4 Travis County Deputies Cleared In Shooting

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — The Travis County District Attorney's Office has cleared four sheriff's deputies who shot at a suspect who drove off in evading arrest in late 2018 — an incident the man who ultimately was arrested survived.

The incident dating to Nov. 8, 2018, began when Pflugerville police officer Alex Grana responded to the 200 block of West Wilbarger St., following a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area. Upon arrival, the officer approached the parked vehicle where he saw a sleeping man inside the white Ford F-150 truck. After running the plates, Grana learned the vehicle had been reported stolen from Bell County, the DA's office described in a press advisory.

Grana called for backup after learning the truck had been stolen, prosecutors said. After his counterparts arrived, spike sticks were strategically placed to prevent the suspect, later identified as Frank Soliz, from driving off.

But that's just what Soliz did, district attorney's office officials said. After the officers identified themselves and commanded Soliz to show his hands, the suspect drove off — puncturing the rear passenger in the process after running over the spike strip that had previously been installed by police. The officers gave chase until Soliz turned onto the SH 130 toll road as he drove south along the northbound lanes, the DA's office said.

In the midst of the pursuit, Travis County Sheriff's Office deputies received information of the incident before joining in the pursuit. Deputy Luis Garcia spotted the truck parked on a gravel road near a water plant before he called for backup. Arriving deputies commanded Soliz to exit the vehicle to no avail, the DA's office said. Instead, Soliz drove off again before entering the fenced property around the water treatment plant.

As Soliz began exiting the power plant property, prosecutors added, he rammed his vehicle into Garcia's car. At that, deputies Stanley Dalley and Curtis Kelly exited their vehicles before firing their weapons to shoot out the truck's tires in an attempt to disable the vehicle, district attorney's office officials said.

That's when Soliz drove toward the two deputies, prosecutors said. Garcia then fired his weapon at Soliz but missed him. Once the truck came to a halt some 100 yards from the entrance to the water treatment facility and from where the shots had been fired, prosecutors said, the vehicle was blocked off and surrounded by police. After an 8-hour standoff with police and SWAT team members, Soliz surrendered peacefully before being taken into custody.

Soliz ultimately was sentenced to 3 years in prison for aggravated assault and another 10 months in state jail on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle, the DA's office said.

"The Travis County District Attorney’s Office has determined that the credible facts establish that the officers’ use of force was justified under applicable Texas law governing when an officer may use deadly force," prosecutors wrote in a press advisory. As a result of that finding, District Attorney Margaret Moore said she has declined to present this case to a grand jury.

In addition to Dalley, Garcia and Kelly, deputy Thomas Gray also was cleared in the officer-involved shooting.

The DA noted a legal analysis forming the basis for her decision not to assign the case to a grand jury will be published on the District Attorney’s Civil Rights Unit web page accessed by clicking here.

The decision by the district attorney not to pursue a case against the officers is the second time in as many weeks police have been cleared after an officer-involved shooting. On Jan. 31, Moore said she had declined to pursue grand jury oversight into the fatal shooting of a motorist who officers Luis Camacho and Robert Mattingly claimed had pointed a gun at them following a pursuit. After evading arrest in the early hours of Jan. 29, 2019, police fired at Paul Cantu, 27, after he reportedly aimed his gun at them, according to a press advisory.

One of the officers involved held the man at bay while ordering him to drop the gun before Cantu fell to his knees, according to the account. Described as distraught and pointing the gun to himself at one point during the standoff, Cantu is said to have then risen to his feet unexpectedly before aiming the gun in the direction of police — prompting the policemen to fire their weapons.

A mortally wounded Cantu was transported to an area hospital where he succumbed to his wounds a short time later, the district attorney said at the time. Cleared in that shooting were officers Luis Camacho and Robert Mattingly, the DA's office said.

