During Tuesday's hearing, the deputy's wife recalled his final moments. The bill named after him, which stiffens penalties for catalytic converter thieves, now heads to the Texas senate floor.
The widow of a Harris County sheriff's deputy who was murdered while confronting suspected catalytic converter thieves last year gave a powerful testimony to state senators pushing Senate Bill 224, otherwise known as the Deputy Daren Almendarez Act.
"But I shouldn't be living in fear, because I am not going to give up. I'm not," Flor Zarzoza-Almendarez said. "My husband gave up his life for me, and not just me, for the community." The bill, which is named for her late husband, adds a specific theft offense in the penal code for catalytic converter theft. It also creates a penalty enhancement for those who possess a firearm during the crime.
Nearly one year ago, Almendarez was killed while confronting suspected thieves who were reportedly in the process of stealing a catalytic converter from his personal truck outside a grocery store.
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