Man arrested, charged in violent robbery of auto shop caught on camera
HOUSTON - A man has been arrested and charged for an aggravated robbery at a north Houston auto shop, and the Harris County sheriff believes he's also responsible for another aggravated robbery at a nearby auto shop.
Andrew Garza has been charged with two aggravated robberies with a deadly weapon for the brazen act caught on camera at EntireX on Houston’s north side on March 29.
According to charging documents, Garza, 20, was identified thanks to an anonymous tip.
In the video of the incident, you see an armed man violently pistol-whip a tire shop male employee and put the same gun to a female employee’s head.
BACKGROUND: Brazen armed robbery in Houston caught on camera
The victims have been identified as Steven Hastings and Shyla McComb. Hastings was injured in the incident, his brother Myke Hastings told FOX 26 shortly after the robbery.
"That split him open pretty good, and as he fell over, he hit him two more times breaking his finger," Myke said.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says there are additional charges pending for Garza, who is believed to also be behind a violent robbery at Exclusive DTS, another auto shop.
In that incident, which was also caught on camera, a secretary was working alone when an armed robber attacked her.
The auto shop's owner Luis Sanchez says the female employee suffered two broken fingers and her head was busted open.
Sanchez added that another nearby shop had warned them prior to the robbery to be on the lookout. FOX 26 has not confirmed if that was a call from EntireX.
READ MORE ON THE VIOLENT ROBBERY AT EXCLUSIVE DTS
"Our team has once again removed a suspected serial offender from the streets of Harris County," wrote Sheriff Gonzalez in a tweet announcing the arrest of Garza.
He added that he hopes the rest of the criminal justice system recognizes Garza's threat to public safety, and he's kept in jail and "prosecuted swiftly, to the fullest extent of the law."
Garza is scheduled to appear in probable cause court at 7 p.m. Thursday and then in district court on Friday morning.