that day and refused to accept responsibility for his actions during his punishment phase testimony.