Sioux City man shot victim with pellet gun during burglary, court documents state

SIOUX CITY, Iowa ( KCAU ) — A Sioux City man who allegedly broke into a home and shot the resident several times with a pellet gun is now facing several felony charges.

According to court documents, Ray Avila , 30, of Sioux City, was charged with second-degree burglary, assault while participating in a felony, third-degree burglary of a motor vehicle, and driving while barred after he was identified as one of two people who broke into a residence on Sunday.

The documents state that police were called to the 5500 block of Old Lakeport Road for a shots fired call. The victim allegedly told officials that Avila and one other person broke into his home through the front door and were shooting him with a pellet gun.

Avila allegedly made threats toward the victim over the last several weeks, which allowed the victim to identify one of the suspects as Avila by his voice since both suspects were wearing masks.

The documents state that the victim’s girlfriend was hiding in the bedroom, so he was guarding the doorway when Avila began shooting him with the pellet gun. When the victim grabbed a knife for self-defense, the two suspects fled the residence.

According to the documents, nearly every window in the residence was broken during the incident, and both the front and side doors were broken down.

Additionally, the documents allege that the passenger window of the victim’s vehicle was broken, and $500, three packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes, and a multi-colored knife were stolen.

The victim provided a description of Avila’s clothing, which matched what he was wearing when he was later pulled over near the intersection of 2nd Street and Rustin Street.

During the traffic stop, the vehicle passenger allegedly told police that Avila had told her about what happened at the victim’s residence. However, according to the documents, Avila denied having done anything.

Avila was transported to jail, where officials found an unopened pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes. The documents state that when the cigarettes were found, Avila said, “It’s not illegal to have cigarettes,” and became agitated after they were found.

Avila’s bond was set at $50,000 with a preliminary hearing scheduled for August 29.

Further court documents state that Avila has been listed as ‘high risk to flee jurisdiction,’ because he fled the United States in 2019 while facing a manslaughter charge . In 2019, Avila was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and flight to avoid prosecution.

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