Burglar changes plea to guilty

Published 7:01 pm Saturday, January 9, 2016

The 36-year-old Austin who allegedly burglarized a home and a lawn truck in July 2015 changed his plea to guilty Friday.

Estrada

Estrada

Hector Estrada was charged with one count of second-degree burglary and two counts of theft, which he pleaded not guilty to Aug. 6, 2015. Estrada changed his plea to guilty Friday for one charge of felony theft as part of a plea agreement.

According to a court complaint, Estrada called police on relatives at the 600 block of 10th Avenue Southwest at about 1:18 a.m. July 26, 2015, after he said one of them hit him as part of an ongoing feud.

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Yet his relatives told police Estrada became belligerent after he tried to leave a 42-inch Samsung smart TV at the house just before 1 a.m., but his relatives wouldn’t allow it. Estrada allegedly tried to attack one of his relatives before he was punched in the face.

Shortly after that, a homeowner at the 300 block of 10th Avenue Southwest reported someone had broken into her unlocked home and stole her 42-inch TV.

The victim got her TV back after police found it in some bushes near Estrada’s relatives’ home.

One of Estrada’s relatives had given him a ride to a home in northwest Austin, but police later found him riding a bicycle shortly before 2:30 a.m. near 14th Street and Fifth Avenue Northwest.

Officers noticed three gas-powered weed trimmers nearby and a lawn service truck a block away, which Estrada allegedly broke into. Estrada allegedly told police “I didn’t burglarize nothing,” before he was arrested, according to the report.

At the Mower County jail, Estrada’s blood-alcohol content was tested and measured at .208, more than twice the legal limit.

Estrada is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 21.