BEDFORD – Two men were detained after the car sale went wrong. One man was beaten, and shots were fired. Warrants were issued.
Bedford Police Officers arrested 24-year-old Sergio Salazar, of Indianapolis, on charges of battery with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, theft of a vehicle, and intimidation.
Omar Borjas, 23, of Indianapolis, is facing charges of battery with a deadly weapon and intimidation.
According to Bedford Police Detective Major Louden, on Sunday, February 18, 2024, at 9:25 p.m., Bedford Police Department dispatchers received numerous 911 calls reporting shots had been fired in the 1000 block of 12th Street.
While officers were en route, they received a report of someone screaming and that possibly someone had been shot. Another caller reported three people involved got into a white BMW and left the area, traveling west on 12th Street.
When officers arrived, they spoke to witnesses and found a black Cadillac Escalade parked on the 1000 block of 12th Street. The vehicle didn’t have a license plate, and the passenger-side window was busted.
Officers went to a home on the 1000 block of 11th Street and, en route, were told by Officer Michael Bell that the male they were looking for was in a vehicle at the intersection of 12th and T Street. There were two men in the car. One of the men was injured, and an ambulance was requested to the scene. One of the men was armed with a handgun. That weapon was secured as evidence.
The males told police they met Sergio Salazar to purchase a Cadillac Escalade for $40,000. One of the men learned about the sale on Facebook. They met in the 1000 block of 12th Street to make the exchange.
One of the men gave Salazar the money, and he gave the man the keys and the title. However, the owner did not sign the out-of-state title, and the window was busted, so the men questioned the sale and took the money back, upsetting Salazar and the other men with him. Two of the three men jumped out of the white BMW with assault rifles, approached one of the males, and began beating him with the gunstocks.
The man’s father, who was getting beaten, circled around the vehicle to help his son, and that is when he found his son’s gun on the ground that had fallen from his son’s waistline during the struggle. The son had taken the gun with him because he had a large amount of cash and didn’t know the people he was purchasing the vehicle from.
During the assault, the men stole the victim’s $40,000.
The father picked up his son’s 9MM Smith & Wesson M&P because he thought they were going to kill his son. The father pointed the gun to the ground and fired two or three shots as a warning. He was unsure if he hit any of the men. He told police he just wanted them to stop beating his son. Officers found three shell casings, a piece from a firearm stock at the scene, and a pair of glasses belonging to Borja.
Two of the men jumped into the BMW and fled the scene. A third armed man remained. That is when the victim and his father fled in their vehicle because they were afraid the third man would shoot them. They then saw the BMW return and pick up the third man.
Once they saw police had arrived, the victim and his father returned to the scene. The victim still had the Escalade keys and title, which were turned over to police.
The victim was able to provide police with Salazar’s phone number, Facebook photo, and Snapchat messages discussing the sale of the vehicle.
Police then alerted surrounding police agencies and hospitals about the incident. Martinsville Police Department Detective Betelsen reported a male was being treated for a possible gunshot wound. That man was Omar Borja. He told police he and a friend had gone to sell shoes in Morgantown, and he was shot while standing near the trunk of his vehicle. Borja was transported to Methodist Hospital for surgery.
Police then learned the Cadillac Escalade had been stolen from Stockbridge, Georgia. Police there were alerted to the recovery of the vehicle.
Police were also able to obtain surveillance video of the incidents from residents in the neighborhood where the crime transpired.
Police learned from the Snapchat messages that Salazar was dealing in large amounts of marijuana.
Bedford Police Detective Uebelhoer assisted in the investigation.
