By George Slaughter
Luis Joel Aguilar – Katy Police Department photo
A Katy man Tuesday received a 25-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery, burglary of a motor vehicle, theft, credit card abuse, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Luis Joel Aguilar, 32, received the sentence in Judge Leslie Yates’s 182nd District Court in Houston.
According to Katy Police, Aguilar was a documented criminal gang member of the Houstone (Tango Blast) street gang. He had been recently released from prison when, in March 2017, he followed an elderly woman as she walked to her vehicle in the Walmart parking lot at 25108 Market Place Dr. in Katy.
Police said Aguilar used a stolen Jeep to block the woman in her parking space. He then approached the passenger side of her vehicle and opened the car door catching the victim completely off guard. Aguilar grabbed the woman’s purse and then sped off.
Aguilar then took the victim’s credit cards and made several unauthorized purchases at different convenience stores in the Houston area.
Katy Police identified Aguilar within hours using the store’s video surveillance footage and also with the help of the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office, who arrested Aguilar with the elderly victim’s wallet in his possession.
A video surveillance photo of Luis Joel Aguilar – Katy Police Department photo