A Waco man who used his vehicle to strike a Waco attorney on a motorcycle after an argument at a fast-food restaurant drive-thru last year pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors recommended that Darrell Lynn Gallaway, 46, be placed on felony deferred adjudication probation in exchange for his guilty plea. Judge Ralph Strother of 19th State District Court will sentence Gallaway in about two months after reviewing a background report compiled by probation officers.
Gallaway’s attorney, Michael Dahlenburg, did not return messages seeking comment on the case.
Waco police reported that Gallaway and Waco attorney Seth Sutton got into a verbal altercation in March last year about 2:30 a.m. at a Whataburger on Valley Mills Drive. Police initially said Gallaway and Sutton got into an argument over how long Gallaway was taking to order at the drive-thru. However, after Gallaway’s arrest a week later, Sutton, a criminal defense attorney, said he made a general comment about the wait time at the restaurant that was not directed at anyone. He did not realize Gallaway heard him, but they got into an argument, he said.
“I wasn’t directing the first initial comment at him, because I know when things take a long time at a restaurant it is not a patron’s fault. But he thought I was directing it at him,” Sutton said at the time. “He started barking at me and I started barking at him, but then it ended and I didn’t think anything too big about it.”
Police said Gallaway waited for Sutton to leave the restaurant on his motorcycle, followed him in his SUV and struck him near Waco Drive and North 38th Street.
Sutton suffered bruised ribs and multiple abrasions commonly called “road rash.”
Gallaway fled the scene after striking Sutton’s bike, according to police reports.
“Having an accident with a car is scary enough for a biker,” Sutton said after Gallaway’s indictment in March. “But in a case like this, where a car intentionally runs down a motorcycle from behind, we are completely defenseless. I’m grateful that the district attorney’s office took this important step in seeking justice against Gallaway. It makes the bikers in this community a little bit safer. And in that, we will take all the help we can get.”
Both Sutton, 45, and Tijerina, 33, remain free on bonds. They were indicted this month on charges they conspired to hire an undercover Waco police officer who infiltrated Sutton’s motorcycle club, the Red Mouse Cult, to kill Beaudin, an attorney who was arrested in February on child indecency charges.
The charges remain pending against all three attorneys.
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Source: Waco Tribune-Herald