Man carries gun into courthouse
A man was arrested Thursday (Jan. 28) after entering the Taos County Courthouse with a firearm. Shortly after noon, Ernest Mondragon, 66, attempted to walk through the metal detector when the alarm went off.
Taos County Sheriff’s deputy Miguel Rodriguez directed Mondragon to walk through the metal detector again, and after a second alarm Rodriguez asked Mondragon if he had any weapons. Mondragon denied having any weapons, but when questioned again during a search with a handheld metal detector, he admitted to carrying a handgun. During this time, civilians were escorted out of the lobby.
Deputy Rodriguez quickly detained Mondragon and found a small handgun concealed in an ankle holster. Mondragon did not have a concealed carry license and was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
Several days after being released, Mondragon came to the Taos News to explain himself. According to Mondragon, the gun was on his person only as selfdefense after a bet he placed on the presidential election with a friend turned sour. Mondragon, who said he refused to pay the money to Abel Nunez because he did not think that Donald Trump really lost the election, said Nunez then began stalking him and eventually fired a shot into a building he was in.
According to a Taos County Sheriff’s Office report, Nunez did fire a shot into the building
in Ranchos de Taos where Mondragon was located, and was later arrested. Mondragon said that he had gone into the court to correct paperwork for a restraining order against Nunez when he was arrested for carrying the concealed firearm.
Mondragon said he borrowed the gun from his daughter for selfprotection from Nunez, and that he legitimately forgot he had the weapon on him, but after realizing, quickly told deputy Rodriguez.
Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe initially said there was “nothing to indicate the man had ill intentions.” Regardless of that, however, Hogrefe said Mondragon made a mistake, adding, whether Mondragon was “licensed to carry a concealed firearm or not, a courthouse is off limits.”