The Brazos County district attorney’s office announced a plea agreement with Jonathan Bridges that includes a 45 year sentence.
Bridges has been in jail since his arrest in February of last year. He admitted to shooting at College Station police officers before and during a four and a half hour standoff in a second floor apartment at the Southgate Village complex.
Bridges also pushed through sheetrock into an adjoining apartment and threatened to kill those residents.
Prosecutors say at the time of his arrest, Bridges was on parole for an armed robbery in Bell County. Before that, Bridges did prison time for a residential burglary in Travis County.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
Jonathan Bridges was sentenced to 45 years in prison by Judge David Hilburn of the 361st District Court on Friday, October 14, 2022 after entering into a plea agreement on multiple charges.
On February 25, 2021, the College Station Police Department responded to a disturbance between Bridges and his girlfriend. She reported that Bridges was in possession of a firearm and was assaulting her.
When the first officer arrived, he saw Bridges leaving the scene with his girlfriend in a car. Officers attempted to pull Bridges over. Bridges stopped the car but then fled on foot through a parking lot. As he ran, Bridges turned and opened fire on a police officer who was giving chase.
Bridges then broke into a nearby apartment and barricaded himself inside. The residents of the apartment were not home, however police were not aware of that at the time and Bridges claimed to be holding
the residents as hostages. Bridges further claimed that he was in possession of explosives and he threatened to use them to kill hostages While barricaded inside the apartment, Bridges continued to firing his gun at College Station police officers through windows and walls from inside the apartment.
In an effort to escape, Bridges attempted to break into another neighboring apartment by pushing through the sheetrock wall. That apartment was occupied. As Bridges came through the wall, he threatened to kill the occupants of that apartment.
Hostage negotiators attempted to contact Bridges by delivering a phone through a window, but Bridges fired his weapon at them as well. Bridges ultimately surrendered to the police after a standoff lasting several hours.
Bridges was charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a public servant, burglary of a habitation, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and possession of marijuana.
Following his guilty pleas, Bridges received 45-year sentences on the two aggravated assault charges and the burglary charge as well as concurrent sentences on his remaining charges. By law, all
sentences will run simultaneously.
In 2013, Bridges was placed on probation in Travis County for Burglary of a Habitation. That probation was later revoked and he was sentenced to 3 years in prison. While on parole, he committed an Aggravated Robbery in Bell County and received a six year sentence. Bridges was on parole again when he committed these crimes in Brazos County.
Assistant district attorney Nathan Wood issued the following statement: “Jonathan Bridges’ actions remind us of the risk our police officers face on our behalf every single day when responding to domestic violence calls. Extreme violence demands extreme accountability.”