Cops: Family Out for Revenge Killed the Wrong Man

4 are charged in Texas with the murder of Eddie Clark after a car chase
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2021 12:00 PM CDT
Sheriff: Man Killed in 'Tragic Case of Mistaken Identity'
   (Pexels/Kat Wilcox)

Police in Texas say four members of one family murdered an innocent man in a case of mistaken identity. The four were on the lookout for someone who had been vandalizing their property, and investigators say they chased the wrong man in their Houston-area neighborhood, reports KTRK. Those accused are Joe Argueta, 19; his mother, Florinda, 39; his father, Luis, 45; and his uncle Margarito Alcantar, 29. The victim is 29-year-old Eddie Clark III, who lived in the neighborhood and apparently drove the same type of car as the vandal, per the Katy Times. The family says that for weeks, someone had been damaging their home and vehicles, and they suspected a friend of the younger Argueta's former girlfriend. The vandal drove a black Dodge Charger, the Arguetas told investigators.

On Monday night, Clark drove his dark-colored Charger down their street, and the four family members gave chase in two separate vehicles. Police say Joe Argueta fired repeatedly at Clark's vehicle before it crashed into a tree. Clark got out and ran but collapsed, having been fatally shot, per the Washington Post. "Seems like a tragic case of mistaken identity," wrote Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in a Facebook post. All four face murder charges. “This is an example of taking the law into your hands,” a judge told Joe Argueta in a court appearance, per KTRK. “Any other harm or destruction to your own residence or home, repeatedly or otherwise, it doesn’t justify taking the law into your own hands and then mistaking the person.” (More mistaken identity stories.)

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