Methamphetamine, a Glock 42 handgun, hollow point bullets, heroin, and a notebook filled with narcotic sales transactions was found on John Paradise, after he was taken into custody on March 3, at the end of yet another long hunt by Gallup Police Department.
Some readers may remember the Sun’s coverage of John Paradise earlier this year, when it was reported he was taken into custody on Jan. 31, for charges of shooting at or from a motor vehicle, criminal damage to property over $1,000, and negligent use of a deadly weapon charges.
A wanted poster on the Sun’s website and in print had been issued in December in relation to the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office wanting him for questioning on a homicide. After he was booked on Jan. 31, the bail stood at $22,000.
GPD Officer Dominic Molina made the latest arrest, with fellow officers backing him up, after the department trapped his vehicle at gunpoint, on the premises of the Alcon gas station located at 1500 S. Second St. in Gallup.
Daryl Desiderio, 22, was driving, also a wanted felon, and Paradise was in the front passenger’s seat. Thomas Heredia, 33, was in the backseat. During the tense standoff, all of the occupants refused to step out of the vehicle, which was set in reverse.
Desiderio began yelling at the officers, while Paradise shiftily placed his hands near his lap and the sides of his leg. Molina commented in the report that the occupants of the vehicle kept looking at each other, nervously, throughout the ordeal.
The officers warned him to keep his hands in the air, but Paradise just ignored them. They continued to exhibit signs of refusal to exit the vehicle. Molina finally approached the vehicle’s passenger side and opened the door, bravely, ordering Paradise to step out of the vehicle, once again. Paradise refused, again, and the police had to remove him by force, along with the equally stubborn Desiderio and rear passenger, Heredia.
“If you happen to find an ounce of meth in the car, it’s Daryl’s not mine, just so you know,” spouted Paradise later, at the jail. A pat search conducted by Officer Chaz Troncoso revealed a .380 caliber Glock 42 loaded with four deadly hollow point bullets and two full metal jacket bullets. In his pockets, a blob of black tar heroin was found hidden inside of a dollar bill, along with some aluminum foil filled with glassy shards of crystal methamphetamine.
Heredia and Desiderio were both booked on outstanding warrants, while Paradise was placed under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm. They were taken to the McKinley County Adult Detention Center.
Paradise remains in custody as of March 7 on an $8,000 cash bond, and must attend pre-trial services. Desiderio posted bond on March 6 by paying $129, $29, and $500 with pre-trial services, according to a jail official. Heredia was released on his own recognizance on March 6.
By Naomi Mercedes Chan
Sun Correspondent