Man claims he was concerned for his mother
Saying he was not resisting arrest but instead bolted from police because he was concerned for his mother who had suffered what he thought was a heart attack in the excitement of his arrest, a man charged with trying to stab his neighbor asked for leniency from the court.
The suspect, Jesus A. Cota, 29, has been bound to the grand jury by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross, charged with reckless endangerment and resisting arrest for the incident which transpired at Skyline Apartments earlier this month. However, the court did reduce his bond to $7,000 given the fact he has a family to support and has lived in Warren County over a decade.
Cota is charged for an incident in which he stuck a knife through the window of a neighbor’s apartment during an argument. Witnesses say Cota pulled a kitchen knife and chased his neighbor into an apartment.
When the man did not come back out, witnesses say Cota thrust the knife through the man’s front window, narrowly missing two small children who were looking out the window. Cota suffered a severe gash to his arm from the broken glass and was being treated by ambulance personnel when police say he bolted from custody and began running back toward his neighbor’s apartment.
However, Cota said it was his mother’s condition, not retribution against his neighbor, that caused him to flee. Cota’s mother, police said, suffered some type of attack due to the excitement of the fight and her son’s arrest and had to be treated by paramedics who had arrived to treat her son.
While Cota maintains concern for his mother was what prompted him to pull away from officers, prosecutors say his mother had already been moved from the area and taken to an ambulance by the time Cota made his dash.
As for his lower bond, Judge Ross said that even though his family lives at Skyline Apartments, Cota is not to be permitted at the complex for any reason if he is able to make bond.
‘He’s going to have to make arrangements to live elsewhere if he gets out,’ Ross said.