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OREM — Two people, including a teenager, have been arrested in connection with an alleged drug deal gone bad in Orem Wednesday that left one person dead and two others injured.
Sidney Ramon Rodriguez, 18, of Spanish Fork, was booked into the Utah County Jail about 2:30 a.m. Thursday for investigation of murder, three counts of attempted murder and obstruction of justice. A boy, described in a police affidavit as Rodriguez's brother, was also taken into custody, His age was not immediately released.
Police also announced Thursday they were looking for a third person of interest, 20-year-old Chance McQuade Nuttall, of Eagle Mountain. Orem police believe he may be headed to Las Vegas or California.
About 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, police dispatchers received multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired near a church on the north end of Orem near 1800 North and 165 East. Two males were spotted by witnesses holding guns and getting into a car and driving off after the shooting, according to police affidavit.
Officers were then called to the area of 1274 N. State in Orem where four teens were located in a Chevrolet Cavalier. The driver suffered gunshot wounds to his back and lower body, and two teens in the back seat were shot in the leg and neck, the affidavit states. The boy shot in the neck died from his injuries. A boy in the front passenger seat told police he was grazed by a bullet but otherwise uninjured.
The boy who was not injured told detectives that he had set up a drug deal with Rodriguez via Snapchat, according to the affidavit. They arranged to meet at a church parking lot where Rodriguez allegedly got into the victims' car to conduct the transaction.
"Once Sidney was in the car, another suspect exited the suspect car and approached the rear driver side window with a rifle. The suspect put the rifle inside the window and demanded the 'dope' and threatened to shoot," police wrote in the affidavit.
At this point, two of the victims grabbed the barrel of the rifle and a struggle over the weapon ensued. Three shots were fired, with at least one round hitting a boy in the leg, according to the affidavit. The group in the car then tried to back up and drive away, at which point the suspect began shooting at the back of the car with a handgun, police say.
As the investigation continued Wednesday night, dispatchers received a call from a boy claiming to be the shooter and wanting to turn himself in, the affidavit states. His mother took him to the police department where he was interviewed by detectives.
The boy claimed that he and his brother, Rodriguez, had set up the drug deal, but that his brother did not know of his plans to rob the victims. The boy told police that he was armed with a rifle and handgun when he, The brothers and a third person drove to the church parking lot to meet the four victims, according to the affidavit.
"When his brother got into the victim's car, he stated he got out of the car unbeknownst to his brother with the rifle and put the rifle inside the window and demanded the drugs and the cash," the affidavit says.
While trying to regain control of the rifle that the victims had grabbed, a shot was fired, he told police. The boy also said that the rifle then landed inside the car and he heard more rounds being fired, and that he "feared for his brother so he pulled a handgun out of his waistband," officers wrote in the report.
The boy said he fired 10 rounds into the car as it was backing up to drive away.
"At this point (the boy) said his brother jumped out of the moving car with the rifle and once his brother was out, he fired four more rounds at the vehicle," the affidavit states.
The two brothers and a third person then drove to Spanish Fork, where the brothers told the driver to get out of the car, and then proceeded to Lincoln Beach where the guns were thrown into the Utah Lake, the boy told police.
Rodriguez was later arrested by the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force and questioned.
"He also stated during the beginning of the interview that this was a premeditated robbery attempt by both himself and the other suspects, but would not divulge who the shooter was or the others involved," the affidavit states.
After police informed Rodriguez that his brother had confessed and claimed that he acted alone, "Sidney then changes his story from what he said at the beginning of this being a premeditated robbery and says that his juvenile brother is telling the truth and that he did not know that his brother was planning on robbing the victims. Only moments after saying this, Sidney again states that this wasn't supposed to go down this way and no one was supposed to get hurt, then blames the victims for grabbing the gun which caused shots to be fired.
"The way that Sidney stated this indicated that this was a planned robbery that wasn't supposed to end with someone getting hurt," according to the affidavit.
Contributing: Ashley Fredde, KSL.com
