DENVER — Two people were shot in a shopping center parking lot after the suspect pulled into a parking spot near where several people were sitting and hit one of them in the knees with their vehicle, according to a probable cause statement from Denver Police.
Arturo Regla Sanchez, 21, was arrested on April 11 in connection with the shooting that happened around 3:20 p.m. on April 3 at a shopping center in the 800 block of South Federal Boulevard. The victims reported that they were sitting in the lot eating when the driver of a black GMC Yukon Denali, later identified as Regla Sanchez, pulled into the parking spot they were in and hit one of them.
That prompted an argument between the group and Regla Sanchez and a passenger in his vehicle, the PC statement says. Regla Sanchez and his passenger went into a nearby restaurant briefly and then came back outside and engaged in a physical confrontation with the victims, according to the document.
During that confrontation, the PC statement says, Regla Sanchez threatened the victims with a gun. The victims then armed themselves with large rocks, according to the document.
Regla Sanchez and his passenger went back into the restaurant, came out quickly, and then got back into the Denali. According to the PC statement, Regla Sanchez hit another parked car as he backed up and then fired a gun toward the victims through the car window.
A man and woman were hit by gunfire, the document says. One of them was grazed on their right arm, the other was shot in their left arm. They walked to a nearby fire station for treatment.
According to the document, security cameras captured the suspect's vehicle and on April 10, detectives noticed a vehicle that matched it "almost exactly" for sale on Facebook Marketplace. It had been posted two days prior. It was also noted that the seller's page followed the Denver Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, and Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.
The next day, on April 11, police released a Crime Stoppers bulletin stating that the vehicle was wanted in connection with the shooting. Later that day, detectives noticed the ad was removed and believed that the suspect saw the bulletin and removed the ad.
Despite that, detectives still used photos from the ad to come up with an address associated with the vehicle on Hooker Street. Detectives had already run a search for Denali owners and knew that one was registered to Regla Sanchez, who lived on Hooker Street.
Police said they questioned and released the passenger who was in Regla Sanchez's vehicle.
He was booked into the Downtown Detention Center and is being held on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.
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