APD: 2 arrested in road rage case
Meth-carrying suspect fled after firing on SUV with child inside, police say
Deputies say a man lost his temper during a crash Thursday — firing several rounds at an SUV with a child inside before fleeing the scene to get rid of the gun along with a large amount of methamphetamine.
Omil Gomez, 32, was booked into jail early Friday morning on charges of aggravated assault, child abuse, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, trafficking controlled substances, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Joining Gomez behind bars, 22-year-old Caren Peres-Morales is charged with tampering with evidence after deputies say she switched cars with Gomez after the shooting and lied to detectives — unaware they had watched how the entire incident unfolded through security camera video.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Bernalillo County deputies responded to a road rage shooting around 3 p.m. near Edith and Montaño NE, where they found Peres-Morales inside a yellow Camaro that had been rear-ended. At that time, she told deputies an SUV had hit her and drove off.
However, deputies say video surveillance showed a black SUV rear-end the Camaro before Gomez jumped out of the Camaro with a gun and fired several shots at the SUV as it drove away.
Then Peres-Morales showed up in a red Camaro and helped Gomez, move items from the yellow Camaro into the red Camaro, before Gomez drove off in the red Camaro and Peres-Morales stayed behind, according to deputies.
During questioning, PeresMorales told detectives she was driving the yellow Camaro when the SUV hit her and she heard gunshots as it sped away.
“Upon being told of the video surveillance, (Peres-Morales) displays a sign of being shocked and admits she lied about what happened,” a detective wrote.
Peres-Morales then admitted Gomez drove the yellow Camaro and the couple made up the story to tell deputies before switching cars.
Detectives met the driver of the SUV a few miles away, who told them she fled because her son was in the SUV and she was afraid what Gomez “might do to them.”
“When asked if she had heard any gunshots after the crash, she looked at me with a surprised look and said no,” a detective wrote.
Deputies say the mother didn’t realize Gomez had fired a gun at the SUV and they found a bullet hole in the bumper of the SUV.
Detectives found Gomez at a home in southwest Albuquerque and took him into custody for questioning.
Gomez told detectives the gun fell from the SUV and, “in fear of being shot or killed,” he used it to shoot at the SUV — to which a detective told him about surveillance video and “what he told me was not the truth.”
Gomez then told detectives “he let anger and vengeance take over” and used a gun he had on him to shoot up in the air to “scare the driver” before fleeing the scene and throwing the gun out the window.
Upon a search of the home where they found Gomez, detectives found a red backpack that family members told them Gomez had brought in after the crash.
Deputies say a gun and three pounds of meth were inside the backpack.