In Texas "Fu*K Around Find Out" Is Rather Common

 A Texas grand jury will decide whether to criminally charge a Houston "taqueria" patron who shot dead a robber last week, police said.

The Houston Police Department announced Monday the 46-year-old customer has turned himself in and is cooperating with the investigation into the deadly shooting. He has not been named because he was not arrested or charged with any crime.

The attempted heist took place inside of The Ranchito #4 Taqueria around 11:30 p.m. Thursday January 5, 2023, when a suspect, identified as 30-year-old Eric Washington, entered the business, produced what appeared to be a gun and demanded that all patrons hand over their cash and wallets.

Eric Washington Deceased

The 46-year-old Houston diner, seen on surveillance video fatally shooting a robbery suspect, will go before a grand jury, which will decide whether to charge him.

An attorney for the unnamed armed patron, argued that his client was in fear of his life and acted in self-defense.

Surveillance video from the eatery shows customers cowering under tables as the masked and gloved perp, dressed in all black, walks around grabbing their possessions.

As the suspect heads for the exit with his loot, the 46-year-old diner sitting in a booth stands up, pulls out a handgun and opens fire on the robber, causing him to collapse.

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Then, while standing directly over the suspect, the customer shoots him again at point-blank range, as seen in the video.

The armed good Samaritan then collected the stolen money and belongings from Washington and returned them to their owners before fleeing the taqueria.

Video from The Ranchito Taqueria shows Washington walking into the eatery brandishing what looks like a gun and demanding cash from patrons.

The short version of the video is here.

Washington was pronounced dead at the scene. Police later determined that the gun in his possession was not real.

After police issued a public plea asking the armed customer to come forward so they could interview him about the shooting, his attorney released a statement to the station ABC 13 defending his actions.

“In fear of his life and his friend’s life my client acted to protect everyone in the restaurant,” the attorney wrote, stressing that in Texas “a shooting is justified in self-defense, defense of others and in defense of property.”

The unidentified diner has since met with prosecutors from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and with police homicide detectives.

Once the investigation is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, and the man’s attorney said they are “confident the Grand Jury will conclude that the shooting was justified under Texas Law.”

After the diner shot him multiple times, it was determined that the gun in Washington’s possession wasn’t real. 

The lawyer described the incident as “traumatic” to his client, and noted that “taking a human life is something he does not take lightly and will burden him for the rest of his life.”

Records indicate that the robbery suspect, Eric Washington, had an extensive criminal history and was out on bond at the time of the fatal shooting.

In 2015, Washington was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with the fatal shooting of 62-year-old Hamid Waraich two years prior.

The good Samaritan and the rest of the patrons fled the taqueria before police arrived. KTRK

Washington was released on parole in 2021 after serving less than half of his sentence, but he was back behind bars in mid-December after being arrested for allegedly shoving and scratching his girlfriend.

Washington was charged in that incident with misdemeanor family violence and was subsequently released on a personal recognizance bond.

“Eric was an evil criminal that took joy in harassing and robbing innocent families,” Waraich’s son Sean Waraich told the station. “The individual at the taqueria is a true hero.”

Cedar's Take: 1. Stop releasing violent felons. 2. Stop granting early parole for violent felons. 3. Stop giving low or no bail to violent felons. Finally incarceration saves lives. PERIOD!

And should you wish to dig a little deeper, (Caution this is for only those students of law or the desperate to know how this "self-defense" argument in Texas may play out) CP offers this detailed exploration here.