Man charged with shooting at vehicle in Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A former Illinois teenager, with apparent gang affiliations and on probation for drug-related charges, sits in jail accused of firing two rounds into a passing car Wednesday afternoon.

Just after 4 p.m., Poplar Bluff police were sent to the area of Alice and Valley streets because of a man firing a handgun, according to police chief Danny Whiteley. "They last saw him walking briskly on Alice southbound."

Through witness statements and follow-up investigation, the suspect was identified as Johnathan Ken Esparza, Whiteley said.

The 19-year-old was charged Thursday morning with unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held in the Butler County Jail on $100,000 cash or surety bond.

Esparza twice hit a moving vehicle he was shooting at, deputy chief Jeff Rolland said. Officers, Whiteley said, located shell casings in the roadway in the 1000 block of Alice Street.

A search warrant for Esparza's apartment was secured and the search turned up shell casings and other items "that we believe will match similar items found at the scene of the shooting," Whiteley said.

Officers, he said, also recovered a bullet from the vehicle, which "we believe is in pristine condition for forensic comparison."

The evidence, he said, will be sent to the Missouri Lab and/or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for forensic evaluation.

The gun allegedly used by Esparza, according to Whiteley, had not been located, but officers have several locations where "we believe it may be and will be looking for it today."

The motive for the alleged shooting, Whiteley said, is still up "for grabs." The alleged victims, he said, were reluctant to give information as to a possible motive.

Although Esparza, who is on probation for drug-related charges from East St. Louis, Ill., is "new to the area, the victims are well known to our narcotics division," Rolland said.

Within the last six to eight months, Whiteley said, Esparza transferred his probation from East St. Louis to Poplar Bluff "to relatives that are also known to us in the drug culture."

"We believe, as we mentioned (earlier), that because of the heroin and related drug activity coming into town from people in the St. Louis, Memphis, and Blytheville areas that this incident had to do with some sort of drug trafficking," Whiteley said. "Actually, Mr. Esparza has numerous tattoos, which, from our intelligence file, are affiliated with gang activity."

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, MO