The husband of an Air Force major formerly stationed in Little Rock was indicted last week on three more charges stemming from a fight on New Year's Eve 2016 at a restaurant on a U.S. air base in Misawa, Japan.
In addition, a federal grand jury in Little Rock added the major's son as a defendant, charging him with assault and resisting a federal officer.
Rodgrigo Pineda Gomez, formerly of Jacksonville, was first indicted in February on four charges stemming from a brawl with a group of airmen. The most serious of those charges is attempted voluntary manslaughter, which alleges that Gomez, an advanced master and instructor of jujitsu, a combat martial art, punched Airman Souleyman Dia, who was 19 at the time, knocking Dia into a table. The charges allege that Gomez tried to snap Dia's neck while Gomez's son, Miguel Gomez, who was 20 at the time, put Dia into an immobilizing leg-lock.
The elder Gomez was also charged in February with three counts of assault by striking, beating or wounding in connection with assaults on Dia and fellow airmen Broderick Richmond and Avion Scaife, all United States citizens.
Gomez's trial was once scheduled to begin next week in the Little Rock courtroom of U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr., but has been rescheduled to begin Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury in Little Rock added a false statement charge accusing the senior Gomez of lying to two Air Force officers by saying the fight began when someone threw a punch at him, when he knew that he threw the first punch; an assault with a dangerous weapon charge concerning Dia, alleging that Gomez used a hard foot covering known as "shod feet" to attack the airman; and a charge of assaulting, resisting and impeding an Air Force security officer who tried to break up the fight.
Miguel Gomez was charged in the assault of Richmond and with assaulting, resisting and impeding another security officer. The indictment alleges that Miguel Gomez resisted Staff Sgt. Jared Salazar and that his father resisted Master Sgt. Bruce Rick.
In February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere conducted a trans-continental teleconference from her Little Rock courtroom to arraign Gomez, who was charged in the Eastern District of Arkansas because the Jacksonville address he shared with his wife and four children was his last known stateside address. Court documents don't identify Gomez's wife.
The senior Gomez, an employee of an American contractor in Japan, was being held at the time at Osan Air Base in South Korea because Col. R. Scott Jobe, commander of the 35th Fighter Wing, kicked him off all U.S. controlled facilities in Japan. However, Deere said Gomez could return to his home off the air base in Japan if allowed to by Japanese officials. The family had to move off the air base as a result of the restaurant brawl, authorities said.
According to a document filed by federal prosecutors, the fight occurred at about 2:30 a.m. at Cafe Mokuteki, a 24-hour restaurant on the air base. Prosecutors said Rodgrigo Gomez, who had been drinking, went to the restaurant with Miguel Gomez to order take-out food, and then called his wife and teen age daughter to pick them up.
While in the restaurant, the document states, the senior "Gomez stumbled near a booth where four U.S. Air Force Airmen were sitting. ... A few words were exchanged, and without warning, the defendant hit one of the airmen [Richmond] in the back of the head. The airman slapped Gomez's hand away and he and another airman, Dia, got up out of the booth."
It says Dia "had his hands down in a defensive posture" and told Gomez to calm down, but "without warning, Gomez punched Airman Dia in the face, knocking him back into a table, and onto the ground."
It says Gomez's son, Miguel Gomez, then put Dia into an immobilizing leg-lock while the senior Gomez went behind the airman "and attempted to snap his neck by placing his hands on Dia's head and twisting it violently up and to the side. [Rodrigo] Gomez then punched Airman Dia in the neck and face, and then stomped on his head several times. Airman Dia was left dazed, incoherent and unable to stand on his own."
The document goes on to say that when Air Force security forces arrived, Gomez and his son resisted commands and hit the victims several more times.
As he was led out of the restaurant by security, the elder Gomez hit Scaife in the face, it said.
The fight was recorded on a restaurant security video, which is expected to be played at trial. Prosecutors have said in court filings that they expect to present testimony of several witnesses who remain stationed in Japan.
Metro on 08/14/2018