News

Actions

Guadalupe shootout suspect has prior convictions including manslaughter

Posted at 1:16 PM, Mar 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-20 21:43:47-04

The man involved in a gun firing car chase through Guadalupe has multiple prior felony convictions. 

You may remember on March 8, when Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputies went to Guadalupe on a call of shots being fired. That call leads to two carjackings and a suspect firing shots at deputies during a chase through town.

Court records show that one suspect, 36-year-old Jason Sanchez Vasquez, did eight years in prison after being convicted in 1997 of manslaughter and aggravated assault as a 17-year-old.  In 2012, he returned to prison for nearly two years for firing a weapon in city limits.

In other court paperwork obtained by ABC 15, we also now have details of the two carjackings.

MCSO says the first vehicle taken was a blue Toyota Scion. Vasquez reportedly put a gun to the head of the female victim before taking the car and leaving her in the street.

Deputies responding to the shots fired call located the Scion as Vasquez started firing shots at the deputies from the driver's side window.

He soon collided with an SUV at the intersection of Calle San Angelo and Calle Tomi, where he ran away, before carjacking his second car, a white Ford Escort with a man and three children inside. They were on their way to a birthday party before being removed from the car. MCSO says Vasquez sped off, again firing shots at deputies from the moving car.

He later collided with an MCSO vehicle. Deputies say he was lying flat across the front seats when deputies approached him. They say he moved his hands again when a deputy fired, believing Vasquez was reaching for his weapon.

Vasquez was removed from the car and taken to Maricopa Medical Center, where he was stabilized after surgery.

Investigators found a 9MM handgun in the front passenger side of the car. They say, "The firearm was damaged due to a projectile lodged in its lower frame, near the slide, as well as the trigger."

Vasquez has been charged with two counts of armed robbery and given a $500,000 bond.

Authorities said a second suspect was removed from a house near the final confrontation with Vasquez and was transported to the hospital after being bit by K-9 deputy.