Daniel Irlas gets 10 years for stabbing, burglary case

Published 4:43 pm Thursday, November 12, 2015

Juan Irlas has pleaded not guilty to charges that he was the getaway driver

An Austin man will serve 10 years in prison for his role in a December 2014 stabbing and burglary.

Daniel Irlas, 36, was sentenced Thursday to serve 10 years for felony first-degree burglary/assault with a dangerous weapon, and he will serve a concurrent 45 months for felony second-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon. The charges stem from a stabbing a 51-year-old man in the 1000 block of Fifth Street Northeast on Dec. 26, 2014.

He got credit for 316 days served.

Daniel Irlas

Daniel Irlas

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Daniel was also serve another concurrent 18-month sentence for probation violation in a May 2014 felony domestic abuse case. He received credit for 354 days served in that case.

According to the court complaint, the victim stepped in to a fight Daniel had with his girlfriend in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2014, 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.

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 Daniel 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 Ernesto Angel Salinas of Austin. According to the complaint, Salinas’ mother, after talking to detectives, alleged the third suspect was Willie James Britten III and claimed he was with Daniel and Salinas at the time of the assault.

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.

Britten III was found not guilty on two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of second-degree assault. Salinas pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and first-degree burglary on March 2, 2015, and was sentenced to 67 months in prison and $85 in fines on April 17.

Daniel’s brother, Juan Irlas, has since been charged for being the getaway driver in the incident.

Juan Irlas

Juan Irlas

Juan pleaded not guilty last week to 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.

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.

Juan is due in court for a pretrail on Feb. 5, 2016, and then a jury trail on Feb. 16, 2016.