INGLESIDE, Texas — An Ingleside man is facing multiple charges after he was arrested following a shooting and crime spree that ended in Portland.
Around 10 p.m. on Christmas day, police in Ingleside received a phone call from a man when he said he was going to kill someone.
According to the Ingleside Police Department, when officers arrived at the residence located on the 2400 block of Avenue E, they were ambushed by gunfire.
Ingleside Police Chief Tammy Burr said that 29-year-old Jorge Puente then exited the home, and allegedly struck a neighbor by the name of Rolando Villarreal in the head with a weapon and threatened to shoot him, before stealing the neighbor’s vehicle.
"Apparently during that chaos he went out the back door and went two doors down and there was a male subject he was sitting in his vehicle on the telephone he had just arrived home. He threatened him with a weapon and got him out of the car," Burr said.
"I was scared man," Villarreal said. "I don't know in my mind, I didn't know if he was going to shoot me or something because he took my car and hit me in the head."
According to Villarreal, at that moment he didn't know how the situation was going to unfold.
Puente later ditched that vehicle at a Sonic in Portland, and then stole another vehicle at gunpoint.
The second vehicle was recovered at a parking lot near a retail store.
Officials said he later went to a 24-hour emergency room where he barricaded himself in with staff members.
Puente was eventually arrested by the Portland Police Department, and the weapon in the incident was recovered.
According to Portland Police Chief Mark Cory, Puente had multiple weapons on his person at the time of arrest. Cory also said
"He was taken into custody and he didn't offer a lot of resistance at that point," Cory said. "He did have several layers of clothing on. He had like three pairs of pants and each pair of pants had more weapons, more knives. As we searched each layer we found more weapons, knives, brass knuckles things of that nature."
Ingleside PD officials said they initially obtained a warrant for Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant and Aggravated Robbery.
Other charges include four counts of Aggravated Robbery, seven counts of Unlawful Restraint exposed to Serious Bodily Injury, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Evading Arrest-Vehicle, Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
“There will likely be more charges added for Mr. Puente, and we will be working closely with the District Attorney to upgrade to Attempted Capital Murder,” the Ingleside PD said in a statement.
The Ingleside PD officials said they are still actively investigating their portion of this incident and learning more as it unfolds.
Chief Cory told 3News that Puente then led officers to the Premier Emergency Clinic off of Highway 181. Puente walked into the ER with his gun in hand. He locks the front door and then begins to look for people inside.
"There was some talk from a nurse who had called 911," Cory said. "It was kind of hidden in the building and was relaying some information to us and within a short time the nurse came through the lobby door and stated that he wanted the suspect to surrender."
The nurse is being credited with talking Puente into dropping his gun and surrendering. Puente remains in the San Patricio County Jail charged with some 19 felonies.
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