ALMOST A RUNDOWN
A 36-year-old Fort Worth man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after a Parker County jury found him guilty of aggravated assault on a public servant.Jorge Castillo Zulayka tried to run over a Weatherford police officer August 31, 2005, jurors concluded Wednesday in the 415th District Court in Weatherford. Visiting Judge R.E. Thornton assessed the sentence after a short punishment hearing.Zulayka earlier pled guilty to evading arrest with a vehicle and felon in possession of a firearm, which stemmed from the same criminal episode but carried lesser sentences, said Assistant District Attorney Jeff Swain.Swain and Assistant District Attorney Robert DuBoise tried the case for the prosecution.Zulayka was sentenced to 20 years in prison each on the evading arrest and weapons charges after a second brief punishment hearing Wednesday, Swain said.He added that sentences from all three cases were increased due to Zulayka’s prior felony convictions for two felony thefts and a drug offense.The incident began during a WPD traffic stop on Bankhead Highway, when Zulayka refused to get out of the car, Swain said.According to trial testimony, Zulayka drove away while an officer was leaning into the car trying to remove the keys from the ignition. Officers pursued Zulayka east on Fort Worth Highway into Hudson Oaks, through a Wal-mart parking lot, and onto Interstate 20 heading west.Weatherford Police Officer Tommy Taylor deployed a spike system on the side of the interstate to puncture Zulayka’s tires and end the pursuit. However, according to prosecution witnesses and a video played during the trial, Zulayka passed two cars on the right shoulder of the interstate, turned sharply to the left and nearly struck Taylor.“If Officer Taylor didn’t backpedal quickly at just the right time, he wouldn’t have been here to testify and we would have been prosecuting a capital murder case,” Swain said. “The defendant drove right over the spot that Officer Taylor was in to start with. They are both very lucky that he moved when he did.”However, Zulayka’s vehicle also ran over the spike system, and the front-left tire began to fall apart, forcing him to stop at the Santa Fe Drive exit.A brief standoff ensued while Zulayka threatened to kill himself with one of seven firearms police later found in the car.Zulayka was eventually removed from the car and arrested.Officers also found 213 grams (about ½ pound) of methamphetamine in Zulayka’s car.Last April, Zulayka was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for charges related to the possession of those drugs.“With the state and federal sentences this defendant has now received, I feel confident in saying that his days of crime are over,” DuBoise said. “He won’t be eligible for parole until he is in his 80s.”