Police arrested a 30-year-old Palmview man early Wednesday morning on accusations that he shot a 40-year-old man in the leg last Friday.
Alonso Matamoros is charged with attempted murder, along with four drug charges and a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Palmview police allege that Matamoros shot the man in the leg at around 4:29 p.m. last Friday in the 2000 block of Frontier Drive.
The alleged victim in the case told police he was sitting in his chair when two vehicles arrived at his house.
“(He) stated that he observed Mr. Matamoros got off and confronted him about … stealing from them,” a probable cause affidavit states.
The affidavit and a supplemental report mention a woman who was at the residence when this occurred. In the supplemental police report, the alleged victim said this woman, who has not been arrested, set him up because she accused him of stealing from her.
During the confrontation, Matamoros began walking toward the man’s backyard and the man confronted Matamoros about doing so, police say.
“(He) observed Mr. Matamoros pull a black firearm from his waist band and pointed towards (him) and discharge one round towards (him) to scare him off. Fearing for his life, thinking Mr. Matamoros was going to point the gun at him and kill him, so he acted and fought for the gun, which is when he got shot in a leg,” the affidavit states.
Police said Matamoros fled the scene in a gray vehicle.
The man who had been shot told police that right before the incident began a group of people in the country illegally were outside his house by a brushy area and he gave them something to eat and drink and they left, according to a supplemental report.
“That is when (he) told me that Alonso Matamoros came in confronting him if he is stealing from him,” the report states.
Palmview police also detained the woman the alleged victim accused of setting him up and confiscated her cellphone, according to the report.
She refused to speak to the officers and said she wanted a lawyer, police say.
Investigators recovered several bullet casings in a field where the shooting happened as well as one projectile.
On Wednesday, at around 1:30 a.m., Palmview police spotted the suspect vehicle, identified in the affidavit as a gray BMW.
An officer followed the vehicle to the Palmview Inn at 203 Palmview Drive and made contact with the driver and passenger.
The driver, Eloy Lopez Jr., was arrested after a records check showed he had a warrant out of Cameron County for drug possession.
One of the responding officers recognized Matamoros as the suspect in the shooting case and he was also detained.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the BMW, where the found a small amount of marijuana and methamphetamine and two handguns. Police also executed a search warrant on the hotel room where the men were staying and found more marijuana and methamphetamine.
In addition to the drug and attempted murder charges, police also charged Matamoros with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon because in 2016 he was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The detective who interviewed Matamoros at the Palmview jail said the man agreed to speak and waived his Miranda Rights.
“Mr. Matamoros advised me that he was there during the incident and that he did not shoot him. I had not asked or stated that anyone was shot at that time,” the report states.
Matamoros claimed he was at the residence to pick up a woman named Alexis and that he dropped her off somewhere on Mile 3 Road at either a Stripes or Dollar General, according to the report.
He remains in the Hidalgo County Detention Center on a total of $525,000 in bonds.
