Remember Robert Arnold—the guy who allegedly brutalized the same woman, posted bond, and then allegedly came back for an encore? He’s now been indicted by a Lubbock County grand jury on sexual assault and assault involving family member by strangulation. Yes, that case. The one where a protective order already existed. The one where a $70,000 bond apparently functioned as a brief intermission instead of a deterrent.
Court records recap a grim timeline: an initial arrest in November for assault, strangulation, blocking a 911 call, and sexual assault—followed by bond, release, and then a December arrest after he allegedly found the same victim, threatened her with a gun, kidnapped her, and assaulted her over multiple days. According to documents, she escaped by convincing him it would look suspicious to leave her car parked too long outside his house. When the victim has to workshop optics to survive, something has gone very wrong.
And because this is Lubbock, the protective order made yet another appearance—this time as background noise. After being arrested, Arnold allegedly called the victim from jail while she was speaking with police at the hospital, violating the order again. That’s not a loophole; that’s a system being treated like a suggestion box.
This time, the charges are heavier and the bond is too—$925,000. He’s accused of violating protection orders, aggravated kidnapping with sexual abuse, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault of a household member with serious bodily injury, and assault by strangulation. It’s a sobering list that raises a familiar question: why did it take a sequel this violent for the paperwork to start meaning anything?
If protective orders only work after multiple arrests and a near seven-figure bond, are they protection—or just a strongly worded Post-it note?
https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lubbock-man-indicted-sexual-assault/