Rockenbaugh sentenced to 25 yrs in assault

An Olney man was sentenced to 25 years in prison in connection with a domestic violence incident and wide-ranging police pursuit that led to a lockdown of the Olney’s school campuses, hospital and nursing home last April.

Derrick Rockenbaugh, 37, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a family or house member by impeding breath or circulation with a previous conviction, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and intentional abandonment or endangerment of a child with criminal negligence.

Mr. Rockenbaugh was sentenced to 25 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institution Division on each of the assault charges, and also received an eight-year sentence on the firearm charge and 20 months on the child endangerment charge, the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

All sentences will run concurrently, and Mr. Rockenbaugh will get credit for 400 days served in the Young County Jail, Assistant District Attorney Phillip Gregory said.

Mr. Rockenbaugh also has multiple arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest in Young County dating back to 2005, jail records show. His latest four felony convictions stem from an April 14 incident in which Mr. Rockenbaugh’s girlfriend, 31-year-old Mercedes Martinez, called police to their room at the Pipeliner Inn. She told officers that he grabbed her by the shoulders, causing her to fall and break a window in the hotel room, according to a police affadavit.

Ms. Martinez said that when Mr. Rockenbaugh saw the responding officer, he allegedly pushed her onto a bed and threatened to cut her with a blade if she left or said anything to anyone. He then held the blade to his neck, told the victim that he would not be the one going to jail and then began hitting himself in the face, the affadavit said.

Olney Police initially tried to arrest Mr. Rockenbaugh on the evening of April 17 at a family member’s home but he ran away and cut off the ankle monitor he was wearing while out on bail on a child endangerment charge from June of 2022, police said.

Police advised Grace Care Center of Olney to lock down while they pursued Mr. Rockenbaugh. A day and a half later, Olney Police officers caught up with Mr. Rockenbaugh in a garage on South Avenue D.

Two patrolling officers spotted him walking in the 300 block of South Avenue D at about 2:20 p.m. on April 19 and gave chase. The officers initially lost sight of him and set up a perimeter to conduct a house-to-house search. Police also advised Olney Independent School District and the Olney Hamilton Hospital to lock down their buildings, Chief Birbeck said.

Police searched backyards and outbuildings before coming to an open garage on South Avenue D, Chief Birbeck said. An officer climbed up on the bed of a pickup truck inside the garage and crawled into the attic, where he discovered Mr. Rockenbaugh armed with a pistol. Mr. Rockenbaugh surrendered immediately, Chief Birbeck said.

“Based on the totality of Mr. Rockenbaugh’s criminal history eventually it comes time to pay the piper,” Chief Birbeck said. “The citizens of Olney and the citizens of Young County are tired of crime and I think that the District Attorney’s willingness to send these people to prison should be a clear sign to criminals in Young County that don’t do the crime unless you’re willing to do the time.”