Police Robot Defeats And Subdues Human In Historic Real Standoff
What do you get when you cross the crime-stopping passion of RoboCop with the design and functionality of Wall-E? As it turns out, you get a police robot with a thirst for justice and the drive to stop at nothing until it accomplishes its mission.
In a historic and oddly cinematic September 18 police standoff in Texas, a police robot was called in to help subdue a criminal who had barricaded himself in a motel room… and the results just might change crime-fighting forever.
A police robot was called in to help subdue a criminal who had barricaded himself in a motel room
In Lubbock, Texas, police responded to a Days Inn where they encountered Felix Delarosa, a 39-year-old man who was wanted by authorities for violating his parole by tampering with his electronic monitoring device.
According to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, Delarosa had locked the door to his motel room and refused to cooperate with officers attempting to make the arrest. Officers then reported hearing a gunshot inside Delarosa’s motel room, prompting them to call in the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team to help bring the situation to an end.
You can see the police robot standoff below.
While attempting to negotiate a surrender with Delarosa, officials say that he fired several rounds at the SWAT team from his room. When Delarosa looked through his motel room window, he was shot by a single round from a SWAT team sniper.
Despite suffering an injury, Delarosa continued to reject pleas from officers to surrender peacefully, forcing the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office to call in its police robot to bring the standoff to a quick and non-fatal ending.
Remaining undeterred, the police robot continued forward and attempted to breach the motel room through the window as Delarosa tried to fight it off.
Equipped with a mechanism to fire off a tear gas canister, the police robot slowly made its way to Delarosa’s motel room. In an effort to prevent the police robot from using the tear gas, Delarosa poked out his motel room window and then threw a bed sheet over the machine, hoping to render it useless.
Remaining undeterred, the police robot continued forward and attempted to breach the motel room through the window as Delarosa tried to fight it off.
After the robot’s operator managed to remove the bed sheet covering the tear gas mechanism, Delarosa’s motel room was soon inundated by tear gas, causing Delarosa to flee his room through the window.
Upon exiting the motel room, Delarosa was then tackled by the police robot, which drove on top of him, pinning him down completely. With Delarosa unable to move, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team stormed in and apprehended him without further incident.
Once Delarosa was secured by police, he was then transported to a nearby ambulance and taken to University Medical Center for his gunshot wound and injuries suffered from his tussle with the police robot.
He was then booked at the Lubbock County Detention Center and charged with aggravated assault against a public servant. According to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, the police incident is currently being investigated by the Texas Rangers, and the officer who fired at Delarosa has been placed on paid administrative leave.
According to The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in 2017 Delarosa was issued a 20-year prison sentence for manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance. In April 2022, Delarosa was released from prison and placed on parole.
Source: KCBD
