A robbery at a Houston law office took a bizarre turn when it was discovered that one of the employees held at gunpoint was the robber’s wife. Houston police arrested a 26-year-old ex-cop on theft charges in connection with the incident.
According to the police, the man waited in the parking lot of the law office until his wife left the building in which she worked. With his face concealed with a bandana, the suspect led his wife back into the law office where he held her and two other workers at gunpoint. He ran from the office after taking nearly $8,000 that was in an envelope in a desk drawer.
The arrest of the suspect came after police found a Houston Police Department jacket in the parking lot after the robbery. The suspect was a member of the department from 2009 until he resigned while under suspension earlier this year. Police charged him with aggravated robbery in connection with the law office theft.
Aggravated robbery is a serious violation of the criminal laws in Texas. The possible sentence for a first-degree felony conviction is imprisonment from five to 99 years and a $10,000 fine. If the offender has a prior criminal record or if a victim is injured during the commission of the theft crime, a judge could sentence a person convicted of aggravated robbery to life imprisonment.
Regardless of the sentence a judge imposes for a conviction, criminal defense attorneys are aware that a first-degree felony conviction can have far-reaching consequences for their clients. The future impact of a felony criminal record could include difficulty finding employment, loss of civil rights such as the right to vote or own a gun, and disqualification from obtaining professional licensing.
Source: KHOU.com, “Former police officer accused of holding up wife’s law firm,” Andrew Horansky, Aug. 24, 2012