OGDEN, Utah, Oct. 2, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A 28-year-old man is in Weber County Jail after police responded to a weapons disturbance call on Friday, reporting that the man had a gun and was threatening to shoot four people.
Robert Jess De La Pena is now facing multiple charges, including:
- Four counts of attempted homicide, a second-degree felony
- Possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony
- Misdemeanor charges, including child abuse and assault
According to a probable cause statement, Weber County Dispatch received a call from a 12-year-old boy saying De La Pena was threatening the family with a .44-caliber revolver.
Ogden officers arrived on scene and found three children screaming and crying in a yard between the home and an RV that was parked on the street.
In the statement, the officer said the children told him De La Pena had a gun and was in the RV alone with their mother.
The children said they had heard a disturbance in the RV and, when they entered the trailer, they saw De La Pena physically assaulting their mother.
De La Pena also allegedly struck the 12-year-old and pushed the boy’s 15-year-old sister when they tried to intervene. The youngest child was unharmed.
According to the statement, while the officer was talking with the children, he saw De La Pena coming out of the trailer. The officer states that he pointed his gun at the man and told him to put his hands in the air.
De La Pena allegedly yelled, “Shoot me!,” and then shouted profanities as the officer repeated the command. The officer then deployed his Taser, and De La Pena, struck in the chest, collapsed.
He was handcuffed and put in a patrol car.
The children’s mother, described as De La Pena’s girlfriend in the probable cause statement, then came out of the RV and told the officer that De La Pena had hidden the gun inside the house. The officer went in and found the gun partially buried in a dish of cat food.
The affidavit states that officers spoke separately with the children and their mother, and they all told similar stories regarding what had happened.
“It was also made clear that Robert had drawn the gun from the holster and then pointed it at all three children, and the children’s mother. Robert threatened them with the gun prior to running for the door and heading into the house with the gun,” according to the statement.
After De La Pena left the trailer, the children and their mother also came out and called 911. De La Pena allegedly returned to the trailer, saw one of the children calling the police and grabbed the phone away.
According to the statement, De La Pena admitted to having used meth three days prior to Friday’s incident.
He is being held, on no bail, in Weber County Jail. His court date has not yet been set.
