By Emma Weidmann | Editor-in-Chief
The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested 36-year-old Brandon Fritze of Waco for parole violation and unlawful possession of a firearm around 5:50 p.m. Tuesday at the Baylor Arms apartment complex on 9th Street.
According to Sgt. Ryan Howard of the Texas DPS, a parole warrant was obtained by the DPS, who then called Waco PD and the McLennan County Sheriff for assistance in case of a need for backup.
“We put in the arrest, and that was it,” Howard said. “No injuries to us or him.”
According to an affidavit, a Waco PD officer was dispatched to Lacy Lakeview on Sunday because of a “report of another subject brandishing a firearm at the caller.”
A parole warrant was obtained by Texas DPS after a records check revealed that the defendant “had a 2019 conviction for a felony offense to which he received a 30-year sentence of confinement and was paroled” since June 2023, according to the affidavit.
Lori Fogleman, spokesperson for Baylor University, said no danger was posed to Baylor students, and the situation was swiftly resolved. Fogleman said no Baylor students were involved with the arrest.
“Because there was police activity near campus, Baylor police were notified and assisted with ensuring the safety of any students or others who may have been in or near the area,” Fogleman said.
Howard said since parole warrants go through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, those in violation of parole are sometimes transferred to state penitentiaries after a decision by the parole board.
“The way parole warrants work is we just put [them] in McLennan County, and then the parole board has to say, ‘Okay, you go to federal prison, you have to go to state prison,” Howard said. “They determine where [they] go from there.”
Fritze is currently being held in McLennan County Jail without bond.
