Man arrested for shooting a gun in common area of trailer park

A Yuma man was arrested late Sunday night on charges related to shooting a gun in the common area of a mobile home park.

According to Lt. Darren Simmons of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 10:38 p.m. deputies responded to the area of 855 S. George Belle Ave. in reference to shots being fired. Upon their arrival, deputies set up a perimeter and met with the reporting party, who stated hearing three shotgun blasts.

Simmons said the reporting party also stated they had seen the suspect, identified as Terry Dean Cordero-Torres, armed with a weapon yelling, “Get down.”

“We think he has some issues because we have dealt with him several times this past week,” Simmons said.

Simmons said deputies attempted to make contact with Cordero-Torres, but as they were approaching the front door of his trailer they saw the shotgun just inside the doorway and decided to back away from the residence.

The sheriff office's Special Response Team and Crisis Management Unit were both then notified and responded to the scene. As a safety precaution, residents from several neighboring homes were evacuated.

Shortly after arriving, negotiators were able to make contact with Cordero-Torres and were able to talk him into leaving his trailer.

“Once they started talking, (Cordero-Torres) came out on his own in about 10 to 15 minutes,” Simmons said.

Cordero-Torres was arrested on charges of felony endangerment and disorderly conduct and booked into the Yuma County jail.

Upon further investigation deputies found that Cordero-Torres had shot the window out of his trailer and caused some minor damage to an adjacent residence. The weapon involved in the incident was found inside Cordero-Torres' residence and seized.

“There was some minor damage to some surrounding trailers from shotgun pellets,” Simmons said.

Simmons explained that Cordero-Torres was in obvious need of mental health care, but had not previously done anything serious enough for deputies to arrest him. Now that he is in custody, Cordero-Torres will be subject to a emergency mental health evaluation.

Cordero-Torres made his initial appearance in Yuma Justice Court Monday afternoon, where he was informed of the charges against him. He is being held on a $10,000 bond and will return to court Wednesday, at which time he will be told whether the Yuma County Attorney's Office has decided to file a criminal complaint charging him with any offenses.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.