Bishop Street Stabbing Affidavit Details Forced Entry, Beating

SAN ANGELO, TX — A 42-year-old man charged with burglary of a habitation forced his way into a North Bishop Street residence Wednesday morning, lunged at the homeowner and began hitting him after pounding on the door and yelling threats, according to a newly filed affidavit. 

Luis Vaquera, a San Angelo resident, was booked into the Tom Green County Jail on Thursday on the burglary charge. He remained in custody Friday with bond set at $100,000. The San Angelo Police Department initially responded about 8:46 a.m. Wednesday to a reported stabbing in the unit block of North Bishop Street. Investigators later classified the incident as burglary of a habitation with intent to commit assault. A 42-year-old man entered the home and was confronted by its 35-year-old male resident. An altercation involving a weapon followed, and the 42-year-old suffered blunt-force trauma to the head. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. Police did not name either man in the initial release. An affidavit filed in Tom Green County provides the first detailed accounts from a witness, the resident and Vaquera. 

The witness said she was inside the home with the resident when she heard a knock. They started toward the front door from the back of the house. Before they reached it, Vaquera allegedly opened the door, ran into the living room and began hitting the resident. The witness said she and the resident begged him to stop. She then ran to a back room and called 911. 

The resident told investigators Vaquera was outside yelling threats and beating on the front door. He said he opened the door because he feared it would be damaged. Once the door opened, Vaquera lunged at him in an aggressive manner and made his way inside, the resident said. The resident struck Vaquera with a blunt object, then struck him again after Vaquera lunged a second time. The two fought on the living-room floor, and the resident said he was struck in the face multiple times. The resident said Vaquera was never invited inside. 

Vaquera, interviewed at Shannon Medical Center, gave a different account. He said the two argued outside, the resident went inside, and he went to the front door to continue the altercation. Vaquera said the resident opened the door and immediately struck him in the head twice with a blunt object while he was still standing outside. He said they then fought inside the home but that he left once he realized he was bleeding. 

An investigator noted Vaquera had a laceration on the top-left area of his head and swelling above his left eye. The investigator observed that the resident was shorter than Vaquera and that Vaquera likely was in a lunging or crouched position to receive those injuries, consistent with both men’s descriptions of the encounter. Most of the blood at the scene was in the center of the living room, the investigator wrote, indicating the fight occurred well inside the residence. 

Vaquera faces a charge of burglary of a habitation. The investigation remains open.