Carlo Alejandro Gonzalez of Houston was found guilty today in Judge Edwards Court of Aggravated Robbery and given fifty years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division.
The Hispanic male who was a parolee was named as the second suspect along with Tonya D. Swarthout who on July 3, 2009 attacked and robbed the elderly man at his home in the 17300 block of Tram Road in Patton Village.
The man, whose name is withheld for his safety, told investigators he heard a car pull into his driveway and went onto his porch where he was met by a woman he identified as Swarthout. As they talked, a man now identified as Gonzalez got out of the car, walked up to the porch and attacked the resident with a club, striking the man’s head repeatedly and causing severe injuries.
During the assault, Swarthout went into the man’s home and took the $600 he received from Social Security, along with his cell phone.
After an extensive investigation that included interviews with people in the areas of Splendora and North Houston, Patton Village Police assisted by crime analysts with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office developed information about Gonzalez, then presented witnesses with a photographic lineup. Gonzalez was positively identified.
After an attempt to go to his home and arrest home on July 27, 2009 by Patton Village and Houston Police Officers and not being able to locate him he was arrested on August 5, 2009 and placed in the Harris County Jail on the Montgomery County Charge and a parole violation.
He had prior convictions in 2008 of Theft over $1500 in Harris County and in 2007 of Credit Card Abuse, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Burglary of a Habitation and Assault Causes Bodily Injury and a Possession Charge in Harris County. He was given 2 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and paroled April 1, 2009. He would have been off parole last month on those charges.
Tonya Swarthout who had been out on bond was rearrested on December 17, 2009 for a bond revocation after three Class C misdemeanor warrants were issued for her by Precinct 4 Judge James Metts for Failure to Appear, Obstructed View Through a Windshield and a Defective Tail Lamp. She still awaits trial.
