In an altercation that escalated quickly, a 59-year-old man, Arturo Villarreal, ended up in handcuffs after deputies say he used his car as a battering ram against another vehicle following a burrito-based provocation at a Spring parking lot. The incident, taking place outside a Dollar Tree on East Louetta Road, was first reported by FOX 7 Austin, disclosing that deputies responded to the road rage complaint this past Friday.
According to the account provided by Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman's Office, the confrontation began when the other driver, who remains unidentified, threw a burrito at Villarreal's car after a verbal exchange and apparently followed Villarreal through the parking lot after, Villarreal then made the decision to retaliate by intentionally slamming his vehicle into the other's, resulting in "major damage". Noteworthy is the fact that Villarreal's granddaughters, one and 17 years old, were with him in the car at the time of the incident, raising the stakes of the initial food-fling affair.
Villareal now faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is being held on a $7,500 bond. Information from KPRC 2 further clarifies that while the individual who threw the burrito did kick off the confrontation, they were not arrested since the thrown burrito did not cause damage to the vehicle. Meanwhile, Villareal responded with a level of aggression that landed him under arrest, the constables determining that his actions crossed a line into criminality.
The full scope of what sparked the initial disagreement between Villareal and the other driver remains unclear; what is clear, though, is how rapidly an ordinary day can careen out of control over a fast-food exchange. "Arturo Villarreal was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail, charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon," wrote Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman, in a statement that underlines the severity with which this incident has been taken and the legal repercussions that follow when vehicles are weaponized over petty disputes.
