Published: Saturday, March 6, 2010 12:00 a.m. MST
KEARNS — After a 4 1/2-hour manhunt, police arrested a man suspected of shooting and killing his ex-wife's boyfriend Friday afternoon.
The shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m. in front of a house at 5726 S. 4580 West. A woman and her current boyfriend, Amos James Pacheco, had just dropped off three children, ages 9, 8, and 4, to visit their father, Joshua James Montoya, said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.
The children went into the house and Montoya, 26, came out to the sport utility vehicle parked on the street and confronted his ex-wife and Pacheco, Winder said. Police believe the two men argued before Montoya pulled out a gun and shot Pacheco, who was still sitting in the passenger seat of the car. Pacheco, 25, lived with the children's mother in Taylorsville, officers said.
The victim was taken to Intermountain Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Winder said Montoya fled on foot with a handgun. The search, aided by dogs, centered first in the immediate area of the shooting, where some witnesses said they had seen Montoya enter a neighboring home. However, no sign of the suspect was found, although four homes were searched by officers, and the effort was widened to include the Kearns and Taylorsville areas, where police said Montoya has many friends and family.
At about 10 p.m., police saw a man who matched Montoya's description at a home several miles from the shooting get in a car and drive away. Police said Montoya knew the people living in the house. With the help of several detectives, police pulled the car over and boxed it in at 4136 S. 6000 West.
"He didn't try to flee," said Unified Police Department Lt. Don Hutson. "He gave up without a fight."
Montoya and Pacheco both have gang connections, police said, but they surmised that the shooting was sparked by relationship issues, not gang rivalry.
Damian Anderson and Shelby Mason were in Montoya's neighborhood hanging posters about a missing cat when they heard what they said sounded like homemade fireworks.
"We heard a popping noise and then tires squealing and people screaming," Mason said.
The initial screams were muffled, but Mason said she could eventually hear one woman screaming, "What an idiot!" She was unsure who the screaming woman was.
Mason and other witnesses said they heard tires squealing, but police are unsure where that sound came from since Montoya fled on foot. When they arrived, police found the vehicle in front of the house next door to Montoya's, but they could not confirm that's where it was when Pacheco was shot.
After police confirmed Pacheco's death, his girlfriend's wails could be heard several houses away where reporters were standing. Ultimately, the mother was allowed to leave the scene with her father and the children.
Hutson said at least two other people were inside the house with the children when the shooting occurred, some of whom were likely Montoya's family members.
Neighbor Juanita Drew said this wasn't Montoya's first violent act in the neighborhood.
"Josh has been in trouble before. He has been known to carry guns." She said that Montoya had a run-in with her husband on one occasion. Montoya had been loitering with a group of people in their neighborhood and her husband told him to keep walking. Montoya apparently felt threatened and fired a bullet into the air, Drew told the Deseret News.
e-mail: ashaha@desnews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment