Two people were arrested Wednesday, November 17 after La Porte County police say a fight escalated with a gunshot.
An off-duty officer was near a residence along Dogwood Drive in rural Center Township in La Porte County that afternoon when he reportedly saw the occupants of a passenger vehicle exit to meet a person coming out of a home. Two of the individuals began to physically fight on the lawn of the residence with more joining in the scuffle, according to the report.
The off-duty officer identified himself as a Sheriff’s Deputy and some of the people disbursed toward the vehicle. One of the subjects, 20-year-old Javier J. Santillan, ran inside the residence and reportedly came back out with a handgun. Police say a shot was fired. The off-duty officer was standing near the passenger side of a vehicle and allegedly saw Santillan discharge the firearm. The vehicle then fled the area.
The vehicle was later located in the area of Johnson Road and County Road 400 North and an officer conducted a traffic stop involving that vehicle. The officer reportedly observed a jagged hole consistent with a gunshot on the driver’s side of the vehicle. A passenger in the vehicle, 22-year-old Brian Strong, was arrested on an arrest warrant for three counts of operating while intoxicated. The vehicle was impounded for the purpose of evidence processing.
Santillan was arrested on a preliminary felony charge of criminal recklessness and remains housed in the La Porte County Jail without bond. A .40 caliber handgun was recovered from the residence, according to the report.
Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
