by | Published
SAN MARCOS, Texas - A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for shooting and seriously injuring a San Marcos police officer after the officer approached him about excessive noise at an apartment complex.
Joseph Sifuentes received the maximum sentence Aug. 28 after pleading guilty to aggravated assault against a public servant, according to the Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
Sifuentes agreed to have District Judge Sherri Tibbe determine his punishment. Under the plea agreement, Tibbe could sentence him to between five and 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
She imposed the full 50 years.
The shooting happened during the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 2023. The officer was working off duty as a courtesy officer at a San Marcos apartment complex when he encountered Sifuentes on a playground.
According to prosecutors, the officer approached Sifuentes to warn him that he was being too loud.
Sifuentes became aggressive, pulled a gun and shot the officer in the arm, prosecutors said. The officer suffered serious injuries but survived and has since returned to duty.
The shooting came after two other incidents involving Sifuentes that prosecutors presented during his sentencing hearing.
In June 2023, prosecutors said Sifuentes drove while intoxicated to Austin with several passengers, ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, injuring several people.
Sifuentes fled the crash scene and displayed a gun at a bystander who told him to return, according to evidence presented in court.
Then, in August 2023, Sifuentes assaulted patrons at a restaurant and pulled a gun on a married couple who were waiting for a table. The shooting of the San Marcos officer occurred just over a week later.
Sifuentes was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison for the restaurant incident.
Several witnesses testified for Sifuentes during the punishment hearing, including his girlfriend, who testified that she began a relationship with him while he was incarcerated and brought her young children to visit him.
Judge Tibbe said when imposing the maximum sentence that she wanted to protect the community from Sifuentes.
"The only way the community can be kept safe from him is through a lengthy prison sentence," Assistant District Attorney Katie Arnold, the lead prosecutor, said following the sentencing.
