UPDATE:
Jesus Sanchez pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 730 days in the Indiana Department of Correction, with a 206-day jail credit.
Anthony Sanchez will serve a year of probation for operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, as well as one year in the Indiana Department of Correction and one year of probation for criminal recklessness committed while armed with a deadly weapon.
ORIGINAL STORY:
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Police in Noblesville arrested two cousins after a drive-by shooting in a neighborhood just south of the city’s downtown.
Anthony Sanchez, 23, and Jesus Sanchez, 42, were booked in to the Hamilton County Jail Thursday evening on a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Anthony Sanchez is also facing a charge of operating while intoxicated.
Police were initially called to the 600 block of Washington Street around 5 p.m. Thursday after neighbors reported hearing several gunshots.
“I was sitting on my couch cross-stitching, watching TV and minding my own business and I hear pop, pop, pop,” neighbor Mitzi Johnson said. “I get up look out the window and…I had seen them pass my driveway, pass the mailbox and I seen the guy had a gun, hanging out the window.”
Johnson called 911 and was able to give the police a description of the vehicle. She said she’s never been so terrified.
“I never thought in a million years I would be so scared,” Johnson said. “I’ve lived here for years and never, ever had this.”
Noblesville Police responded to the neighborhood and investigators said they collected several shell casings. The department says two homes and one car were damaged in the shooting.
Shortly after the initial calls, officers found the suspect vehicle in the 8600 block of Terrace Place in Fishers. Investigators arrested the two cousins and said they found a handgun and “several” spent shell casings scattered across the floor of the passenger seat.
Police say nobody was hurt in the shooting. Neighbors say they’re lucky nobody was hit by the bullets because the neighborhood is full of children.
“With having pets and kids down here we need to keep this area safe,” Johnson said. “Like I can cry at any time because I want to feel safe.”
Noblesville police said the investigation is ongoing.
“No community is exempt from random acts of unlawfulness and Noblesville is no different,” Lt. Bruce Barnes said in a statement in response to questions about safety in the neighborhood.
The Hamilton County Prosecutors Office has not yet filed formal criminal charges.