Posted on 08/18/2009 6:30:34 AM PDT by Bubba_Leroy
A clerk at a Ben White Boulevard convenience store has been charged with murder after police say he shot and killed a man who was stealing a 12-pack of Budweiser early Sunday morning.
Jorge Luis Vielma, 22, and another man were on a "beer run," according to police, and attempted to flee after taking the beer. Police say Juan Romero, 23, a clerk at the Shell gasoline station at Ben White and South First Street, fired about a dozen shots at Vielma outside the store as he ran for a friend's waiting Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Vielma later died inside the car; his body was found early Sunday in the 1000 block of Mansell Avenue in East Austin.
Romero was charged Sunday with first-degree murder and was being held Monday at the Travis County Jail. His bail has been set at $250,000. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
According to an arrest affidavit, Vielma and a friend, David Campos, 30, were looking for a store to take beer from and settled on the Shell station. Campos told police that he parked the car while Vielma went inside for the beer. Campos said he then saw Vielma emerge running from the store and a short man with a limp in pursuit firing at him.
After Vielma made it back to the car, Campos said that he went "into shock" and drove mindlessly to Mansell Avenue, abandoned the car and fled. He later called 911 to anonymously report the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Police found the car, which was registered to Campos, shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday. When police arrived at Campos' apartment on East Oltorf Street, he was in the process of reporting his car as stolen, according to the arrest affidavit, but police said he soon admitted his role in the incident. Police didn't say whether Campos would be charged.
Police said they later interviewed Romero, who said he fired a pistol about 12 times at Vielma, picked up the shell casings and put them in his vehicle.
He also told police that he picked up the beer dropped by Vielma and threw it into a trash bin, and he deleted images of the incident from the store's video surveillance system.
Sgt. Joseph Chacon said that although Texas law allows residents to take reasonable measures to defend their property, officials determined that, "at least on the face of it," the shooting was not reasonable.
He said it did not appear that Vielma was armed at the time of the theft.
Chacon said police are still trying to determine who owned the gun used in the shooting. The store's owner, José Carranza, told police that he had not authorized Romero to use deadly force to protect the store's property.
Carranza said Monday that he did not know where Romero got the gun and that firearms are not kept in the store.
Theft, however, has been a constant problem for Carranza and his clerks, he said.
A sign taped to the door of the store addresses beer theft: "Due to the high number of dishonest people grabbing and running away (and) stealing our beer, we must require prepayment for beer."
Carranza said that people have stolen from the store at least 10 times this year and that store clerks were robbed at gunpoint four times in the past two years.
Each time, Carranza said, he was unable to get the attention of police, even though his workers were being threatened.
"I'm frustrated with police," Carranza said. "They told us that's not our priority. Now it's a priority because somebody got hurt."
Statistics from police on incident reports at that address were not immediately available.
Consulting police records, Cpl. Scott Perry said there have been several thefts, but only one report of a robbery at the store in the past two years — in November — and that the suspect in that case was not armed. A robbery is defined as threatening or causing injury in the course of committing a theft.
expensive brew
You could say that, if you make a habit of killing 12-packs, one might kill you.
Kill a man over a pack of beer? I really don’t get that mentality.
Brings a whole new meaning to Rogue Nations Dead Mans Ale.
Sorry, but it was the THIEF that decided his life was worth less than a pack of beer, not the store clerk.
If these sort of robberies ended this way more often, our country and its citizens would be much safer...
“It’s All About the Beer.”
Risking your life over a pack of beer? I really don't get that mentality.
No argument, but I find it more difficult to understand the mentality of someone who would risk his freedom or, at least in this case, his life over a 12-pack...
Killing a shoplifter over a case of beer is not the answer. His life was not at risk, firing a dozen shots at an unarmed man fleeing a store with $10 worth of beer is murder.
I used to think that nobody’s life was worth property.
But, it sets a GOOD example for thieves.
They think they can get away with anything, and now they know better.
Doesn’t Texas allow lethal force in defense of property?
Texas ping.
Then charge the thief’s accomplice with murder and be done with it, but do NOT charge a store clerk who was obviously acting out of shock and fear (and yes, his actions DO reflect those of a man who was acting out of those emotions)...
WAY overreaction. Probably plean to manslaughter if possible.
That said, if you’ve been robbed/stolen from that much and the police don’t care, what do people think is going to happen?
The accomplice should be facing felony murder charges, too, IMO...
Talk about a buzz kill.
“This Bud’s not for you”
I suspect it’s been common throughout human history to kill (or attempt to kill) a stranger who steals from you. I think as our civil society breaks down and folks feel less and less like the government will control this sort of behavior, natural impulses will take over. What’s not to understand?
Seriously, life in prison for REACTING to a situation that was absolutely, 100% the fault of the dead guy and his accomplice?
The clerk spent his morning getting ready for work, the thief woke up thinking how he could help destroy society....no charge.....
The shooter is in deep doodoo
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