Staff Report
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — A 19-year-old man has been arrested and charged with firing a gun at helicopters responding to a deadly HPD chopper crash on May 2.
Josue Daniel Claros-Trajedo shot five rounds into the air shortly after the crash around 2 a.m., according to court documents. He allegedly fired one shot before the crash but it’s not clear if he was aiming at the HPD helicopter.
When Claros-Trajedo heard police approaching, he hid both guns in an air vent in his apartment, according to witnesses.
Claros-Trajedo, an undocumented immigrant, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant. He also faces charges of discharging a firearm in a metro area, tampering with evidence, reckless driving and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
HPD Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox was killed in the crash and pilot Chase Cormier was critically injured with a broken back.
There were reports of shots being fired before and after the crash and Police Chief Art Acevedo said six people were arrested.
It’s not clear if Claros-Trajedo was one of those six. He is currently held on $100,000 bond and an immigration hold.
Knox and Cormier were responding to reports of bodies in a bayou but no bodies were ever found.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation but Acevedo said the morning of the crash that they weren’t ruling out foul play.
The aircraft crashed inside the Biscayne Apartments in the 17000 block of Imperial Valley.
Cormier managed to avoid hitting the apartment buildings, which Acevedo said undoubtedly would have resulted in more fatalities.
No one on the ground was injured.