Man fired shots at tow truck workers looking for illegally parked cars, police say

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Police arrested a man who they say was sitting in his vehicle when he fired a gun at two tow truck drivers as they approached his car.

About 11 p.m. Tuesday, two tow truck drivers were looking for cars parked illegally at an apartment complex near 3500 South and 5600 West. Jorge Rodriguez Ramirez, 31, who was still in his car, “displayed” a gun at the tow truck employees, according to a police booking affidavit.

“When they returned to take another vehicle, they indicated that the suspect pulled out a firearm and fired two rounds at them from his vehicle before fleeing,” the affidavit states.

The workers were able to take a picture of the fleeing vehicle, including its license plate. Police used that information to find Ramirez. When questioned, he told officers that when a large truck pulled up behind him, he perceived that as a “threat,” and said one of the workers also pounded on his window, according to the affidavit.

“(Ramirez) claimed that he had fired these shots into the ground, however one of the victims indicated that the rounds had been fired at him,” but the affidavit says it was determined that the shots hit an area on the ground between where the two tow truck employees were standing, “indicating that the firearm had been discharged in their direction.”

Police recovered the gun suspected of being fired and discovered that it had been stolen out of Sandy, the arrest report states. Ramirez said he had purchased the gun from another person about a year earlier.

Ramirez was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of two counts of aggravated assault, illegal shooting, intoxication and theft by receiving stolen property.