Holly MatkinWaco, TX – The caregiver for a former Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper who was shot in the head in the line of duty over three decades ago has been indicted for allegedly stealing money and pills from the disabled retiree.
A McLennan County grand jury handed down the indictment against John Travis Petru last week, KWTX reported.
Petru has been charged with stealing prescription medication and money from retired DPS Trooper Daniel Shown while he was supposed to have been caring for him between August of 2021 and November of 2021.
Additional details have not been released.
Trooper Shown was assisting McLennan County deputies with a 63-year-old barricaded suspect in a rural area eight days before Christmas in 1988 when the suspect spotted his illuminated flashlight and opened fire on him with a rifle, according to KWTX.
The bullet hit Trooper Shown in the center of his forehead, leaving his leg and arm paralyzed and causing him to go blind in one eye.
The gunman later told investigators he shot at the light, KWTX reported.
Trooper Shown medically retired from his law enforcement career on Dec. 16, 1988.
“I was just doing my job that night,” the wounded trooper told KWTX in 2018.
Although he regained his ability to drive after the shooting, Trooper Shown encountered another setback when he injured his usable leg in 2005.
An infection developed in the leg after a surgical procedure and left him dependent on a wheelchair, KWTX reported.
His wheelchair was in shambles by 2018, so the 100 Club Heart of Texas banned together to purchase him a new one.
“When we learned of Daniel’s need, our board thought that was exactly in our mission and so we did what we could to make the chair possible,” 100 Club Heart of Texas Executive Director Sandy Pechacek told KWTX at the time.
Trooper Shown was stunned by the life-altering gift.
“I was shocked the night that I got hurt, but I’m extremely shocked that my trooper friends have stood beside me all of these many, many years,” he said.
Sandy Malone