Because of his history of run-ins with the law, the 31-year-old man arrested for firing shots outside a high school fund-raiser early Sunday morning in Christiansted was ordered held without bail Tuesday.
Wilfredo Perez was arrested around midnight last Sunday when he fired shots following an encounter with two rival gang members. After firing the shots, Perez ran into the Wreck Bar where he was subdued by an off-duty federal law enforcement officer. Felix Parrilla and Clint Sobratti, both 27, with whom Perez had his encounter, later denied involvement in the incident.
Perez was arrested for unauthorized possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment. On Tuesday, he appeared in Territorial Court for an advise of rights hearing, which was denied because it was determined that Perez is a danger to the community, according to a report on WSTX radio.
The feud that erupted Sunday night is apparently a continuation of one that already involves alleged murder, drive-by shootings and a not-guilty verdict in federal court.
Perez, Parrilla and Sobratti, members of rival gangs, were all involved in a March 2000 drive-by shooting spree that wounded three people in front of the Sunny Isle Kmart. In the incident, occupants of two vehicles opened fire on each other in a rolling shootout in front of the store. Two bystanders –– a 12-year-old girl and a 55-year-old man – and a man involved in the shooting were wounded in the hail of gunfire.
Parrilla and Sobratti were acquitted of the crime in a December jury trial in District Court.
Police believe the incident was related to a series of past shootings. Angel Felix, 26, of the Ralph de Chabert housing community was killed in the first shooting earlier in 2000. A week after Felix’s murder, a drive-by shooting occurred in the John F. Kennedy community, in which three people, including a six-year-old boy, were wounded.
