Posted on 01/02/2007 11:40:36 PM PST by weegee
Off-duty officer faces charge after gunfire
He is suspended after deputies say at least 2 shots fired during party hit a nearby home
An off-duty Houston police officer was arrested early Monday after allegedly firing a gun during a New Year's party, striking a nearby home, authorities said.
Ricardo Piñeda, 27, was charged with deadly conduct after the shooting that happened shortly before 12:30 a.m. in the 8800 block of Rustling Leaves, Harris County sheriff's deputies said.
The owner of the home struck by the bullets was in the laundry room when someone attending a New Year's party across the street began firing. At least two of the bullets pierced his garage door, authorities said.
"One of (the rounds) lodged in the wall very close to where he was standing," said Harris County sheriff's Lt. John Martin.
Piñeda was in civilian clothes but wore an HPD jacket and had his badge hanging around his neck when the deputy questioned him about the shooting, Martin said.
"The officer was nonresponsive. He said he didn't know anything about it," Martin said. "At one point, he told our deputy, 'This is not a big deal.' "
The owner of the home where the party took place and at least one other person identified Piñeda, a three-year HPD veteran, as the person who was firing the weapons.
Deputies later found a .40-caliber pistol and an AR-15 rifle in his car.
"Both weapons appeared to have been fired recently. They were both empty," Martin said. "It appears he was the only one firing a weapon."
Deputies also found several shell casings at the scene.
Piñeda was taken into custody and released later that day after posting a $30,000 bond.
An HPD spokesman said Piñeda is assigned to the department's southeast patrol division.
He has been relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
Officials with the Houston Police Officers Union said Piñeda will not be represented by an attorney from the association because the incident did not occur while he was on duty.
Houston PING
What an idiot.
Americans should be smarter than that.
Dumbass.
Exactly. We don't behave like that in this country.
If only that were true. I stopped counting after 30 shots in about a 15 minute period in my area.
I would have called 911 immediately.
if you lived in Aztlan Nuevo like we do you'd realize the police are no use.
Cops can't arrest 60% of the town.
here in the occupied territories the Mexicans start shooting round 11:30 and go for an hour or so. Cinco de Mayo parties, 4th of July (irony?), Halloween/ Day of the Dead and Mexican Independence Day same thing.
They just love to shoot guns in the air and there is not a damn thing you, I, or the police can ever do about it.
Damn stupid. Fortunately, it looks like his law enforcement career is cooked.
The Police were just doing their jobs, following standard procedure. There is no record of any policeman violating a citizen. /s
Wow, sounds like a lively town you live in.
Good work if you can get it.
I heard this story this morning on the local news...
This guy is an idiot through and through...
And after all the PSA's we heard ad-nauseum before New Years about celebatory gunfire...I can't imagine this numbnut not getting lectured at his roll-calls before each shift since Christmas...
Max fine and punishment for him if I had anything to say about it...
New Years my wife and I have a nice relatively quiet evening, listening to all the fireworks outside, both on and ove the city limits of Houston (we live right on the border between county and city, on the city side)...
And through the rapid explosions and other aerial ohhhs and ahhhhsss....I heard what I can say from experience was gunfire...In our nieghborhood, not blocks and sometimes houses away...Our nieghborhood has turned into a high-precentage of rental properties over the last 20 years...
So I attribute the lack of knowledge and shear disobiediance of the law to the transient nature of those who choose to rent and stay only for a relatively short time in our neighborhood...
So sure we have made a few phone calls when we see someone breaking the law etc etc...But the enforcement is so overwhelmed, that unless the incident results in a fire, or someone getting injured or killed...It becomes a "yeah, let me get you name and number..." call...
My wife and I live in Ft Bend County, just past the beltway. We definitely heard the sort of rapid-fire bursts that can only come from a semi-automatic being fired a street or so away. My wife was standing outside listening to fireworks (you could smell the black powder in the air) until I insisted she come in lest she get struck by a stray bullet...
The name says it all. Firing guns at the sky is a traditional way of celebrating New Year's Eve and some other holidays in Latin American culture.
It use to be that at least one or two people were hit by falling bullets in greater Miami during those celebrations. I haven't been down there for many years, but at one time the Miami TV stations advised people who were outdoors in Miami to take shelter under bridges or in multi-story buildings with for a few minutes before and after midnight on NY's eve.
I knew it was common in Latin American countries, but never realized it was actually done, much less allowed in our country. That would scare the crap right out of me. I really am speechless.
Yes, I used to go to a New Year's Eve party at some friends' house every year in Missouri City just outside of Houston. This was a nice, family-oriented party and we all enjoyed it.
But immigrants started moving into the neighborhood and we would hear gunfire going off around midnight. It got to where the kids couldn't stand outside to watch the firewroks anymore. My friends moved out of that neighborhood about five years ago because the immigrants took over and the crime rate skyrocketed.
When I hear celebratory gunfire going off for various things in Iraq, it reminds me of the Latin neighborhoods in Houston.
Because that's where I heard it first. Sickening, isn't it?
"When I hear celebratory gunfire going off for various things in Iraq, it reminds me of the Latin neighborhoods in Houston."
That was the first thing I thought of. I really am flabbergasted that no one does anything if it's going on here. It sounds dumb and naive, I'm sure, but I feel personally violated just learning about this. I'm glad I live where I do.
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