Police arrest 3 after 911 caller reports shots

SANTAQUIN — A 911 call Sunday night reporting a possible reckless driver sounded routine, right up until the caller said he'd just been shot at.

"Of course, that gets our feathers up a bit," said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon of dispatchers who took the call.

But the handgun turned out to be an Airsoft pellet gun, Cannon said. From there, nothing was as it appeared to be in what started as a case of reckless driving.

Initially, dispatchers received a call from a man saying he was being chased by a reckless driver in a green Cadillac Escalade, Cannon said. The man told dispatchers he followed the Escalade to get the license-plate number for the vehicle.

In the process, the driver of the Escalade — later identified as 22-year-old Jorge Sinderos of Provo — pulled over, got out of the vehicle and allegedly fired several shots at the 911 caller, Cannon said.

A Santaquin police officer responded, tracked down the Escalade and pulled it over. As the officer approached, one of the passengers of the Escalade — 28-year-old Alberto Vazquez-Javier of Payson — exited the vehicle and ran off into the dark, leaving Sinderos and another passenger, 22-year-old Jose Julian Estrada, behind.

Police launched a manhunt and deployed officers in an airplane and personnel from Utah County Metro SWAT. Police later located Vazquez-Javier near an irrigation canal at 11300 S. 6000 West in Payson, Cannon said. He was not wearing a winter coat when he took off into the snowy night.

"They're not typically well-prepared when they decide to run," Cannon said later.

Detectives later learned Sinderos fired at the 911 caller with an Airsoft pellet gun, not a handgun, though the victim insisted he heard the crack of gunfire and saw muzzle flash, Cannon said.

"In his mind, he was being shot at with a gun," Cannon said.

That is why detectives arrested Sinderos for investigation of aggravated assault, he added.

"If the (victim) believes it's a dangerous weapon, then it is treated as such," Cannon said. "It constitutes assault."

During the course of their investigation, detectives also learned the man who placed the 911 call was not being "completely accurate," Cannon said.

"These parties knew each other," Cannon said. "The person who's the 'victim ' was trying to collect a debt."

The victim has not been charged with providing false information to law enforcement, Cannon said, but detectives are still sorting out all the facts that have surfaced during this investigation. But Sinderos was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault and DUI. Estrada and Vazquez-Javier were also arrested and booked into jail for investigation of possession of methamphetamine.

Cannon also said investigators are uncertain whether the money dispute stems from a drug transaction or a legitimate business transaction.

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