LINDALE, Texas — Editor's Note: This video is from March 2021 when Samuel Salas was arrested.
A man who shot a woman in the face and ran from police over four days in the Lindale area last March has been sentenced to life in prison.
Samuel Salas, 35, of Lindale, entered guilty pleas to charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon Tuesday in the 114th District Court.
He was then sentenced to life in prison for the offenses, according to online court records.
He was arrested on March 15 at a home outside of Mineola on Farm-to-Market Road 1801 after running from law enforcement over the previous weekend.
Police said he shot a woman in Lindale on March 12, and he attempted a home invasion the next day, March 13.
He will receive 303 days of credit for time served in the Smith County Jail.
Records show Salas was sentenced to four years in prison in January 2017 for a guilty plea of assault of a family or household member by impeding breath or circulation.
When he arrived at the Smith County Jail in Tyler last year, he claimed the shooting was an accident and he had reasons for running.
Smith County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Sgt. Larry Christian said the arrest was peaceful and faced no resistance, and Salas was given a cigarette.
“They cuffed him, there was no, nothing. And that’s what we want. We don’t want to injure anybody,” Christian said.
The Texas Anti-Gang Center, Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Lindale Police Department and Smith County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office were among the other agencies assisting in the manhunt and arrest of Salas.