SALINE CO.— A 911 hang up call to Saline County Dispatch concerning a gun has landed an Eldorado man behind bars on three felony charges.
According to police reports, at approximately 10:32 a.m. on May 23, Eldorado officer Clint Hooper was advised of the call.
The number came back to Adrianne Grome of 2004 Fourth St. and Hooper headed in that direction.
On his way he was advised that a second call had come in from a female advising the location was indeed 2004 Fourth St…and hung up again.
Hooper arrived and parked several houses south of the address to wait for backup in the form of ISP Trooper Craddock.
A few seconds later, Craddock was on scene.
“I then had dispatch call the number and advised the female to step outside,” Hooper said.
Within seconds, Adrianne Grome, 32, stepped outside the front door of the house and Hooper motioned her to walk to him.
Witnesses say Grome walked slowly toward Hooper and appeared to be very upset.
A second later a male suspect, later identified as Julian V. Rodriguez, Jr., stepped partially out of the front door and was instructed by lawmen to step out with his hands up.
Rodriguez chose to ignore officers and went back inside, closing the door.
Shortly thereafter, Trooper Craddock advised he had spotted Rodriguez running out of the back of the house.
Officers closed in quickly on Rodriguez and ordered him to the ground. He complied and was take into custody.
At that point, more backup arrived in the form of ISP Trooper Cleek and Saline County Deputy Jerod Campbell.
Grome was located hiding behind a tree behind squad cars because she didn’t want Rodriguez to see her.
When asked what had happened, Grome responded that Rodriguez had shot at her; and she then invited officers into the house.
Hooper and Craddock were shown through the back door and immediately to the right in the bathroom where Grome advised the bullet fired at her was under a towel.
Not only did officers find the projectile, but noticed the corner was busted off the vanity in the bathroom consistent with a bullet strike.
They also located a spent shell casing in the bedroom just outside the bathroom.
Grome advised she had no idea where the gun was.
With some coaxing from Hooper, Rodriguez instructed officers where they could find the gun and when they did they found a Ruger P95 9mm, loaded; and after a check was run, they discovered it was stolen out of Stockton, Calif.
A search of Rodriguez produced $5,600 from his left front pants pocket and another $1,605 from the right front pocket of his pants.
When asked where he got all the cash Rodriguez said he had received a settlement from a train wreck.
However, when Grome was asked about the cash, she advised that Rodriguez sold cannabis and that some guy had come to the house the night before and picked it all up.
Grome agreed to a search of the place, and officers found more than 30 grams of weed stashed in the kitchen.
When asked what kicked off the violence, Grome said Rodriguez had asked her to help him find his shoes and when she couldn’t locate them, he grabbed the gun and said he would kill her father, mother, her children, her sister and her if she didn’t produce the shoes.
Grome said Rodriguez pointed the gun about six inches from her and fired a round, which passed through the bedroom wall and into the bathroom.
She said she found the bullet in the bathroom, covered it up and started looking for the shoes again.
She said she called 911 twice, once to let them know she had a gun being pointed at her and a second time to give an address and hung up both times so Rodriguez wouldn’t see her on the phone.
She said when she got a call back from dispatch to leave the house she acted like she was checking the mail.
Grome said Rodriguez claimed he had gotten the gun from his brother Javier, who told him it “had caught a couple bodies.”
When Rodriguez was interviewed a second time, he said he didn’t work anywhere and that he had saved all his money from loading fruit in Stockton, Calif., which is where he said he got the gun from “a buddy.”
Rodriguez was formally charged with Aggravated Discharge of a Weapon, Possession of a Stolen Firearm and Unlawful Possession of Cannabis 30-500 grams.
No bond information was available.