Charges are filed against man in parking lot shooting
A Yuma Justice of the Peace on Monday modified the bond of the man arrested for allegedly firing a gun in a downtown parking lot last week.
Jose Ortiz Jr., 25, who was represented by attorney Ray Hanna, was informed of the charges by Judge Gregory Stewart during his arraignment.
Hanna, who is the head of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, was only appearing on Ortiz’s behalf for the hearing, in which he was charged with four felony offenses.
After informing Ortiz that a criminal complaint had been filed against him, Stewart told him he was being charged with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of misconduct involving weapons – due to being a prohibited possessor.
He also informed Ortiz that he is being held on a parole violation by the Arizona Department of Corrections and that the prosecution asked that the bond be increased.
“I don’t anticipate a release, given the fact of the parole hold,” Stewart said.
Prosecutor Joshua Salisbury asked that Ortiz’s bond be increased to $250,000.
“He had a handgun and fired several rounds at the victim,” Salisbury said of Ortiz. “We also believe he is a danger to the community.”
After finding there was enough to hold Ortiz on the charges, Stewart assigned a court-appointed attorney to represent him in future proceedings.
He scheduled Ortiz’s next court appearance for 4 p.m. March 3 for a preliminary hearing and converted his $50,000 bail to a cash-only amount.
Ortiz’s case will likely go before the grand jury to determine whether probable cause exists to believe a crime has been committed.
If that happens, his next hearing will be in Yuma County Superior Court.
On Thursday at approximately 12:26 a.m., Yuma police officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 100 block of East 1st Street.
The investigation revealed that multiple shots were fired in the Alement parking lot, and the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived.
Ortiz, who was later identified as a suspect, was later located in the 3300 block of West 5th Street and taken into custody.
There were no reported injuries in the incident and one vehicle was damaged by a gunshot.