A Rio Grande City man now faces a charge. Police say he punched his own brother. Starr County deputies say Oscar Rodriguez Arredondo is 44 years old. They say he hit his 36 year old brother in the face many times.
The fight happened early Wednesday morning. It was July 29, 2026, in Rio Grande City. Deputy Omar Martinez answered a call about an assault. His badge number is 149. He got there about 7:10 a.m. He talked to both brothers. Then he wrote up a report.
The Starr County Sheriff's Office is the agency handling this case. Deputy Martinez works for that office. He is the one who wrote the complaint against Rodriguez after he spoke with both men at the scene.
Rodriguez now faces one charge. It is called assault causing bodily injury to a family member. The charge falls under Texas Penal Code Section 22.01. That is the state law that covers assault. In plain words, it covers hitting or hurting another person on purpose.
That charge is a Class A misdemeanor. In plain words, that means up to a year in county jail. It can also mean a fine up to $4,000. It is the most serious kind of misdemeanor charge in Texas. It sits one step below a felony. That penalty range applies under Texas law to Class A cases in general, not just this one.
Under Texas law, a brother counts as a family member for this kind of charge. That is why the complaint names a family member, not a stranger. The law treats an assault between family members as its own kind of case.
The brother spoke to police first. He said Rodriguez punched him in the face many times that morning. He did not say what started the fight.
Rodriguez gave a different story. He said the two had a verbal fight. He said his brother squared up like he wanted to fight. Rodriguez said that is when he slapped his brother once. He used an open hand.
Rodriguez said the fight did not stop there. He said he put his arm around his brother's neck. He said he punched his brother in the face many times. He used a closed fist while he held him that way.
The two stories do not fully match. The brother said he got punched many times. He gave little detail on how it started. Rodriguez said he slapped his brother once first. Then he said the fight grew into closed fist punches while he held his brother by the neck. Both stories agree on one thing. The brother ended up hurt in the face.
Fights like this happen more than people think. A loud fight between family can turn physical fast. This can happen when both people are mad. It can happen when neither one backs down. Once punches fly, deputies must treat it like a crime. It does not matter how close the two people are.
Right now, this is a charge, not a conviction. A charge is one step in the process. It is not proof that a crime happened. Both brothers already gave their own account to Deputy Martinez. Both accounts are part of the same complaint he wrote. Readers will hear more as this case moves forward.
Rodriguez now faces the charge in the Starr County court system. El Tejano does not know yet when he will go to court. This story will get updates as new facts come in. El Tejano will keep following this case out of Rio Grande City.
