Police say intoxicated Jeep driver terrorized downtown

Officers responded to calls of a man ‘waving assault rifle’ from his car Thursday

A Santa Fe man is accused of driving around downtown with a shotgun Thursday and pointing it at people while he was drunk.

Santa Fe police arrested Omar Ortiz-Pacheco, 31, and charged him with negligent use of a deadly weapon and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, having an open container of alcohol and driving with a suspended license, according to a criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

Officers responded at 9:30 p.m. Thursday to La Fonda on the Plaza for a report of a man “waving an assault rifle” from a Jeep as it drove past the hotel before turning onto Cathedral Place.

While heading to the hotel, police received another report of the same vehicle driving past Del Charro restaurant on West Alameda Street as someone pointed a gun out of the window.

A woman said she and her boyfriend were driving south on Cerrillos Road

when a Jeep drove by pointing a gun at them. She told police she was afraid she was going to be shot and was so scared she began shaking.

Police arrested Ortiz-Pacheco a short time later at the Speedway gas station on Airport Road after witnesses reported seeing the vehicle turn onto the road.

Officers found a black Seylan 12-gauge shotgun in the back of Ortiz-Pacheco’s car. He said he had used it to go shooting the day before but had not pointed it at anyone, according to the criminal complaint.

He told police he had finished work around 5:30 p.m. before going to a friend’s house for drinks near Old Las Vegas Highway. Afterward, he said he drove around the Plaza before heading home near Airport Road and Constellation Drive.

Ortiz-Pacheco initially refused to take a Breathalyzer test, but officers tested his blood-alcohol level at the police station, where he blew a 0.12, the complaint says.

Police booked Ortiz-Pacheco into the Santa Fe County jail, where he is being held without bond.