By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The Republican Party candidate for county judge was taken to the emergency room after he was reportedly assaulted in a local bar early Saturday, and he was then barred from the hospital after a confrontation with staff there, police said.
Del Rio Police Department Cpl. Dulce Gonzalez said Senior Officer Alexandro Serrano was dispatched to the White Horse Lounge inside the Ramada Inn of Del Rio, 2101 Veterans Blvd., at 12:48 a.m. on Saturday after police were called about an assault.
Gonzalez said when Serrano arrived, he “made contact with the complainant, identified as Arturo Rodriguez.”
Rodriguez has filed an application for a place on the Republican Party Primary Election ballot, seeking the party’s nomination for the position of Val Verde County Judge.
“Rodriguez . . . who identified himself as a previous Customs and Border Protection agent, stated he observed a male that he knows . . . at the bar. Rodriguez said that he approached the couple and (spoke to the woman), and he was struck in the face several times with a closed fist by the male subject,” Gonzalez said.
Serrano reported he observed “visible injuries” on Rodriguez, including to the upper right cheek and the right eyebrow.
He also reported the couple Rodriguez had approached left the bar before police arrived.
Serrano said an ambulance from Val Verde Regional Medical Center was requested, arrived and transported Rodriguez to the emergency room for further evaluation and treatment.
“Approximately an hour later, a call was received from Rodriguez at Val Verde Regional Medical Center, and when Officer Serrano arrived there, he reported he observed Rodriguez acting aggressively, removing his neck brace and yelling obscenities inside the facility,” Gonzalez said.
“Due to his aggressive behavior and no longer wanting to be treated, Rodriguez was asked to leave the (hospital) premises by security staff, but refused to do so. Rodriguez was then issued a criminal trespass warning, which Rodriguez signed and indicated he understood. He was then escorted out of the facility,” Gonzalez added.
She noted Serrano indicated he offered Rodriguez a ride to his residence, but Rodriguez “refused to be patted down.”
“Upon his refusal, the officer informed him he would not be transported without a pat down for officer safety, at which point (Rodriguez) was left in the parking lot of the facility,” Gonzalez said.
She emphasized Rodriguez was not arrested and was not issued any citations.
Gonzalez said the assault remains under investigation and will be forwarded to the appropriate prosecutor once it is completed.
Rodriguez, reached by phone for comment Monday afternoon, confirmed he was punched.
“It was no fight. It was an assault,” Rodriguez told the 830 Times.
Rodriguez also confirmed he was transported to the hospital for treatment.
“Now I’m fine, and luckily there were no serious injuries, but they said they wanted to x-ray me because the orbital (bones) around your eyes are very sensitive. There was nothing wrong with me, other than the visual bruises,” Rodriguez said.
Finally, Rodriguez confirmed he had been issued a criminal trespass warning by the hospital.
“Which is unusual, because the hospital itself is a tax paid entity and (it’s) the only hospital in town, so I’m going to discuss that with Ms. Walker (the hospital’s chief executive officer), how they get away with that, because I had no forms of transportation because I was taken via ambulance, and they said once I was done with my care I had to leave, and I had nowhere to go since it was like 30 degrees in the morning,” Rodriguez said.
He said the security officer at the hospital told him that since he was not getting service anymore, he had to leave. Rodriguez said he “contested the criminal trespass warning” to the security guard.
“Since it’s a public location, just like the courthouse and so forth, and he said, ‘I do it all the time,’ so this morning I reached out to Ms. Walker, and I haven’t heard from her, and I’ve also reached out to the police chief as well, to see if it’s, not justifiable, but just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should, and they’re going to look into that,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez disputes the reporting officer’s account of offering him a ride home as well, saying he understood the officer asked to handcuff him.
“And I didn’t know why he wanted to handcuff me if I hadn’t committed a crime, so I was not having it,” Rodriguez said.
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