On September 15, 2016, after some great police work, Officer Ghami Perez made an arrest in the vandalism and theft of a historic bronze plaque mounted on a statue in Colt's Park. Officer Perez tracked the stolen bronze plaque, which had been damaged during the theft, to a local scrapyard and the thief was identified.
The suspect, Rafael Sanchez was tracked down by Officer Perez and subsequently arrested. Now comes the stunning part.
Apparently on September 15,2017, Sanchez was found guilty and given a 1 year suspended sentence and placed on 2 years probation. Big deal, the typical slap on the wrist and no consequences for destroying a historical plaque and damaging the monument, not one day in jail. And it gets better.
The guilty verdict was accompanied by a Court Order signed by a Judge Omar Williams ordering HPD to turn the plaque over to the accused thief, Sanchez
Yup, you read that right, give the thief the plaque, to Sanchez. What's next in Judge William's courtroom? Are we going to start giving stolen cars to the thieves who steal them once they plead guilty instead of the actual owner? Or maybe we can start giving stolen guns back to the shooters, that would make about as much sense as this Order.
I can only hope that this is a clerical mistake by a busy Judge who just didn't take the time to actually read the arrest report and it will be corrected quickly.
Otherwise crime really does pay.