A man accused of shooting a father and son who refused to buy drugs from him has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Zeldonio Moreno Carrerra, 19, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Tuesday after he had earlier been arrested in Uintah County by Bureau of Indian Affairs police.On April 25, Hector Escobar and his 17-year-old son were at Pioneer Park when Carrerra approached them and offered to sell them drugs. They refused but Carrerra persisted, according to court documents.
Hector Escobar Jr. got into a verbal fight with Carrerra, then pushed Carrerra and kicked him, said Salt Lake police detective Robin Howell. The father and son walked away, and the suspect got into a car and pulled up next to them.
"The suspect then got out of his car and (while holding a gun) said, `Do you want to fight now?' " Howell said.
Carrerra then fired several shots at the 17-year-old and one shot at his father, the charges state. Escobar Jr. was hit at least four times and possibly six times and remained at LDS Hospital Wednesday in satisfactory condition. His father was treated and later released.
Witnesses near the Rio Grande restaurant wrote down the license plate number of the suspect and detectives traced it to the Ft. Duchesne Indian Reservation. Bureau of Indian Affairs police determined that a man had been bragging about the shooting and he was arrested, Howell said.
According to the charges, Carrerra admitted he shot both victims. Carrerra is an illegal alien and has been living in Utah the past two years. He had been staying at a Fairpark area motel for the past three or four months.
Since the shooting, officers have greatly increased police presence at Pioneer Park and have made dozens of arrests for illegal activities ranging from drug sales to spitting.