Charges filed against suspects in League City bar robbery

11:52 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 21, 2009

By Chris Paschenko / The Daily News

LEAGUE CITY, Texas — A Webster police officer shot and killed one man, and two others were charged following an armed robbery at a League City bar, authorities said Monday.

Bonds for Luis Armando Hernandez and Manuel Vasquez, both 23 and of Houston, were set at $80,000 each on charges of aggravated robbery with a firearm stemming from a 9:30 p.m. Sunday incident at Easy Street bar, 112 state Highway 3.

The men charged were not carrying identification documents, police said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who will investigate whether the men are legal U.S. residents, also ordered them held, League City police detective Sgt. John Jordan said.

“Anytime we believe someone is an illegal immigrant, when they get to the county jail, they can do a screening on whether they’re a legal resident or not,” Jordan said.

Police had not revealed the name of a man who died after a Webster officer shot him in the head. He was listed in police reports as “Juan Doe.”

Three men entered the bar through the back door. One stayed behind while two others went to the front of the business, Jordan said.

“They pulled out semi-automatic pistols, and a third came in and demanded everyone put their purses and property on the bar,” Jordan said, noting the 10 to 15 people believed to have been in the bar complied and weren’t injured.

“The third person collected the property,” Jordan said. “They ran out the back door to a gold Nissan Altima and were last seen northbound on Highway 3.”

League City police notified officers in Webster, who spotted a vehicle matching a description of the suspect vehicle on Highway 3, Webster police Lt. Raymond Graham said.

Officers Colin Murphy and Andrew Brooks followed the car until backup officers converged in the area, Graham said. They stopped the car in the 900 block of West NASA Parkway, where two men got out and ran, he said.

Murphy chased a suspect into a nearby parking lot, where, according to police reports, he saw the man had a gun in his hand, Graham said.

Murphy ordered the man to stop and drop the weapon, but the suspect pointed the handgun at him, Graham said.

Murphy fired his service weapon four times at the suspect, hitting him once in the head, Graham said.

The man was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he was pronounced dead, Graham said.

The driver — identified by Jordan as Hernandez — surrendered at the scene without incident, Graham said. A passenger — identified by Jordan as Vasquez — is accused of dropping a handgun on the ground and running north on a utility line easement, Graham said.

Vasquez is accused of approaching someone who was talking on a cell phone near Baystone Apartment complex. The person wouldn’t let him make a call, and Vasquez ran eastbound, Graham said.

Vasquez is accused of trying to hide in a pile of grass and high weeds, Graham said. A Dickinson police tracking dog and Houston police helicopter were called to the scene.

As the canine closed in, the helicopter, apparently using a camera that detects body heat, located a “hot spot” in the brush, and the suspect was captured, Graham said.

Both men were captured by Webster police, and the car and evidence were released to League City police, Graham said.

Members of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and Webster detectives are investigating the shooting death, and as standard procedure, the officer who fired the shot was placed on administrative duty while the investigation continues, Graham said.

This story is available through KHOU, Ch. 11's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.