A felon who wielded a shotgun as he demanded that space be cleared in the driveway of his girlfriend’s home in the Langwood neighborhood, so he could park his pickup truck, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Friday.
Ricardo Lemos Casares, 43, was sentenced after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a weapon and his fourth DWI.
“He has repeatedly proven himself to be a danger to society and now he is off the streets,” Ogg said. “He pulled out a gun to settle an argument and we are all lucky he didn’t pull the trigger.”
The August 2019 dispute began when Casares got into an argument with his girlfriend’s daughter over a parking space. He wanted her to move her car out of the home’s driveway, so that he could park his pickup there to prevent it being robbed of parts or stolen.
When the girlfriend’s boyfriend stepped in and asked Casares to stop being disrespectful toward her, he grabbed the shotgun.
Casares was previously sentenced to seven years in prison by a jury that convicted him of a 2004 burglary of habitation for an incident in which he broke into his ex-wife’s home, dragged her out of bed, and stomped on her boyfriend’s head. He has other convictions spanning two decades, including theft, evading arrest and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
“Harris County is a safer place when we all do our parts to protect our community; I’m proud to have assisted with the delivery of justice in this case,” said Assistant District Attorney Traci Gibson, who prosecuted Casares.
The case was investigated by the Houston Police Department.
