A 23-year-old Mexican national — who on September 20, 2018 was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication probation after pleading guilty to an aggravated robbery charge — is jailed again, now on more serious charges.
Gerson Saul Salazar is accused of kidnapping a man and threatening to kill him with several weapons, according to Cameron County court documents.
A Cameron County grand jury on Aug. 18 indicted Salazar on one count of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault, one count of burglary habitation, one count of theft of property and one count of theft of a firearm.
According to state court documents — in which Salazar is named — the incident occurred April 7, 2021 in rural Cameron County, where Salazar, according to the indictment, kidnapped a man and threatened to kill him if he didn’t do what Salazar said. The suspect “exhibited a deadly weapon, namely a shotgun, a handgun and a knife during the commission of the offense,” the indictment states.
Salazar was attempting to commit a burglary at the residence of the man, the documents allege. The indictment further alleges Salazar took the man’s F-350 Ford truck, jewelry and money. He also took five rifles, three pistols and six shotguns from the man, the indictment states.
Warrants for his arrest were issued, and on April 28 the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department located him at the 2600 block of Jacaranda Street in Harlingen, a sheriff’s department field case report states.
He was transported to the sheriff’s department’s Harlingen office and was to be transported to a Cameron County Jail.
As an arresting deputy attempted to place Salazar in a patrol unit, he shoved the deputy aside and took off running on foot, the report states. Other law enforcement entities were advised that Salazar had escaped, and he was later arrested on Ramsey Road. He was charged with escape.
Salazar was officially arraigned on the charge on Nov. 3, 2021, before 138th state District Court Judge Gabriela Garcia. Cameron County jail records indicate he is being held on an $115,000 bond.
Federal court records show he was indicted on Oct. 12, 2021 on one count of illegal entry. A bench warrant for his arrest was issued that same day, and he was ordered to be held without bond.
In the Jan. 22, 2018 case, Salazar held a man at gunpoint as he stole the man’s car in Cameron County, court documents indicate.
Salazar appeared on Sept. 20, 2018 before 138th state District Judge Arturo Cisneros Nelson, who sentenced him to 10 years deferred adjudication probation after he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery, court records show. A theft charge also filed against him was dismissed because of his guilty plea, court documents reflect.
In Texas, when a person is given deferred adjudication probation and they follow all the rules of the sentencing and not commit any crimes during their probation period, the charges are cleared from their record. As part of the deferred adjudication decision, Salazar was also ordered not to return to the United States because he is an undocumented immigrant.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said in a statement: “In case number 2018-DCR-00678, we had serious evidence concerns. Rather than risk a Not Guilty jury verdict we reluctantly agreed to the probation sentence. After the sentence was imposed he was turned over to INS for deportation.”
On Oct. 18, 2018, Salazar was released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and on Aug. 14, 2019 he was deported out of the country, court records show.
A motion to revoke his 10 years deferred adjudication probation was filed on May 18, 2021. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Thursday.
