Staff Report
SAN MARCOS — The office of Hays County Criminal District Attorney Kelly Higgins announced that on Friday, Aug. 28 25-year-old Joseph Sifuentes was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the offense of aggravated assault against a public servant in connection with a 2023 shooting of a police officer.
Sifuentes entered a guilty plea and agreed to let the court decide his sentence. Under that plea deal, the court could impose a minimum of five years and up to 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. 453rd District Judge Sherri Tibbe sentenced him to the maximum term of 50 years and emphasized that she wanted to keep the community safe from Sifuentes.
The case involved an incident in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 2023, where Sifuentes shot and injured a police officer who was serving as an off-duty courtesy officer for an apartment complex in San Marcos. The officer had approached Sifuentes on a playground to warn him about being too loud, when he became aggressive, pulled a gun on the officer and shot him in the arm. The peace officer survived his injuries and has resumed his duties.
During the same hearing, the prosecution noted that in June of 2023, Sifuentes had driven while intoxicated to Austin with several passengers and ran a red light before crashing into another vehicle and injuring several people. He then fled from the scene and flashed a gun at a bystander for directing Sifuentes to return to the scene of the crash. The evidence also showed that, in August 2023, Sifuentes committed an assault at a restaurant where he pulled a gun on patrons who were waiting for a table. He was also sentenced to 10 years' prison time for this The shooting of the officer occurred just over a week later.
