By Roger Lanse

On Saturday, Jan. 17, at about 11:30 p.m., Silver City Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence on 15th Street in reference to a shots fired complaint. Officers were told by the owner of the house that Richard (Ricardo) Mendoza, 27, of Silver City, had pointed a gun at him when he was in the house with Mendoza and his sister, Stephanie Mendoza, and her boyfriend. The owner, the Mendozas' father, stated, according to a SCPD incident report, that Richard Mendoza had fired a shot into the air inside the house after pointing the gun at him.

Officers then made contact with Stephanie Mendoza as she came outside onto the front porch denying several times that Richard Mendoza was there, the report said. Then Richard Mendoza came out on the porch and officers could smell a "strong odor emitting from Richard of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage." When asked by officers if he had shot a firearm, Mendoza answered: "No."

After obtaining a search warrant, officers found a .22 Magnum-caliber revolver, which appeared to have been hidden under some blankets in the kitchen, the report stated. Officers, according to the report, spoke with an assistant district attorney, who approved charges against Richard Mendoza of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, negligent use of a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, and tampering with evidence.

Officers attempted to explain that due to the nature of the complaint and under the Community Caretaker Act, they had lawful authority, prior to obtaining a search warrant, to enter the residence to make sure no one was injured. As officers were attempting to enter the residence, Stephanie Mendoza "kept yelling and screaming getting in the way of us," the report said. Stephanie Mendoza was handcuffed, arrested on a charge of resisting, evading and obstructing, and transported to the Grant County Detention Center.

According to the GCDC, Stephanie Mendoza bonded out of jail on Sunday, Jan. 18, while Richard Mendoza remains in custody, as of Wednesday, Jan. 21, under a $7,500 cash-only bond.