Suspected getaway driver charged for December stabbing

Published 10:24 am Tuesday, October 6, 2015

A man suspected as being the getaway driver during a burglary and stabbing incident in December 2014 was arrested last week.

Juan Irlas Jr., 43, was charged Monday in Mower County court with two charges of aiding and abetting during a burglary — one for possessing a weapon and one for assaulting someone in the building — and a third charge for aiding an offender, all of which are felonies.

Juan Irlas

Juan Irlas

A court complaint states Juan was the alleged driver of the dark colored SUV which his brother, Daniel Irlas and Ernesto Angel Salinas, used to leave the scene of a stabbing and burglary incident.

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Daniel Irlas, 32, was convicted of stabbing a 51-year-old man in the 1000 block of Fifth Street Northeast on Dec. 26, 2014. Ernesto Angel Salinas, 33, of Austin, plead guilty to second-degree assault and first-degree burglary for the Dec. 26, 2014, incident.

According to the court complaint, the victim stepped in to a fight that Daniel Irlas had with his girlfriend at a friend’s house because the victim didn’t like Daniel getting physical with a woman. Daniel later told police he went to the home to collect $400 from the friend, and took a dog and a small lock box as payment.

The complaint also stated Daniel stole an iPod and a speaker and punched the victim. The victim suffered a broken nose, two stab wounds to the torso — including one that pierced his diaphragm — and a contusion on his left ear.

Daniel allegedly then went to the home where the victim was at about 4:45 a.m. on the 26th. When the victim answered the door, Daniel and two unidentified men assaulted and stabbed him, according to two witnesses at the home who went to get help.

Police saw Juan Jr. leaving the scene in a dark-colored SUV as they responded to the stabbing call. Witnesses told police they believed Daniel’s companions were Hispanic, with one tall person, and another, shorter person wearing glasses which police later determined was Salinas. According to the complaint, Salinas’ mother, after talking to detectives, alleged Juan was the driver of the SUV who took Daniel and Salinas to the scene of the crime.

According to court documents, Juan told officers Daniel called him at about 4:30 a.m. to come get him after Salinas had been struck in the head with a pipe. Juan then picked up Daniel, and two other people in Brownsdale and then picked up Salinas in Austin.

Juan allegedly told the suspects he wanted “no part of what they were up to” and dropped them off about a block from 1005 Fifth Ave. NE in Austin. He and another person waited in the car while Salinas, Daniel and another person left, and came back 10 minutes later with Salinas’ hand bleeding. Juan told officers the three men were “breathing hard” and had a laptop computer and a phone with them. Juan then drove them away from the scene.

Daniel was found guilty on Sept. 25 of first-degree burglary and two counts of felony assault.

Juan’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 15.