A man was arrested Friday in Cortez for allegedly threatening a dog with a gun and firing the handgun when the dog barked at him.
Cortez Police officer Jacob Bourdon responded to the scene about 8:30 a.m. Friday, where the 911 caller, Chad Hummer, told him that a male had shot a 9 mm Glock-style firearm in the air “in a threatening manner” before walking northbound toward the new apartment buildings at 560 E. Empire St.
Over the radio, Assistant Chief Andy Brock said he was with an individual near the apartment buildings who was later identified as Julio Reyes-Monge. Reyes-Monge reportedly came out of the apartment building and approached Brock, telling him that he was the one who had fired the gun.
When speaking with Bourdon, Reyes-Monge said he was walking to work at the apartment building, when a dog had approached him as he was walking across a vacant lot. The dog began barking at him as he tried to pass. Reyes-Monge said this has happened multiple times, and he had allegedly told the dog’s owners that he would shoot if it happened again.
Reyes-Monge said he fired one shot at the ground to try to scare the dog while yelling for the owners to come and get the dog. He said he was not on the dog’s owner’s property. The firearm, which was in Reyes-Monge’s backpack, was determined to be a black Springfield Armory XD. Bourdon took possession of the gun.
Chad and Sarah Hummer, the owners of the dog, told police that they were getting ready to leave their house when a man had walked across their field and onto their driveway. Chad Hummer said the dog was barking at Reyes-Monge, who was 20 yards away, when he pulled out the gun and fired. Chad Hummer said the gun fired in the direction of him and his wife.
Bourdon said that Chad Hummer told him that he was “in fear of serious bodily injury” because of the gunfire.
Detective Kristin Cannon spoke with Sarah Hummer, who said she was outside taking care of their smaller dog and ducked when she heard the gunshot. She said she was in fear when she heard it.
When Bourdon went back to the apartments to speak with Reyes-Monge, he told him that firing the gun was considered felony menacing. Though Reyes-Monge said again that he was just trying to scare the dog and that he was 100 yards from their home when he fired, he was arrested and taken to the Montezuma County Detention Center. There, he was charged with felony menacing and prohibited use of a firearm.
Reyes-Monge appeared in the 22nd Judicial District Court his bond hearing and return filing of charges on Thursday at 9 a.m.
