Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is moving to present evidence to a grand jury against a man who shot an alleged armed robber to death at a Houston taqueria last week.
The 46-year-old man, who authorities have not identified because he has not been charged with a crime, has been hailed as a hero by some for intervening in an alleged armed robbery.
Ogg’s move coincides with the revelation that the robbery suspect was out on a $500 bond for domestic violence and had previously served prison time for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, a 2013 incident that resulted in the shooting death of Hamid Waraich, a cell phone store owner in Houston.
The deadly incident mirrors similar tragedies in Dallas, where low bail and lenient release conditions in Dallas County have resulted in a substantial pushback against District Attorney John Creuzot, who has been repeatedly criticized for his “soft-on-crime” approach.
Like Creuzot, Ogg has been a longtime beneficiary of left-wing mega-donor George Soros, who has contributed substantially to district attorneys’ campaigns across the country, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
The unidentified male customer was one of several patrons eating at El Ranchito Taqueria last Thursday night in southwest Houston. At around 11:30 p.m., 30-year-old convicted felon and robbery suspect Eric Eugene Washington entered the establishment and allegedly brandished a firearm, proceeding to rob the restaurant’s patrons at gunpoint.
According to court records, Washington was out on parole, having been released from prison in 2021 for the aggravated robbery. However, he was arrested again in December 2022 for assaulting his girlfriend and released on $500 bail.
“As the suspect collected money from patrons, one of the patrons, described as a white or Hispanic male, produced a gun of his own and shot the suspect multiple times. The shooter collected the stolen money from the suspect and returned the money to other patrons,” Houston police said in a statement.
Police said the unidentified man turned himself in and is cooperating with investigators.
Video footage of the incident was captured and widely circulated on Twitter.
The unidentified man’s attorney stated to Houston’s ABC 13:
“In fear [for] his life and his friend’s life, my client acted to protect everyone in the restaurant. In Texas, a shooting is justified in self-defense, defense of others, and in defense of property. … We are confident that a Grand Jury will conclude that the shooting was justified under Texas Law.”
ABC 13 also managed to make contact with two sons of Hamid Waraich, the cell phone store owner killed in the 2013 robbery.
“If the guy who stopped Eric was around 10 years ago, maybe I’d still have my dad,” said Aman Waraich.
Another of Waraich’s three sons, Sean, added, “The individual at the taqueria is a true hero! He did the right thing in stopping the robber and in protecting the community from a dangerous perpetrator.”
How about prosecuting these career criminals to the full extent of the law, instead of setting low bail amounts, and turning them loose to make society more dangerous? DAs like this one, belong in prison with the real criminals, instead of making law abiding citizens out to be criminals! People carry guns, because law enforcement is not there when a crime is being committed
While it’s regrettable that the robber lost his life, I applaud the hero for standing up for innocent victims (past and present).
I totally agree with LoWa’s comments regarding DA’s, but unfortunately the local electorate has no one to blame but themselves! Voting, presumably based on “social justice,” leads to no justice for anyone. Let’s evaluate a candidate on his record rather than believing empty promises.
I am thankful to live in Collin County–not perfect, but much better off for EVERYONE than living under the “social justice” fantasies of John Creuzot or Kim Ogg.
Hoity-toity Liberals don’t eat at Taquerias. They have gated communities with security guards to keep out the riff-raff. Meanwhile you and I can be ducks in the shooting gallery, stocked by Soros-backed DAs.
But in this case, there will be no multi-month, expensive trial where the defendant tells his sob story about how he was weaned to early and “the Man” kept him down. Instead he’ll get a quick, cheap funeral. Kudos to this hero, not only for protecting his community and stopping a dangerous predator, but also for all the money he saved his city and county.
And probably other innocent people’s lives when the libs released him again…and again…and again.
Your politics are showing. “Soros-backed”? Shameful. The DA is only doing his job. If you are suggesting that it is wrong for the DA to ask for a Grand Jury investigation then I would remind you that it would be monumental malpractice to fail to submit a shooting that resulted in death to the grand jury.
If the DA was “doing his job”, a citizen wouldn’t have had to do it, protecting the public from predators!
If the DA was doing his job, he would have made sure that criminal had been given a much longer sentence for the first murder instead of inflicting him on society, yet again. That leopard was never going to change his spots.
