A Coyote man who shot at his family member’s house in December will serve no time in prison or jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor offenses and receiving a suspended 180-day sentence.
John Chacon, 27, pleaded guilty on Oct. 1 to charges of disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and negligent use of a deadly weapon. While his plea agreement calls for a sentence of 18 months of supervised probation, the judgment and sentence entered by District Judge Anastasia Martin, states he received a sentence of 180 days of supervised probation.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Chacon on Dec. 25, 2024 because he shot a camper trailer and a car after a cousin made a joke: “Juan mas, Juan at a time,” Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholas Varela wrote in a criminal complaint.
Repair quotes for the car that was shot declared it a total loss, while damages to the camper trailer were more than $6,000, Varela wrote.
The deputy charged Chacon with negligent use of a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property over $1,000 and shooting at or from a vehicle. He was bound over, April 9, on charges of shooting at a vehicle and criminal damage to property, both fourth-degree felonies, by Rio Arriba Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid, following a preliminary examination, according to court records.
A case from 20 days earlier, where Chacon is accused of the same conduct, resulted in a plea to negligent use of a deadly weapon in March and 182 days of unsupervised probation and a deferral for six months. He was arrested again on new charges, which is a violation of his probation.
In the newest case, a misdemeanor battery case filed in Chama Magistrate Court, a Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy wrote that Chacon’s father alleged Chacon pushed him down after day of bickering.
In the case from Dec. 4, 2024, that resulted in the plea on negligent use of a deadly weapon, Chacon’s aunt called dispatchers and told them Chacon started yelling obscenities at her and “blaming her for talking to people” earlier in the day and she had no idea what he was talking about and he appeared to be drunk, New Mexico State Police Officer James Rempe wrote.
“She told me she tried to ignore him, which made him angry,” Rempe wrote. “He then clenched his fists and screamed and began running at her and yelling I’m going to get you. This scared her so she ran back to her house and shut the door.”
She called the police and he started throwing things before he went back to his house and then stood outside her house, as she could see him through the window, Rempe wrote.
“When she walked away from the window, she heard a gunshot, which sounded like it was next to the house,” Rempe wrote. “This scared her even more and she called 911 a second time.”