Man Arrested After Son Shot During Drug Transaction
FRENCH CAMP (CBS13) -- A French Camp man is behind bars and his stepson is in the hospital with a gunshot wound after a drug deal went bad, according to sheriff's deputies.
Orlando Garcia was at home in French Camp with his wife, his grandmother and his four children when two unknown suspects made a pre-arranged visit to the home to buy prescription marijuana from Garcia, say San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputies. While inside, the suspects allegedly pulled out guns and robbed Garcia of the marijuana.
The suspects ran outside and got into their truck, and as they drove off, they exchanged gunfire with Garcia.
A bullet hole marks the path of gunfire that surrounded the house on Mariposa Road in San Joaquin County.
"They were backing up and as they did I heard a pop," said Linda Chambers, the boy's great-grandmother, "and I heard my granddaughter screaming call 911."
She says the bullet ricocheted off a tree and went through the window into her great-grandson's room and hit him in the stomach.
"It was devastating," she said. "I was so scared."
Detectives say Garcia, ran out front and fired back minutes after a meeting to sell the pair medical marijuana.
Chambers disputed that. "I can swear to that, he does not sell it to nobody," she said.
But investigators say Garcia admitted the drug deal, then described the gun-toting robbery that followed, and the shootout that could have claimed the life of his stepson.
"He'll be in the hospital for two weeks," Chambers said. "The bullet is still inside him."
Garcia was arrested and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on four charges of child endangerment, the negligent discharge of a firearm and several other drug-related charges.
One of the suspects who robbed Garcia is described as a Hispanic male, about 28 years old, 5-feet-8 inches tall, 180 pounds and wearing a white t-shirt, gray shorts and green shoes. The second suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 28, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had a thin beard and was wearing a white t-shirt, khaki shorts and green shoes.
The suspect vehicle is described as a light blue pickup truck with black rims and a toolbox in the bed.
