HOUSTON – A driver accused of trying to run over a school security guard laughed in the face of a judge while he appeared in court Thursday.
The Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office said a security guard recognized 42-year-old Steven de la Torre’s vehicle, which was parked near The Village School, and approached him due to a restraining order involving a coach employed at the school.
"He was actually stopped in the public roadway,” said Constable Ted Heap. “As he approached, the security guard recognized the vehicle and blocked the entrance with his vehicle and he was stopped in the public roadway."
Heap said when the security guard approached de la Torre, he started driving and tried to run over the security guard, who then fired several times at de la Torre’s vehicle. The security guard was hit by de la Torre's vehicle and suffered minor injuries, according to officials.
Shortly before turning himself in, de la Torre called KPRC2 and recounted the situation at the school earlier in the day and said he didn't understand why the security guard fired shots at him.
He said he was near the school, but claims he did not violate the restraining order. The father of two said the security guard confronted him about the restraining order, but claims he was not on their property.
“I heard on the dispatch they said, ‘You have to move your car out of the way, you’re on a public road.’ I knew that they had lied to me and the combination of being lied to and that energy, my car put itself in gear. I know it was my hand that did it, but it put itself in gear and I started to creep out of the way,” de la Torre said.
He claims a guard jumped in front of his car and says he did not hit the security personnel.
“He moved out of the way and his buddy yelled, ‘Dude, did you just run him over?’ I clearly didn’t.
There’s no hand prints, no damage to my car, nothing. And then, three shots were fired,” de la Torre said.
De la Torre turned himself in and was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
While de la Torre was being read his case by the prosecutor, he began to laugh in the courtroom. The judge started to reprimand him, but de la Torre stopped.
De la Torre is being held in Harris County Jail on $50,000 bond.
