Man captured after shooting at Garland officers, police say

Garland police have found and arrested a man who allegedly fired shots at officers.

GARLAND, Texas - Garland police have found and arrested a man who allegedly fired shots at officers.

The officers were investigating a report of a stolen Toyota 4Runner Tuesday and spotted it near North Garland Avenue and Buckingham Road just before 10 p.m.

Police say they tried to pull the SUV over. But the driver, 22-year-old Aaron Quiroz Jr., refused to stop and instead took off.

"When they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver did not stop," said Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau. "He led us in a short pursuit into the neighborhood."

Quiroz led officers less than a mile away to a residential neighborhood off Alamo Lane.

"He came to a very slow roll. He gets out of the car. Did not put the car in park," Barineau said. "And as he gets out, he shoots at the officers."

The officers took cover and were not hurt.

"Officers were able to, fortunately, get out of the vehicle and take cover. But because he was shooting and then fled on foot, they did not return fire," Barineau said. "This is a dangerous situation, dangerous person, who shot at officers trying to kill them."

The stolen SUV was rolling away with no driver. It crashed into Gary Nichols’s parked truck.

"And my wife came, woke me up, and told me the cops are outside. That somebody’s shooting and somebody hit my truck," he said. "So I i jump up, come out. And when I do, there’s a SUV slammed into the side of my truck. Cops everywhere yelling at us, telling us, go back in the house because they’re shooting."

Police searched the neighborhood, but Quiroz briefly got away.

Police spoke with the person who owns the stolen SUV.

"One of the things that we were able to determine is that there was a slight known association between the victim and the suspect," Barineau said.

Police identified Quiroz and found him in Richardson Wednesday afternoon.

"We’re just glad that nobody was hurt and that we got this dangerous person off the streets," Barineau said.

Mark Slaviero says a bullet hit the back window of his truck. He lives off Alamo Lane.

"Looks like it came through and hit my seat," he said. "But what stopped it from coming all the way through was the seat pillow."

Slaviero feels fortunate the bullet hit his truck and not a person.

"I’m just glad it went through my truck and not into the house," he said. "We’re all lucky."

Quiroz has a criminal history, with charges ranging from aggravated assault with a deadly weapon to theft. He’s being held here in Garland before being transferred to Dallas County and faces charges for aggravated assault on a public servant.

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