Victoria Advocate
YORKTOWN, Texas — A man who officials say stabbed a Yorktown volunteer firefighter trying to extinguish a burning pile of brush in the man’s front yard was indicted by a grand jury.
Kirk Engle is charged with aggravated assault on a public servant.
The grand jury considered the case last month.
Engle was arrested Aug. 19 after officials say he started the blaze in the 400 block of West Sixth Street.
He is charged with then stabbing Brian Smolik, who has been with the department for about three years.
Smolik suffered a wound in his lower abdomen.
He said Thursday that he’s returned to both volunteering as a firefighter and working as a prison guard in Cuero.
“I’m doing pretty good right now,” he said while building a fence during his off hours for some extra money.
“It never really fazed me. ... Whatever he gets, he gets; and hopefully, he gets more time than he got before,” Smolik said about the indictment.
Normally, the charge is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
The charge was enhanced to a first-degree felony, punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison because Engle has a prior felony conviction, DeWitt County District Attorney Michael Sheppard said Thursday.
Yorktown Police Chief Paul Campos reported Engle was targeting him after an officer who was at the scene told him so; Sheppard did not think there was evidence of that.
Campos dealt with Engle years ago when he fled from a patrol officer who had been using Mace to make an arrest.
The Mace ran out, and when they finally handcuffed Engle, he spit on them, Campos said.
Yorktown Volunteer Fire Chief William Potcinske, while preparing for a benefit for the department, said Thursday that Smolik attended a drill in November.
“We discussed it as a department - how we need to not walk up as an individual to somebody and just be a little more careful because there’s a lot of crazy people out there,” Potcinske said. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a sad situation when you’re there to help somebody and you get stabbed.”
Sheppard said the knife was never found.
“He was arrested well away from the scene. He ran off, so he had ample opportunity to dispose of it,” Sheppard said.
Engle was in the DeWitt County Jail on Thursday. His bond is set at $100,000.
He did not have an attorney listed on jail documents.
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