Man accused of shooting gun near woman is in jail

VERNAL — A man who Colorado police say fired a gun at a woman in November, while holding it inches away from her face, is behind bars here.

Marcos M. Gomez, 32, who uses the alias Manuel "Manny" Gomez, was taken into custody Wednesday by detectives with the Uintah County Sheriff's Department on an arrest warrant out of Moffat County, Colo., for criminal attempt to commit murder and menacing.

Sheriff's Lt. John Laursen said detectives received a tip that Gomez was at an oil field location in southern Uintah County. They found Gomez's vehicle near the Green River bridge on state Route 45 and were able to track him down from there, the lieutenant said.

The warrant for Gomez's arrest stems from a Nov. 12 incident at a Dinosaur, Colo., trailer park. According to court records, two men and a woman went to the trailer park so the woman could talk to her former boss about a job. When the trio reached the trailer where they believed the man was, two men answered the door.

While the group was talking to the men, Gomez allegedly approached them from behind, screaming.

"I'll kill every one of you!" Gomez yelled, according to one man's account of the incident, which was included in the affidavit.

Gomez then pointed a gun at the woman, court records state, and asked, "You want to die?"

The woman told investigators she challenged Gomez to "go ahead and pull the trigger." She said he pointed a .38-caliber revolver inches from her face and fired. The shot went past the woman's left ear.

The woman and the two men she was with fled the scene in their truck before contacting authorities. Gomez was no longer at the trailer park when deputies went there to look for him.

Moffat County sheriff's investigators learned that Gomez might be working in the oil fields of eastern Utah and contacted detectives in Uintah County shortly after the incident.

Laursen said Gomez had methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia on him when he was arrested in Utah. He was booked into the Uintah County Jail on the Colorado warrant and on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Two men with Gomez, Hector Medina and Manuel Robles, were also arrested by detectives. Laursen said they were jailed on suspicion of possessing another's identification, giving false information to police, and possessing forged government documents.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been notified of the arrests, Laursen said, and are still checking into citizenship status of those arrested.

No formal charges have been filed against any of the men.

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E-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com