ABC-7 obtains indictment of man accused of approaching crowd with loaded rifle

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Court documents obtained by ABC-7 break down the two felony charges that a man now faces after walking towards a group of people in the Cincinnati Entertainment District while carrying a rifle.

Andres Gabriel Lodoza, 22, was arrested after telling agents with the FBI and Military Police officers that he had gotten into a fight with a man at a bar on Cincinnati Street and intended to intimidate him with the gun.

El Paso police arrested Lodoza on a misdemeanor terroristic threat charge, but Magistrate Judge Sara Priddy decided there was no probable cause to press that charge. He ended up being booked into the El Paso County Jail on outstanding traffic warrants that night.

Police and the El Paso District Attorney worked together to reevaluate the case this week, and on Wednesday, nearly four days after the incident, Lodoza was indicted by a grand jury and charged with two counts of felony terroristic threat.

Thursday, the El Paso District Attorney held a news conference to explain the grand jury indictment.

"We have every intention of pursuing these charges all the way through trial, if necessary," Bill Hicks said. "We have we filed the charges. We've indicted the charges. And we have no qualms about backing those charges up."

According to the indictment obtained by ABC-7 Thursday, the first charge was due to the threats he allegedly made to the group outside the Champagne Villain bar. Police documents stated that Lodoza approached a crowd with a loaded rifle. Lodoza told FBI agents that he got the rifle out of his car after being involved in an altercation with a person inside the bar, according to police.

Investigators said said Lodoza a man had threatened him, claiming he was from a gang. Lodoza said he got his rifle, citing his military background, with the intention to intimidate the man who threatened him.

Lodoza was booked into the El Paso County Jail on Wednesday and remains held on a $55,000 bond.

For the first felony charge, the document reads:

• Paragraph A
• did then and there, with intent to place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury, did them and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to wit: Deadly Conduct;
• Paragraph B
• did then and there, with intent to place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury, did then and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to wit: Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. And it is further presented in and to said Court that a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm, was used or exhibited during the commission of the aforesaid offense or during immediate flight following the commission of the aforesaid offense, and that the defendant used or exhibited said deadly weapon.

For the second felony charge, the state indictment states:

• Paragraph A
  did then and there, with intent to influence the conduct or activities of an agency of the federal government, namely Federal Bureau Investigation, did then and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to-wit: Deadly Conduct;
• Paragraph B
  did then and there, with intent to influence the conduct or activities of an agency of the federal government, namely Federal Bureau of Investigation, did then and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to-wit: Aggravated Assault w/ Deadly Weapon;
• Paragraph C
• did then and there, with intent to influence the conduct or activities of an agency of the federal government, namely The United States Army, did then and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to wit: Deadly Conduct,
• Paragraph D
• did then and there, with intent to influence the conduct or activities of an agency of the federal government, namely The United States Army, did then and there threaten to commit an offense involving violence, to wit: Aggravated Assault w/ Deadly Weapon, And it is further presented in and to said Court that a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm, was used or exhibited during the commission of the aforesaid offense or during immediate flight following the commission of the aforesaid offense, and that the defendant used or exhibited said deadly weapon.
  AGAINST THE PEACE AND DIGNITY OF THE STATE.