A Scranton man attempted to reach for a gun during a traffic stop just after midnight on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.
Before the stop, Jose Perez-Moya, 34, pointed a gun at his ex-wife’s head, the complaint states. He faces felony counts of aggravated assault and making terroristic threats.
According to the complaint:
Dunmore police were called to 618 Throop St. on a report of a hang-up call. Dispatchers told officers a woman could be heard saying, “I need,” and that there were multiple people screaming on the call before it was disconnected.
As officers were arriving at the scene, they spotted a black SUV backing out of the driveway and continuing east.
Officers conducted a traffic stop and Officer John Luciano approached the SUV from the passenger side and spoke to the driver, later identified as Perez-Moya.
Speaking in broken English, Perez-Moya referenced a friend and pointed back to where he had driven from. Officer David Redmond approached the vehicle from the driver’s side, spotted a handgun under the driver’s left leg and yelled “gun.”
Redmond directed Perez-Moya not to reach for the gun, but Perez-Moya attempted to reach for the firearm.
Officers were able to remove him from the vehicle and put him in handcuffs.
The gun, a black Springfield 9 mm, was found to be unloaded. Officers recovered a single magazine containing 16 9-mm rounds wedged between the driver’s seat and center console.
Police determined Perez-Moya had a valid concealed weapons permit.
Officers spoke with Tamara Reyes, identified as the victim at the Throop Street residence. Reyes said Moya, her ex-husband, assaulted her.
Through an interpreter, Reyes told police Perez-Moya walked downstairs into the basement with a handgun in hand, pointed the gun at her and threatened to kill her.
Moya-Perez then put his finger on the trigger and placed the gun at her head.
Reyes said she was “frozen in fear” and didn’t remember the trigger being pulled.
But she remembered Moya-Perez lowering the gun and stating that it had misfired.
Luis Aquino confronted Moya-Perez and told him to leave. Moya-Perez then fled the residence in his SUV before being stopped by police.
He remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $200,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on July 30 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.