Years ago, one of the pathologists I worked with, who was a bleeding heart liberal, walked up to me and said, “You conservatives are not very consistent. You don’t believe in abortion but you believe in the death penalty”. I told him, “Actually, we are quite consistent. We believe in protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. And in case you’re confused, the baby is the innocent one”.
Pap-smear, the first several weeks, the baby is a bunch of cells and we don’t know what kind of person they will grow up to be. Forcing someone to have an unwanted child is likely not going to create the best adult. Your self-righteousness is going to teach us a costly lesson in morality as we will see an increase in crime and social services. Stop telling people what to do when it doesn’t affect you in the slightest.
I applaud him for standing up for others against criminals. However, if he’s charged, I’d like to be on the jury. I’d like to hear the entire story, not just what news sources say or claim. For instance, if he put 4 rounds into the guy, then put another 4 or was it 5 rounds into him while he was down, then shot him in the head? If all that is true, I’d have zero problem convicting him of manslaughter. Even though our Texas laws allow you to defend yourself, others and property, it doesn’t say you can execute someone. Again, I’d like to hear the entire story and figure out what the truth is.
You obviously understand well the stress associated with fighting for your life, as you can judge this man. Consider being more forgiving for not being as able to handle the stress as you.
Most of the commenters on this forum don’t care what the truth is. He was a convicted felon paroled by a “Soros-backed DA” and they are happy to see his blood on the floor. The story I heard was that the robber’s gun was fake. What prompts a person to risk their life to rob a store or anything else (especially in right to carry states) is beyond me. I am glad none of the other people were hurt by the robber OR the “hero”. Looking at the photo, if the “hero” is indicted, his attorney may have a problem with him shooting, what looks to me, a fleeing suspect in the back. Maybe multiple times.
If I had to hazard a guess, their “hero” is packing some skeletons in his own gun-filled closet.
Well, before you get your head in a tizzy. Consider that IF the the first, or any other shot killed him, or gave him mortal injuries, then no other shot counts. At all. Just bullet lead in meat.
It makes no difference if it was one or 14 shots. The question might be when was the injury mortal, then again I will show you why that is irrelevant. Besides, do you realize how many police officers fire more than 3 rounds in life or death situations? In one case several officers surrounding a “perpetrator” fired over 40 rounds at him. He was SURROUNDED even and they still fired 40 rounds or more. If I recall they averaged less than 1/5 hitting him and they were PROFESSIONALS and if I recall the perpetrator had only a knife. Justifiable shooting was the result of investigation.
Consider that even well trained LEO and military in close quarter mortal combat with pistol may not actually hit the target one time in five at just a few feet. One has to remember that not only was he firing at an armed dangerous criminal who threatened their lives, but he had other patrons who he had to assure remained SAFE during the actions and even from his bullets as well as assure that the perpetrator could fire at anyone else at all. Was the gun still in the perps hand, was the perpetrator moving at all?
I suggest that 1. You do not own a weapon and have never been trained with weapons. 2. You do have not ever had a life or death threat upon you or those around you. 3. you have never killed a large game animal with a gun (or you would know that even a lethal bullet can allow time for return of lethal harm (even by an unarmed animal!). 3. In case you didn’t know, there are many reports of battlefield deaths wherein someone took as many as 5 individually fatal rounds from RIFLE FIRE (many times more powerful than a pistol), and still lived long enough to advance and take out enemy positions single handedly.
You are just wrong on so many levels with your armchair judgements.
Q.E.D.
He is a hero for protecting the public, something obviously the courts chose not to do.
According to the SUPREME COURT, POLICE have NO DUTY to PROTECT, but instead the duty to investigate and when necessary arrest.
I say that the POLICE need to close their investigation with the references to the Texas Statute that allows protection of self, others and property with lethal force and make an official statement in THIER INVESTIGATION DOCUMENTS that as far as the police are concerned, this was a righteous shooting under the law.
Then, present that document to the Grand Jury and also have the investigating officer inform the grand jury that this information WILL be given to the accused’s attorney as exculpatory information gained in the investigation.
The POLICE in doing this can cut the throat of the district attorney in even bringing this case to the Grand Jury. No possible conviction after that.
And why not ever talk about the very long list of billionaires that back the GOP? Rupert Murdoch, the dude that owns Home Depot.
Here’s a link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/article/meet-the-billionaires-funding-the-battle-for-control-of-the-house-of-representatives/?sh=3f5e3bc124c9