Former Edcouch police chief charged with assault, stalking

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A judge sent former Edcouch police Chief Roel Guerra Jr. to jail last week after he allegedly harassed, stalked and assaulted his wife.

Roel Guerra Jr., 40, of Mission was booked at the Hidalgo County jail at 3:45 p.m. Friday, according to information released by the Sheriff’s Office.

Guerra is charged with stalking, a third-degree felony; obstruction or retaliation, a third-degree felony; publishing or threatening to publish intimate visual material, a state jail felony; violating a protective order, a Class A misdemeanor; assault on a family or household member, a Class A misdemeanor; driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor; and criminal trespass.

Conviction on a felony or Class A misdemeanor charge would cost Guerra his law enforcement license.

Guerra, who headed the Edcouch Police Department from December 2020 to December 2021, remained in jail Monday and couldn’t be reached for comment.

The charges resulted from a series of incidents that involved Guerra and his wife.

They married in February 2021 and separated in August 2024, according to a petition for divorce filed by Guerra’s attorney, Horacio Peña Jr. of Mission. Peña said he couldn’t comment on the charges without permission from his client.

During a hearing last week, a judge determined Guerra wasn’t entitled to bond, Peña said, because he was accused of violating a protective order.

Peña said he plans to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus — a formal request for a court to review Guerra’s detention — on Monday.

Guerra was also charged with assaulting his wife in 2021, just months after they got married. Prosecutors dropped the case in 2022, when his wife decided not to press charges.