BRYAN, Texas — A Hempstead man will spend the next 65 years in prison for instigating a fight which led to a shooting at a tire shop in Bryan in May of 2020.
According to the Brazos County District Attorney's Office, Arnoldo Romero was found guilty by a jury on Friday, Nov. 8 for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. He was sentenced to 45 years and 20 years in prison for both charges respectively.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred in May 2020, when Romero was out on parole for four counts of Aggravated Robbery. During the incident, Romero instigated a fight with an employee at Bryan's House of Tires, eventually pulling out a gun and shooting the employee before fleeing the scene.
The employee was helped by nearby citizens and others at the House of Tires to give him life-saving aid before police and EMS arrived. While he was able to pull through thanks to hospital medical staff, the employee still has "physical complications from the shooting that he lives with to this day."
When determining how much prison time he would be serving, evidence was presented of Romero's past convictions, including a past five-year prison sentence for Aggravated Robbery, two additional Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon charges in 2022 and 2023, Aggravated Robbery, and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity. According to the District Attorney's Office, Romero was also a documented member of the Latin King street gang.
"A Brazos County Jury sent a message to the Defendant and others like him--when you continue to bring crime and violence into our community we will not tolerate that behavior," said Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Porter and Tonika Davis in a press release on Romero's sentencing.