Cannabis shop owner charged in Pena Blanca shooting

PENA BLANCA — A pot shop owner was arrested for shooting and causing harm to a woman during an altercation in Pena Blanca.

Collin Sandoval, 42, of Pena Blanca, was arrested Jan. 6 for aggravated assault, aggravated battery and negligent use of a deadly weapon.

 An SCSO officer was responding to the community center on a report of two individuals fighting on the bus was redirected to the bait shop, 729 New Mexico Road 22, on a report several people arguing outside of the cannabis store next door. Dispatch informed police that a caller reported there had also been sound of a shooting in progress at the dispensary. 

The caller said they heard one gunshot, then fighting and screaming. While on the phone with police, the caller said the owner of the cannabis store, identified as Sandoval, had a man at gunpoint just outside the store.

The responding officer saw Sandoval pointing said gun toward the cannabis store with a man directly in the line of fire of Sandoval's firearm. He was standing on the porch there, yelling at the officer and Sandoval.

Sandoval complied with officer commands. The other man, who was later found to be unarmed, also put his hands up but refused to get on the ground.

The officer asked if there were any other subjects present, and the man said his girlfriend was injured from a gunshot wound to the hip on the front porch. Sandoval said his wife was in the car.

Sandoval was then detained.

A baseball bat was on the ground near the man, the officer notes. The victim had an injury to her head, the report states, and she started to lose consciousness.

The officer went to talk to Sandoval's  wife, who was instructed earlier to move her car further away to deescalate the situation. 

She said the man and his girlfriend were dropped off in the parking lot by an unknown car. She said the girlfriend seemed intoxicated and Sandoval tried to get the couple to leave.

When the situation escalated, she told police, Sandoval then retrieved the handgun from the vehicle and fired a shot in the ground, near the front door. She said she had the bat when Sandoval fired the round into the ground. 

She confirmed that the building had a security camera controlled by Sandoval's phone.

 The spent casing was found in leaves near the scene.

It was discovered that during the altercation between the wife and the girlfriend, Sandoval attempted to interject himself between them. While in close proximity to the back of the victim's head, Sandoval fired off a second round, which failed to eject from the gun. The spent casing was still in the chamber.

There was no description of an injury to the victim's hip, as the man had said earlier.

Sandoval could face 4 1/2 years in prison if he is convicted.