Man accused of killing Caldwell County deputy gets no bond, judge rules

Man accused of killing deputy gets no bond

A Travis County judge has ruled that the man accused of killing a Caldwell County deputy will stay behind bars without bond.

AUSTIN, Texas - A Travis County judge has ruled that the man accused of killing a Caldwell County deputy will stay behind bars without bond. 

The decision marks a significant legal first for the Travis County court system under a new state law.

What we know:

Prosecutors said 38-year-old Thomas Vences shot and killed Deputy Constable Aaron Armstrong outside an Austin nightclub back in January 2026. 

Armstrong was working off-duty security at Club Rodeo on North Lamar when he was killed. 

At the time of the shooting, Vences had five active warrants out for his arrest, including charges of burglary and assault. 

Now, a judge has approved a motion to hold him without bond, citing a recent Texas Constitutional Amendment. This is the first time Travis County prosecutors have used this new law to keep a defendant in jail indefinitely.

Caldwell County deputy killed 

Two arrested in death of Caldwell Co. deputy

Two men are in custody in connection with the deadly shooting of an off-duty Caldwell County deputy constable outside an Austin bar early Sunday morning.

The backstory:

Two men were arrested in connection to Armstrong's death.

38-year-old Thomas Vances has been charged with capital murder of a peace officer and is facing four other unrelated felonies and one misdemeanor.

22-year-old Ronaldo Ernesto Colindres-Simon has been charged with second-degree felony assault on a peace officer.

Arrest paperwork filed for Colindres-Simon gives a timeline of the investigation into the shooting.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Remembering Deputy Constable Aaron Armstrong

Funeral services were held for a Caldwell County deputy constable who was shot and killed earlier this month. Aaron Armstrong was shot while working as a security guard outside of a North Austin bar.

On Jan. 4, just after 2 a.m., APD responded to an "assist agency hotshot" call saying a constable had been shot at Club Rodeo, at 9515 N. Lamar Boulevard.

When officers arrived, they were flagged down by pedestrians in the parking lot and pointed towards two parked cars where they found a uniformed deputy constable, later identified as Caldwell County Pct 3 deputy constable Aaron Armstrong, on the ground. A bystander had started a tourniquet and told police they had seen at least one gunshot wound to his upper right arm.

The bystander told police that a man had been in an altercation inside the bar and was escorted out by the deputy. The man left the parking lot, but then returned and was told by the deputy that if he kept causing issues, he would go to jail.

The man appeared agitated and was held back by two other men and a woman. One of the men was later identified by police as Colindres-Simon.

The bystander said the man had retrieved a gun from one of the cars. An expletive was yelled and the bystander said he heard a gunshot. He helped the deputy constable to the ground and began life-saving measures, including the tourniquet.

He told police that he saw Colindres-Simon get into one of the cars and try to leave. Colindres-Simon told the bystander he didn't want anything to do with this and wanted to leave. Despite the bystander's protests, Colindres-Simon got in the car and reversed over the deputy constable's arm with one tire.

The bystander prevented him from doing it to the deputy constable's other arm and yelled at him that he was running him over. The car then drove off.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Two arrested in death of Caldwell Co. deputy

Two men are in custody in connection with the deadly shooting of an off-duty Caldwell County deputy constable outside an Austin bar early Sunday morning.

Officers were able to identify the sedan Colindres-Simon was driving through a social media post, which showed a license plate not belonging to the sedan. Officers also determined two other vehicles had been involved; two of the three vehicles did not have license plates.

Officers did a traffic stop on the sedan for not having a license plate and matching the description of the vehicle that had fled the scene and run over the deputy constable's arm.

The driver of the sedan was identified as Colindres-Simon, who told police he was parked at Club Rodeo but left because he heard gunshots. However, footage from Armstrong's body camera showed Colindres-Simon as one of the men holding back the shooting suspect. He also matched the description given to police by the bystander.