LUBBOCK, Texas — A standoff at the Days Inn on Avenue A escalated when a Lubbock County Sheriff's SWAT officer attempted to serve a parole warrant on Felix Delarosa, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Delarosa, a parolee, refused to comply with commands and repeatedly walked in and out of his second-floor hotel room while holding a firearm.
One SWAT deputy was positioned on a piece of specialized equipment called a Rook, which resembles a small bulldozer and can be equipped with various accessories, including a forklift, breaching arm, grapple claw, or Armored Deployment Platform (ADP). Court documents indicate that SWAT was using a Rook with an ADP during the standoff.
a Rook, which resembles a small bulldozer and can be equipped with various accessories, including a forklift, breaching arm, grapple claw, or Armored Deployment Platform (ADP).
According to the documents, Deputy John Barber was stationed on the platform of the Rook, positioned east of Delarosa’s hotel room. The Rook was clearly marked as a Sheriff's Office vehicle, the affidavit states. At one point, while Delarosa was walking in and out of the room, he aimed a firearm out of his window and fired a single shot at the armored Rook. The bullet struck the bottom of the platform where Barber was standing. While reports indicate that Delarosa fired multiple rounds, only one hit the SWAT equipment.
A Rook on a transportation trailer.
SWAT officers returned fire. During the standoff, Delarosa also attempted to disable a bomb squad robot by shooting it and covering it with a bedsheet. Despite this, the robot deployed a gas canister into Delarosa’s hotel room. Already wounded by a SWAT sniper, Delarosa was overwhelmed by the gas. He crawled out of his room and laid on the sidewalk, at which point the robot ran over him, pinning him down until SWAT members arrived.
Felix Delarosa, 39, was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on Sept 18, 2024.
Court documents state that Delarosa was armed with a Bersa .380 handgun. After the standoff, Delarosa was arrested and charged with aggravated assault against a peace officer.
Following treatment for his injuries at a local hospital, Delarosa, 39, was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center. His bond for aggravated assault of a public servant is set at $400,000. He is also charged with a parole violation and tampering with an electronic monitoring device, the latter carrying a $3,500 bond. Delarosa is being held on an agency hold, presumably from Lamb County, for the parole violation and tampering charges. He was paroled in April 2022 after serving part of a 20-year sentence handed down in 2017 for drug-related charges.
No law enforcement officers were injured during the standoff.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: