LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) — A Lubbock jury found 41-year-old Joshua Molinar guilty of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in connection to a 2023 case that led to a dramatic SWAT standoff. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, July 8.
The charges stem from an incident in 2023 when a woman came to Molinar’s home to borrow a phone. She told police that he attacked her, punching her and dragging her into a back room where he forced her to perform oral sex and attempted to rape her. She later escaped and contacted law enforcement.
Trial Highlights:
Day 1: Prosecutors laid out the case, including testimony from Sergeant Cecil Garcia, whose body camera captured the victim’s account and the early stages of the standoff. The victim said Molinar attacked her after inviting her inside under the pretense of helping her make a phone call.
Day 2: The jury watched footage of the six-hour SWAT standoff. Molinar was seen armed with a knife and pitchfork, trying to fend off a police K-9 unit. Officers eventually deployed tear gas to force him out of a backyard bunker.
Day 3: Jurors viewed Molinar’s interrogation, in which he admitted to beating the woman and having sex with her but claimed it wasn’t rape. He also alleged he was being set up by an unknown individual.
The defense attempted to cast doubt on the victim’s testimony, but the jury ultimately sided with prosecutors based on video evidence, Molinar’s admissions, and witness accounts.
Molinar was arrested in 2023 following the standoff and has remained in custody at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