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Similarly, several county police officers have been cleared by the district attorney in shootings her office ultimately deemed as justifiable. Among those cases:

• Officers Douglas Trahan and Kendric Witt were both cleared two months after the August 2018 shooting of Craig Carter during a confrontation. Following an exchange of gunfire, a critically injured Carter was charged with attempted murder of a peace officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The shooting followed an incident along the 4700 block of Chiappero Train in North Austin just past 7:35 a.m. sparked by the suspect's mothers's outcry to police claiming he had assaulted her. Police said Carter had fled the scene before their arrival but not before slashing the tires of his mother's car. In the aftermath of the incident, Carter became the 7th civilian that year to be either injured or killed in an officer-involved shooting involving Austin police.
• Officer Thomas Brown was cleared in July 2019 in the shooting death of a knife-wielding woman during a disturbance call dating to June 7, 2018. Officers responded to a home on South Glenn Street after residents reported having been assaulted. Brown and fellow officer Elias Robles arrived to talk to witnesses, who identified the suspect as Leslie Salazar. Brown is said to have commanded Salazar to drop the knife as he took a step back, only to have the woman continue her advance toward him with the knife raised, the DA said at the time. As a result, the officer fired three shots in mortally wounding Salazar.
• In August 2019, the DA's office cleared Officer Benjamin Rogers in the shooting death of another knife-wielding woman. The case dates to Feb. 22, 2017, when officers were dispatched to the home of Morgan Rankins, 30, along the 7900 block of Appomattox Drive after an anonymous caller at the location told a 911 dispatcher someone was trying to blow up the house. As two officers approached the house, a white Dodge Charger reversed from the driveway before turning to face officers at a high rate of speed, the DA's office recapped. Officers jumped out of the way before embarking on a high-speed chase of the vehicle that ended after stop sticks were utilized to end the pursuit. According to the DA's office, Rogers was advised the woman was carrying a knife in a possible attempt to bait officers to shoot her. After the car was stopped, Rogers approached the crashed vehicle with his weapon drawn, as Rankins exited the car and moved toward him with a knife in her hand, the DA related. The woman is said to have come toward the officer while ignoring commands to drop the knife, prompting Rogers to discharge his weapon. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and a knife is said to have been recovered in the grass.
• In September 2019, Moore also declined to pursue a grand jury case against seven officers — including Benjamin Rogers — for another shooting involving seven members of the force. The incident dates to Feb. 19, 2018, when Thomas Vincent Alvarez, 23, died at the scene along Edge Creek Drive after being fired on by police after allegedly pointing a gun at officers. The DA's office released dashcam video of the incident on Wednesday that begins with footage of police commanding Alvarez to get on the ground after exiting a cab in front of his roommate's mother's house where he was reportedly uninvited and acting erratically, according to a DA's office press advisory at the time. At a press conference following the shooting, Police Chief Brian Manley said the man pointed a gun to his head when confronted by police before aiming the firearm at them before being fatally shot by officers. Ultimately, the district attorney determined the shooting was justifiable, clearing Rogers and six other officers — Deandre Wright (APD # 7238), Khristof Oborski (APD # 4498), Matthew Henion (APD #7072), Nicholas Gebhart (APD #7298), Rafael Rosales (APD # 4421) and Robert Brady (APD # 7594).
• In July 2019, five officers' use of force was ruled justified after the shooting of a man wielding a pick ax. The incident dates to March 7, 2018, when officers went to 4800 Tanney St. where a man who called police said he had killed his brother and father. When police arrived, they found the suspect, Victor Ancira, sitting in the middle of the street on a folding chair. According to the DA's findings, Ancira ignored officers' commands to drop the pick ax, instead pacing back and forth with the implement in his hand. According to police, they fired beanbags and tasers at the Ancira in attempts to neutralize him with non-lethal means. But Ancira was able to block the projectiles with the folding chair, according to the DA. The encounter escalated when Ancira is said to have raised the pick ax over his head while lunging at the officers from about ten feet away. This prompted five officers at the scene — William Johns (badge #7217), Timothy Skeen (#8437), Michael Rowland (#8223), Bryan McCulloch (#8124) and Gavin Smart (#8674) to open fire. Ancira fell to the ground, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other officers — Jason Meurer (#8572), Bradley Hoover (8211) and Michael Rauert (4678) — concurrently were cleared for their use of non-lethal force, the DA's office noted. The dead man's father and brother he claimed to have killed were later found inside the home unharmed, officials noted.