RACINE – A Sunday morning fight, which resulted in a gun pointing incident between two men, resulted in charges.
The Racine County District Attorney’s Office charged Francisco S. Cruz, 27, of Racine, with possession of a firearm by a felon, disorderly conduct-use of a dangerous weapon, and three counts of pointing a firearm at another. The DA also charged Enrique G. Perez, 22, of Kenosha, with disorderly conduct-use of a dangerous weapon and four counts of pointing a firearm at another.
Both men were being held in the Racine County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon.
Read more: Man cited for fighting officers, weapons violations
According to the criminal complaint, Racine Police were called to the 1600 block of Taylor Avenue about 7:25 a.m. on Sunday on a report of a possible fight with guns pointing. An officer detained two individuals at the scene and saw three individuals flee inside a house at 1619 Taylor Ave.
Police commanded those that fled into the house to come outside. Two females exited the house. As officers were about to enter, Perez and a male, identified in the complaint as C.H., exited the stairs leading to the basement. A third male, identified as R.L., was found in the basement. As he was being escorted by police from the house, C.H. told police that “the guy had an AK-47 and he was only trying to protect himself.”
Three witnesses told police they came out of a house in the 1600 block of Taylor because people were fighting and recording the incident. They told police that they went back inside after Cruz pointed a gun at them.
In a review of parts of the video, police noted that C.H. held a rifle at his side, Perez pointed a handgun at Cruz, and a third man, identified in the complaint as J.G, was holding a handgun pointed down. The video showed Cruz repeatedly trying to get at C.H., but J.G. kept pushing him back. The video also showed C.H. taking the rifle, placing it inside a vehicle, and then walking back toward Cruz and begin fighting.
Cruz told police that the entire incident was over his attempt to retrieve a phone and other property from A.G., one of the females at the house. He admitted to entering 1619 Taylor Avenue by pushing in the side entry door and confronting A.G. about his property.
According to the complaint, Cruz left and then returned with a loaded AK-47, with a high capacity magazine, and a live round in the chamber. He was confronted by C.H. while ascending the stairs and pointed the gun at him, Perez and J.G.
C.H. wrestled the gun away from Cruz before the men began fighting. Cruz told police that “he went there with the gun for his own protection while he tried to get his property back.”
According to the complaint, police found an “AK47-style rifle” in a 2007 Dodge Nitro. A Glock 21 was also located. A Glock 23 handgun was found in the front yard. Two other handguns, a Taurus G2S and an FNH 57, were found in the house’s basement ductwork.