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WEST VALLEY CITY — A West Valley man has been charged with firing a shot at a vehicle occupied by a couple and their two children who were driving home from dinner.
Cesar Orlando Mendez Parra, 24, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with third-degree felony charges of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, discharge of a firearm and illegal possession of an ATM card. He was also charged with having someone else's ID and drug possession, class A misdemeanors, and possession of drug paraphernalia and assault, class B misdemeanors.
On March 13, a couple was driving home from dinner with their two children when they said a van started following too closely. The husband tapped his brakes, prompting the driver of the van to pull up next to them and throw a cigarette into their car, hitting the wife in the face, charging documents state.
The couple pulled into a restaurant near 3900 West and 3500 South in an effort to get away from the van. But the van followed and the driver "pointed a gun directly at them, fired the gun, and left the parking lot," according to the charges.
No one was hit or injured.
The couple got the license plate number of the van and called police. The van was registered to Parra's father, who told police he didn't know his van was gone. Detectives searched Parra's room and found drugs, ammunition, and IDs that did not belong to Parra, the charges state.
