A dispute sparked by a cash loan between friends ended with rifle shots fired from of a Calle Gallegos home.
Christina Serna, of Española, told Española Police she and her boyfriend, Jon Gray, drove to a house on Calle Gallegos around 7 p.m. Oct. 4 to collect $170 Gray had lent his friend Michael Valdez, according to an affidavit by Española Police Det. Bryan Martinez.
When they arrived, another man the couple recognized as Valdez’s cousin, Mario Valdez, 20, of Española, emerged from the house with a black rifle and started shooting at the car, according to the affidavit.
Serna told police that as she sped away, bullets shot through the car’s cargo door and rear driver-side window. Glass shards left several small cuts on the arms and stomach of Serna’s 15-year-old son, who was in the vehicle. A bullet fragment left a wound on Gray’s shoulder that required stitches, according to the affidavit.
Police later found bullet fragments in the cargo area and floorboards of Serna’s red PT Cruiser.
Mario Valdez said he fired at Serna and Gray in a panicked attempt to protect his mother, fianceé and daughters.
“They’d come to my house looking for Michael Valdez, who doesn’t even live here, but they never knocked or anything,” Mario Valdez said. “My mom called me, they were running around my yard with bats and they kicked down my front door.”
Mario Valdez said he and the couple started arguing when Serna drew a knife and waved it at his fianceé and young daughters.
“I shot when she was coming toward me and my 3-year-old and 1-year-old,” Mario Valdez said. “I’ve never been in trouble before this, but I panicked.”
Serna and Gray could not be reached for comment.
Martinez arrested Mario Valdez Oct. 5 for shooting at a motor vehicle, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, child abuse and aggravated assault, according to Rio Arriba Magistrate Court records. He was released two days later on a $2,000 cash bond after pleading not guilty before Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid, according to arraignment records.
Mario Valdez said Martinez, whom he referred to as his cousin, told him late last week he could not press charges against Serna and Gray because he did not report the incident immediately after it happened. Martinez did not return a call to his cell phone.