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Show Wednesday, December 24, 2008 Vernal Express Teens char ooti B10 in sh mg By Geoff Lesix Uintah Basin News Service Two 17-year-old boys have been bound over to. face charges as adults in connection with a shooting incident on Oct. 26 in Vernal. Justin Bender and Ernesto Casarez were each charged Friday Fri-day in 8th District Court with two counts of aggravated robbery; four counts of theft, one count of purchase or possession of a dangerous weapon; five counts of burglary of a vehicle; and one count of criminal mischief. The charges against Bender and Casarez were filed following a preliminary hearing in juvenile court where Judge Larry Steele ruled that jurisdiction over the teens should be transferred to district court. Bender and Casarez were arrested by Vernal police in November following a series of car burglaries and a shooting incident. Vernal Police Lt. Dylan Rooks told the Uintah Basin Standard in a prior interview that on Oct. 26, shortly after 11 p.m., officers were dispatched to a "shots fired" call in the area of 400 E. 400 South. Rooks said officers spoke to the victim who said he had seen someone walking west on 400 South carrying a speaker box from the victim's car. The man said he chased the person down and confronted him in the backyard back-yard of a nearby home. "At this point, a second suspect sus-pect appeared and produced a handgun, pointing it in the direction di-rection of the victim and firing," Rooks told the Standard. "The gunman then orders the victim to drop his cell phone and empty his pockets onto the ground." Rooks said the gunman fired several shots into the ground, one of which struck the victim's cell phone. After the shooting, Rooks the suspects fled west on 400 South toward Vernal Avenue. Officers from several agencies set up a perimeter and used two K-9 units to search for the pair, but did not find them. Authorities developed information infor-mation the following day that led them to Bender and Casarez, and several other teens suspected of burglarizing vehicles. Rooks told the Standard that the revolver used in the alleged shooting was stolen from an unlocked un-locked vehicle on the night it was used. The lieutenant, during the earlier interview, did not say who police believe fired the gun. He could not be reached on Friday to provide that information. Dates for Bender and Casa-rez's Casa-rez's first hearings in district court had not been scheduled at press time. If convicted, they face 5 years-to-life in prison on each of the aggravated robbery charges alone. X .if P X;r' -XM v, X t X m T v., s . , -.-fti ' "r 'v, x "3 t V I' V xv x,; dical Record - 1ed'! iurgicai OB Labor and Delivery Operating kooi.. i I vers Pisi. I vn Iwnr - :v '.v?- ierap V -'HO Administration 1 3- ' Admitting J Business Office i . . R Altamont Clinic to IrtMf IK ! MtK- I vcrv IVr, 1 -er lime Construction tcr (Vrutn. I ven lime I X x rx. 3 ,"f. Dialysis Center 4 i Dietary vi i p ' ,v - i I is 1 'x;- 'x - Duchesne Clinic Emergency Department Emergency Services I ry JV-rvm. I-vers hnw I UT CttVW. ICt llHW ... y .'4 I - : -xb tngineering Home Health Equipment Housek eenintr H ., r -" o .wiiiau icUl ourcd I.I InrtirmatKinJTcchnologics Inpatient Pharmacy Intensive Care Unit Vl. ll. ..ih IHJ lit,!. .r St fy k t )j .- ; 1 -itl . :v . I ."t';X ":.. l l .1 ' hh. i W- 1 ' ' 1 t 4. 4. ' lit r '-..ou j x-ij xx . Laboratory Laund . 1'iuuua t HaMijmI ifc-ittv . , . . . - . tTKt'"Wl'"l Hllw ll'lT'l, 1 . X' s X ,1 '4 i 3 Materials Management I m Pitma. den hfw : XX f I X 4 "'l0"" MediM' OBUboMl, Operoom Pa.hdogy Pharmacy Physical Tjierapy t vi Hi, I vl liliw tl.-h-t H.J ..L In f ntef Hrtm mM Ibthoir XjJ r-- At i r 1 i k Quality Assurance Radiology I.. I tt.l rf IWjI.nf '1 i ' s; x . X - Respiratory Therapy Roosevelt Physician Clinic Tabiona Clinic I'v-fHKI lt l0 ' f A . i X Liniah Hasin Home llcalih' Uintah Basin Hospice 7 s.A, 1 XxS1- V J j X- Vcrnil Laboratory anj Radiology Volunteers 1 A emergency Service! Ad-nj'""' 1.1.,. Hn ( -X'l i r . w... i,P.. 1 I hx i . J f Li The Villa fufflan Rc l'.H fl.lt iiH-t"Mttl ( Thanks for your generous donations to Uintah Basin Healthcare Foundation. |