Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Police suspect man of driving drunk, firing gun from car

A man with three prior DWI convictions is arrested in East Austin on Christmas night.

Video

Investigators say the shots were fired at 13th and Concho street.

"The nature of the call was a very dangerous situation," said APD rookie officer Alexander Lomovstev. He was only a couple of blocks away when he got the call of shots being fired at 13th and Concho Street. Lomovstev spotted the red suburban, driven by Blas Bautista, pull out in an aggressive manner.

"I got a little bit closer, and I heard 3 or 4 gunshots coming out of the direction of the vehicle," Lomovstev said.

Officer Lomovstev says the Suburban made its way down 13th to Chicon - then northbound on Chicon to East 17th street, before turning southbound on Alamo. That's where Lomovstev pulled over Bautista.

When the arresting officer approached the vehicle he said he could smell a strong odor of alcohol.

"His eyes they were glassy and bloodshot, all the signs of an intoxicated driver," Lomovstev said.

Public data documents show that Bautista has three previous DWI convictions since 2000. His last DWI conviction came just two months to the day that he was released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice at Huntsville.

Police also detected the strong scent of freshly burned gun powder inside Bautista's vehicle.

Officer Blayne Williams says he found a 38 Special about ten feet from Bautista's truck.

"Inside of the weapon there were four spent rounds and one live round in the chamber, which means if that round was down, if it would have been fired if that round would have struck officers or innocent bystanders," Williams said.

Charlie Mansfield owns a home just two blocks away from where the first shots were fired.

"Obviously any person that's going around shooting firearms, even if it is into the air, we would want law enforcement to take care of that, but I can say in general the people in this neighborhood love the neighborhood," Mansfield said.

It is against the law for a convicted felon to have a gun.

Right now Bautista faces felony possession of firearms as well as DWI charges.

source

No comments: