By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A 57-year-old Del Rio man has been charged with lying to a Texas Ranger by claiming he was assaulted last year by a Del Rio Police Department captain.
Arturo Rodriguez turned himself in at the county detention center Tuesday and was arrested and formally charged with the offense of false report to peace officer, a Class B misdemeanor, according to court documents on file in the case.
Rodriguez has denied the charges and maintains DRPD Capt. Richard “Rick” Roman assaulted him while Rodriguez was inside the city’s police station in October 2023.
Click this above red link to see the video of the alleged assault. Forgive us as we are working to get better at presenting video as we incorporate this into our local coverage. Although this video is far from perfect, we believe it helps give the readers a better understanding of the story.
Rodriguez has for several years been an outspoken critic on social media of city and county governments, elected officials and administrators, including the police department and the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office, and has run for several city and county elected positions.
He most recently filed a notice of intent to seek election to the office of Precinct 1 County Commissioner as an independent, but failed to meet the deadline to file his application and a required nominating petition.
According to court documents, Rodriguez was indicted earlier this year after Texas Ranger Michael Martin conducted an investigation into a complaint Rodriguez made against Roman in November 2023.
Rodriguez emailed a copy of his complaint to The 830 Times.
In it, Rodriguez wrote he went to the police station on Oct. 2, 2023, “to inquire about illegal obstruction of a public roadway by the Sacred Heart School located on Greenwood Street.”
Rodriguez wrote Roman took him into an office inside the police station and at one point during the ensuing conversation with Roman, Rodriguez said he told the police captain he was going to record the exchange.
“At this time, Captain Roman grabbed me by my left arm and jerked me with force out of the office doorway and when he positioned himself behind me he pushed me out of the hallway with force and closed the door,” Rodriguez wrote in his complaint.
Rodriguez provided The 830 Times with a video of the encounter, taken from the police department’s internal security cameras. Rodriguez said he provided the same video to Martin.
Rodriguez maintains his left arm and shoulder were injured in the exchange with Roman. While still at the police station, Rodriguez said he made repeated cell phone calls to the police department in an attempt to file a complaint against Roman.
Rodriguez told The 830 Times “a gentleman behind the counter” at the police station then asked him if he needed an ambulance. An ambulance was summoned, and Rodriguez was taken to Val Verde Regional Medical Center where he said medical personnel examined him.
He told The 830 Times this week he had surgery on his left shoulder in June, and Rodriguez’s left arm was in a sling when he spoke with this reporter in person on Wednesday.
Rodriguez in his complaint to the Texas Ranger also wrote he reported the incident to several city officials, including Councilman Jim DeReus, former City Manager John Sheedy, former City Attorney Jack Stern and DRPD Chief Frank Ramirez and said as of yet, he has not been contacted by anyone representing the city.
Rodriguez wrote in his complaint, “I sustained injury and medical bills due to this illegal action. There is no excuse for this use of force. . . Nothing is justified in this case. I am requesting that criminal charges be brought against Captain Rick Roman for assault by a peace officer under the color of law.”
Martin investigated Rodriguez’s complaint, eventually filing the case with District Attorney Suzanne West. West presented the case to the Val Verde County grand jury. The grand jury chose not to indict Roman, but instead indicted Rodriguez for the offense of making a false statement.
According to the indictment, “. . . Arturo Rodriguez. . . did then and there with intent to deceive, knowingly make to Texas Ranger Michael Martin, a peace officer conducting a criminal investigation, a false statement, namely that Del Rio Police Department Captain Richard “Rick” Roman forcefully grabbed one arm of Arturo Rodriguez and that Captain Roman placed two hands on Arturo Rodriguez causing pain, and the statement was material to the investigation in that Arturo Rodriguez alleged that while on duty Captain Richard “Rick” Roman assaulted him.” See Video.
Since the offense Rodriguez is alleged to have committed is not a felony, the criminal case against him was transferred to Val Verde County Court-At-Law by the order of 63rd Judicial District Judge Roland Andrade, court documents show.
In an order he signed on April 26, Val Verde County Court-At-Law Judge Sergio J. Gonzalez recused himself from the case and asked the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region to assign another judge to the case.
The administrative region judge has assigned Walden E. Shelton Jr., former county court judge of the Bexar County Court-at-Law No. 9, to the case.
Shelton has ordered the appointment of a County Attorney Pro Tem in the case, after County Attorney David Martinez requested that he and members of his staff be recused from the case as well. Shelton has appointed Assistant Kinney County Attorney Anton Ernest “Tony” Hackbeil as the county attorney pro tem for Rodriguez’s case.
Following his arrest on Tuesday, Rodriguez was magistrated by Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Jesse James Treviño. Treviño advised Rodriguez of his rights and set bail in the case at $5,000. Rodriguez made bail and has been released from custody.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
