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A Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office investigator has been placed on paid administrative leave after shooting at a 53-year-old robbery suspect who pointed an “unknown object” at the investigator at a drive-thru in rural Mission Thursday night.
In a news release, the sheriff’s office said that the suspect, Peñitas resident Xavier Zamora, received superficial injuries and that the unidentified investigator fired his weapon twice toward Zamora’s vehicle.
The shooting happened after deputies and investigators responded to Trevino’s Drive Thru in the 7100 block of Minnesota Road in rural Mission at 10:22 p.m.
While speaking with the victims, the investigators, who are with the Major Crimes Unit, saw a man running from the business toward a truck, according to the release.
“The Investigator saw the suspect was holding an unknown object in his hand and told the suspect to stop, which he ignored,” the release stated. “The Investigator saw the suspect point the unknown object toward him, at which time the Investigator fired his weapon twice toward the suspect’s vehicle.”
Zamora fled in the truck and authorities pursued him. At some point, Zamora bailed out of his truck and with the assistance of Palmview police and the Texas Department of Public Safety, authorities established a perimeter and took Zamora into custody without incident, according to the release.
The sheriff’s office took Zamora to the McAllen Medical Center and when he was cleared for release, he was placed under arrest.
The news release said Zamora provided a voluntary statement and implicated himself in the robbery.
“Investigators recovered the stolen money and surveillance video which captured the robbery,” the release stated. “The incident was a result of several ongoing robbery investigations.”
Zamora is charged with two counts of robbery, evading arrest with a vehicle, evading detention, possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.
He has a long history of arrests that dates back to 1988.
Since then, he has been arrested approximately 16 times on around 40 charges, which include burglary and robbery charges, evading arrest charges, weapons charges and drug charges.
In 2016, he was sentenced to five years in prison on a charge of aggravated robbery. He had also faced a count of impersonating a public servant, but that was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
After his release from prison, he began to get arrested again starting in 2021 with a drug charge.
His most recent arrests are in March and just two weeks apart. Both of those arrests were for smuggling of persons.
He is scheduled for a bond hearing at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center early Friday afternoon.
As for the investigator who fired his weapon, he will remain on paid administrative leave pending the investigation into him firing his weapon.
