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Mesa candidate, suspect trade gunfire

Justin Juozapavicius
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 9, 2006 05:42 PM


City Council candidate J.T. Ready traded gunfire early Thursday with a man he suspected of being involved in a criminal activity. The man was armed with a BB gun.

"I thought I was dead," Ready said. "I didn't think I was going to make it to the election."

Mesa Police arrested 32-year-old Eduardo Castellejo Godina Thursday after he chased and shot at Ready with a gas-powered BB gun that looked like a semi-automatic handgun. Godina is charged with threatening or intimidating and assault, both misdemeanors, said Mesa Police Sgt. Chuck Trapani.



Heading into Tuesday's election, the spotlight in the heated District 4 race is again on Ready, who confirmed a day earlier that he was seeking the support of the Mesa Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

"I think it could help," said Ready, on whether the incident would improve or hurt his chances at the polls. "It's a shame such a great neighborhood is going downhill with illegal immigration and gangs."

Ready said he was driving back from a trip to Wal-Mart around 1:15 a.m. in the area of Horne and Broadway Road when he spotted what looked to him like "gang-bangers" running away from his car. Some hid in the bushes, others scaled fences to get away, he said.

"I did like any good citizen would," said Ready, a 33-year-old former Marine, who dialed police dispatch on his cell phone.

Seconds later, he saw one of the men run out of the bushes and get into a truck with tinted windows and decided to tail it to phone in a license plate number, he said.

Ready followed the truck south on Temple until it dead-ended, according to a police report. The truck stopped and a man got out of the passenger side and walked over to Ready.

As the man got closer, he pulled what looked like a handgun out of his pocket and took aim, according to the report.

In a flash, Ready drove his car forward and then jumped out while it was still in drive, he said. He still had his cell phone in one hand. Even at 300-plus pounds, Ready said he remembers moving "like a gazelle."

"I thought I was dead, that's why I jumped out," said Ready, speaking at a news conference hours after the ordeal.

Ready, a concealed-weapons instructor who has a valid permit, reached for his .38 special handgun in his ankle holster.

The man shot once at him - Ready says he recalls hearing at least one pop sound - before he returned one round of fire. Neither man was hit.

Eileen Rogers was watching TV when she heard the thud of Ready's car against a trailer parked in the street. She went to the front door.

"He noticed me with my door open and asked me, 'Ma'am, what street am I on?' " Rogers said. "I said, 'You're on Temple.' "

Ready told her to call 911 because there was a man in her yard with a gun, Rogers said. She slammed the door.

"I was scared to death," she recalled.

The irony in all of this, Rogers pointed out, was that she has a Kyle Jones sign staked in her front lawn. Jones is one of Ready's opponents in the council race.

i've been shot at with one of those before.  i was pissed b/c i couldve lost an eye.  i didn't think for a moment that it was a real gun though, it wasn't nearly loud enough.

Crazy story.

Can't believe how many bluffs where called in one ordeal.

Sounds like these kids messed with the wrong guy.

Temple?


Isnt it tempe?

what does the law say regarding returning BB fire?  is that reasonable fear for your life?

He missed........an instructor missed..............

Quoted: what does the law say regarding returning BB fire?  is that reasonable fear for your life?

Hey.. lots of cops shot and kill kids with toy guns.. they get off.

Quoted: Quoted: what does the law say regarding returning BB fire?  is that reasonable fear for your life? Hey.. lots of cops shot and kill kids with toy guns.. they get off.

there's a difference in SEEING a BB gun that looks real and being shot at by one that you KNOW isn't real

i'm laughing at the mental image of a 300 lb guy going for the ankle holster




BTW, based upon this guys history, this story is likely BS

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: what does the law say regarding returning BB fire?  is that reasonable fear for your life? Hey.. lots of cops shot and kill kids with toy guns.. they get off. there's a difference in SEEING a BB gun that looks real and being shot at by one that you KNOW isn't real

some bb guns can cause great bodily harm and that is all he needs to dispatch the perp

Quoted: i'm laughing at the mental image of a 300 lb guy going for the ankle holster www.mc.maricopa.edu/other/legend/ARCHIVES/vol41/vol41issueSE/1_22_04_special_ed/ready.jpg BTW, based upon this guys history, this story is likely BS

how could you miss that guy?

And he looks just like your typical 1:15 am Wal Mart shopper

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: what does the law say regarding returning BB fire?  is that reasonable fear for your life? Hey.. lots of cops shot and kill kids with toy guns.. they get off. there's a difference in SEEING a BB gun that looks real and being shot at by one that you KNOW isn't real

And what would that difference be, please tell us ? Read the recent story below, they can be a deadly weapon.



Teen dies from pellet gun shot

Dillon Eckhoff, 15, of Haskell died Saturday after being accidentally shot in the heart by a pellet gun, Saline County sheriff's Capt. Jason Massey said.