EXCLUSIVE: Suspect in Oakland shootout with witness in Sheng Thao corruption probe speaks out
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- He claims it was self-defense, but a man admits shooting at a key witness in the federal corruption case against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and others.
This case keeps taking twists and turns, and the I-Team's Dan Noyes got that exclusive interview on Tuesday after a hearing in Oakland Superior Court. We have two people who were firing at each other. Their stories are similar in some ways, but very different in others.
In Oakland Superior Court Tuesday morning, 24-year-old Hermelindo Ramos-Ramos made his first appearance, facing felony charges of "shooting at an inhabited dwelling" and "shooting at an unoccupied vehicle" plus several gun and violent conduct enhancements.
Ramos-Ramos admitted to Dan Noyes that he fired a handgun at Mario Juarez, believed to be "co-conspirator 1" - an important key witness - in the federal corruption indictment against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her boyfriend Andre Jones, and the owners of California Waste Solutions, David and Andy Duong.
But he says, it was all a mistake. "I go to play soccer in the park."
Ramos-Ramos says he was heading home from Josie De La Cruz Park when he spotted Mario Juarez's Suburban parked in front of his house with the trunk open. "And then we finish play soccer, I tried to go my home", Ramos-Ramos said. "When I go to my home, I see that his car open. I tried to close it. And then he shooted me."
The I-Team's Dan Noyes reached Mario Juarez and he confirms firing first. He tells us suspects in two cars were breaking into his SUV, banging bricks against the windows - you can see a brick on the ground, red marks from bricks on the windows - in photos Juarez provided.
RELATED: Was a wild Oakland shootout tied to former Mayor Sheng Thao corruption case?
Juarez said he heard the noise, went outside and spotted someone in his SUV, and "... behind him sat multiple cars, double-parked, with engines running-and from one of them, a man pointed a gun directly at me. In that moment, I knew I was facing death. I fired. He fired. We exchanged gunfire. I ran and took cover inside the house."
While he waited for police, Juarez says the cars returned twice over half an hour and fired again.
DAN NOYES: "And you carry a gun all the time?"
HERMELINDO RAMOS-RAMOS: "No, it's not my gun. Does somebody give."
DAN NOYES: "Whose gun was it?"
HERMELINDO RAMOS-RAMOS: "I don't know."
DAN NOYES: "Someone in your car?"
HERMELINDO RAMOS-RAMOS: "Yeah."
MORE: US attorney's office seeks Duong family records from city of San Leandro in Sheng Thao case: report
Mario Juarez was a founding partner with David and Andy Duong in Evolutionary Homes, a company that tried to sell homeless shelters made out of shipping containers. Juarez told me today he believes that Ramos-Ramos may have some connection to the Duongs.
Lawyers for both David and Andy Duong emailed me late today that they strongly deny the allegation that they were in any way involved in this incident. Ramos-Ramos also said he never heard of David or Andy Duong. He's back in court next month.
Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.
