A tragedy, perhaps a fatal one, was averted last week thanks to the timely arrival of West Wendover Police officers who disarmed a drug and alcohol addled man holding his own family hostage.
Armando De Jesus is now in the Elko County Jail on a $20,120 bond following a January 10th attack on his family in their apartment at 1602 Butte Street.
“Tooele dispatch was the first to receive the 911 call,” said West Wendover Police Chief Burdell Welsh. “That is fairly common for a cell phone with a 435 area code. The call ended almost immediately but the (Tooele) dispatcher did contact our offices.”
Shortly after being notified by Tooele, the WWPD received another 911 call from de Jesus’ father who managed to escape and call police from a neighboring apartment.
When police arrived on the scene they found de Jesus armed with a kitchen knife and obviously intoxicate. After he was taken into custody officers learned that de Jesus had taken a large number of cold pills mixed with alcohol. Also found on de Jesus was marijuana and a makeshift pipe.
Police also discovered just why the first 911 call ended so abruptly, de Jesus had smashed at least three cell phones belonging to the family before police arrived.
Because of the drugs in his system de Jesus was taken to the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Elko where during his examination de Jesus attacked his police escort. He slammed into and kicked according to the press release. De Jesus was eventually subdued, cleared by the hospital, and released to the Elko County Jail with the additional charge of Battery on an officer while in custody.
“Without the work of the dispatch operator and the quick arrival of our officers this incident could have easily escalated to a serious injury or even a fatality.” Welsh said.
