Shooting suspect faces reading of charges Wednesday
HUTCHINSON Kan. — The Hutchinson man taken to jail last Tuesday as the suspect who may have fired on officers back on Dec. 8 is expected back before a judge Wednesday to hear formal charges.
Thirty-one-year-old Jason Mendoza is expected to be charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and unlawful discharge of a firearm.
Three Hutchinson Police officers were conducting a follow-up investigation in another matter in the 300 block of East 2nd when a single shot was fired in their direction. They found a shell casing from a .30 caliber semi-automatic handgun, but didn’t locate the round itself. Officers found the jacket of a man who was seen running away, but they never located him. Further investigation led to the arrest of Mendoza.
Bond is set at $5,000.
You may recall that Mendoza was wounded back on Dec. 4 while at an apartment on the 700 block of East 3rd. He suffered a stab wound to his left hip and was treated and released at the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
Man suspected of marijuana distribution scheduled for court Wednesday
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The 18-year-old Pretty Prairie man arrested last week for allegedly being in possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school is expected back in court Wednesday for the formal reading of charges.
Gage Benson is also suspected of being in possession of drugs after a sheriff deputy stopped to check on two vehicles parked on the side of a gas station back on Dec. 1. It was just after 11:30 a.m. when the deputy noticed two vehicles and says he checked to see if everything was OK. While checking with the occupants of the second vehicle, he says he could smell the odor of cocaine. That eventually led to the search of Benson’s car. The deputy says in the passenger side door panel were two glass objects that appeared to be used to smoke weed. In a glove box, he says he found a plastic Ziploc brand storage bag full of other bags that appeared to have crack in them. Benson was placed under arrest while the passenger in his vehicle was released from the scene.
The hearing Friday is in front of Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen.