HOUSTON, TX — A former Houston Police Captain was arrested and charged for allegedly running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove false claims of a massive voter fraud scheme in Harris County, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Former Houston Police Capt. Mark Anthony Aguirre, who went to authorities with pre-election claims that a massive voter fraud scheme was underway in Harris County, was instead arrested himself Tuesday and charged for running a man off the road and pointing at gun at this head in an attempt to prove his claims.
Aguirre, 63, was arrested by Houston Police Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
“He crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a press release. “His alleged investigation was backward from the start – first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened.”
According to a court document describing probable cause for the charge, Aguirre told police shortly after the Oct. 19 incident, that he was part of a group of private citizens called, “Liberty Center,” who were conducting a civilian investigation into the alleged ballot scheme.
According to Aguirre, he had been conducting surveillance on the victim for four days under a theory the victim was the mastermind of a giant fraud, and there were 750,000 fraudulent ballots in a truck he was driving.
"Instead, the victim turned out to be an innocent and ordinary air conditioner repairman," a Harris County DA press release said.
Aguirre ran his SUV into the back of the truck to get the technician to stop and get out, according to the document.
When the technician got out of the truck, Aguirre pointed a handgun at the technician, forced him to the ground and put his knee on the man’s back – an image captured on the body-worn camera of a police officer.
Aguirre directed police to a parking lot nearby where another suspect, who has not been identified, took the truck.
There were no ballots in the truck. It was filled with air conditioning parts and tools, according to the press release.
Aguirre never told police that he had been paid a total of $266,400 by the Houston-based Liberty Center for God and Country, with $211,400 of that amount being deposited into his account the day after the incident.
The case was investigated by the Houston Police and is being prosecuted by the Public Corruption Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
"Aguirre’s claims of election fraud were found to be baseless after thorough investigation by Houston Police and by the Office Constable Precinct 1 Alan Rosen, as part of the Harris County Election Security Task Force," the press release said.
