A man was arrested on suspicion of felony menacing, prohibited use of a firearm, obstruction, carrying concealed firearm without license and possession of a weapon by a previous offender at the Patron Nightclub after multiple reports of gunshots in the area.
About 3:17 a.m. on Feb. 23, Cortez dispatch began receiving “numerous” calls from callers saying they had heard gunfire. Six callers reported the sound of gunshots coming from around West Montezuma Avenue and West Empire Street and west of North Chestnut Street.
Police officers Jacob Bourdon and Jarrod Jewell and Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Alex Kennedy and deputy Wrangler Hinton drove through the areas reported by the callers, but were unable to “pinpoint exactly” where the sounds had come from.
Around 3:36 a.m., Kennedy spoke with individuals standing in front of the Patron Nightclub, 309 N. Broadway, to see if any of them had heard gunshots. After arriving, Kennedy informed the other officers that a man with a handgun was walking away from him.
Kennedy told the man to stop walking away, but the man appeared to hide behind a blue 2010 Ford Expedition as Bourdon arrived on the scene. The vehicle was parked on the south side of the nightclub.
Hinton arrived as the people standing in front of Patron told Bourdon that the man had run and was on the north side of the building. The man was found in the outdoor patio on the northwest side of the building and was arrested without incident.
The owner of Patron, Saudiel Arellanes Blanco, identified the man as Omar Brito. Blanco told officers that Brito had been asked to leave earlier in the evening after “causing issues with other customers throughout the night.”
Instead of leaving, Brito allegedly stayed in the parking lot for about an hour before kicking the front door of Patron. Blanco said he asked Brito to leave again as police arrived. He said he did not see Brito fire the handgun.
One of the nightclub’s bouncers, Everisto McKinney, said Brito was his cousin and he tried to get Brito into his vehicle to leave, but once police arrived he had run away. McKinney said he believed the sound of gunshots had taken place “farther north.”
A witness at the nightclub, Eric Shim, alleged that Brito had pointed the firearm at McKinney.
“I recontacted Everisto and asked him about Omar pointing the firearm at him. Everisto stated he knew Omar was not going to shoot him and that if we were able to locate the firearm, it would have his own fingerprints on it. Everisto explained this was because when Omar pointed the firearm at him, he grabbed it and lowered the gun away from him,” Bourdon said in his police report.
The handgun, .22-caliber Glock 44, was later found in a field to the west of a Patron Nightclub trash can. Before finding the handgun, Jewell found “numerous” 9 mm shells north of the nightclub.
Brito was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital for medical clearance with arm and facial injuries. He then was taken to the Montezuma County Detention Center.
Bourdon reported that a search on Brito’s criminal history revealed two previous felony burglary convictions and a previous charge of possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
Brito will appear in the Montezuma County District Court on March 13 at 9 a.m. for his return filing of charges and appearance on bond.
