Richard Ortega Charged For Pointing Gun At Officers

A Casper man is jailed after police say he pointed a gun at officers.

Twenty-two year old Richard Ortega has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators say early Saturday July 7th, Ortega walked by officers in the twenty-nine hundred block of Harrington Drive, then went into a garage.

A short time later, police were conducting interviews on an unrelated matter, when they saw Ortega come back outside with a rifle, which he aimed at the officers.

Police told Ortega to drop the weapon, and he ran back into his house with the gun.

Ortega eventually surrendered and admitted he had been drinking.

He said the reason why he did not speak to officers when he passed them by, was because he was on probation and did not want to get his probation revoked.

As for why he pointed the rifle at officers, he said he was not attempting to shoot anyone, rather he positioned himself to shoot for the thrill, and did not believe he would get caught.

Ortega is being held on twenty-thousand dollars bond awaiting trial.