GOSHEN — A Goshen man who is accused of threatening a juvenile with a gun outside the boy’s home has received a July court date.
Daniel Ledesma Reyes, 19, faces charges including intimidation with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony, after his arrest this month. He is also charged with pointing a firearm at a person, a Level 6 felony, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
He was booked in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility on $100,000 bond. Ledesma Reyes was given a preliminary jury trial date of July 7 during his initial hearing in Elkhart County Circuit Court on April 10.
According to court documents:
The victim, who is under age 18, told police that he first saw Ledesma Reyes in line at a convenience store shortly before the April 3 incident. He said the man was trying to buy a lighter but was refused because he didn’t have an ID card to prove his age.
He said while he was walking home, a vehicle pulled up in front of his house and the man from the store asked him if he “banged.” When he didn’t answer, the man pulled out a silver and black handgun and said, “Oh, it’s worth dying over?” he told police.
He said the vehicle sped away after he denied any gang involvement. He gave police a description of what the man was wearing, which included a black jacket.
Police viewed security footage from the convenience store. The clerk pointed out the shopper who tried to buy a lighter, a man in a black jacket whom police recognized as Ledesma Reyes from his suspected ties to local gangs.
Investigators also obtained an image of the vehicle, a blue Chevrolet Malibu with tinted windows, from a neighbor’s doorbell camera. A vehicle of that description was caught by a FLOCK camera half a mile south of the victim’s residence, which gave police a license plate that was registered to a Roxbury Park address.
The vehicle was captured by camera again that night, and police were able to find it and conduct a traffic stop in the 900 block of West Lincoln Avenue. They found Ledesma Reyes behind the wheel and questioned him, but he denied stopping at the victim’s residence or speaking with him.
Police found two handguns in the vehicle, including a silver and black AM-15 pistol that Ledesma Reyes identified as his. There were 15 rounds in a 60-round magazine attached to the AR-15-style pistol, as well as two spent casings in an attached catcher, according to police.
A plastic bag containing 2.76 grams of suspected marijuana was also found in the vehicle, according to police.