Man pleads to role in shooting at strip club

Carlos Gomez-Aguilar
Carlos Gomez-Aguilar

FAYETTEVILLE -- A man who was involved in a shooting at a strip club last year pleaded guilty to several charges in Washington County Circuit Court.

Carlos Gomez-Aguilar, 25, of Springdale pleaded guilty this week to aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. A charge of committing a terroristic act was dropped as part of a plea bargain.

The shooting happened Jan. 21, 2018, at the Silver Dollar Cabaret on College Avenue.

Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay sentenced Gomez-Aguilar to five years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Gomez-Aguilar was convicted in 2013 on a federal charge of illegally re-entering the country after having been deported. He was sentenced to five months of time served and was presumably deported again.

In that case, court records say Gomez-Aguilar, a native of El Salvador, was first deported in 2011 after he had been detained at the Benton County Jail and identified as being in the country illegally.

Ramon Ilario Flores, 26, of Lowell pleaded guilty in November in the shooting to being an accomplice to aggravated assault, accomplice to battery, accomplice to criminal mischief and possession of a firearm by a felon. A terroristic threatening charge was dropped as part of the plea bargain.

Flores was sentenced to 10 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with five years suspended.

Victor Manuel Martinez, 20, of Rogers has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault, battery, criminal mischief and committing a terroristic act. His next court appearance is set for March 1.

Martinez is being held at the Washington County jail on a $100,000 bond. There is a motion pending for bond reduction.

Security employees told the men they couldn't go into the club, according to a police report. The men went to an SUV, and Martinez got a rifle, according to the preliminary arrest report.

Martinez shot at least 20 rounds into a door, the building and a Chevrolet Corvette, according to police.

One employee at the club suffered a minor injury in the incident, according to the report.

NW News on 02/22/2019

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