Court documents detail car crash into Pueblo Mall Food Court, bomb threats made by driver

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The suspect who drove into the Pueblo Mall food court on Tuesday has been identified as 29-year-old Mario Arellano.

He was in court Wednesday to hear his charges.

RELATED: Suspect in custody after driving vehicle into Pueblo Mall; scene cleared

According to the Pueblo Police Department (PPD), Arellano is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, assault on a peace officer, and criminal mischief.

According to court documents, the incident began on Tuesday afternoon when Pueblo Police received a call from a man who told the dispatcher that someone was running around the Pueblo Mall with a gun and shooting. When asked to provide more information, the caller hung up. When police called the number back, a man answered and said, "I'm about to f***ing start shooting people in the mall. I think I Iost my mind. I'm about to start murdering people. I think I finally snapped. I need a CIT-trained officer because I'm having a mental breakdown. I'm losing my mind."

When officers arrived at the mall, they checked the area but did not find any shooting victims, court documents said. During the search though, an officer said over the radio that he heard shots on the west side of the mall. While searching that area, they saw a Kia Soul in the parking lot being driven by who was later identified as Mario Arellano. Court documents state that the officers attempted to pull over the vehicle but the driver would not stop. A Pueblo police sergeant aired over the radio to end the pursuit due to the number of citizens in the parking lot. Then a few seconds later, a captain aired over the radio to continue the pursuit due to the "totality of the circumstance," court documents show.

As the pursuit continued, the pursuing officer said at this time she observed smoke coming from the driver's side window and heard popping sounds. Other officers on scene reported that as the pursuit continued through the parking lot, the suspect vehicle began driving toward people in the parking lot and then drove on the sidewalk and towards more people.

The court documents state the vehicle then drove toward the main entrance of the food court where other officers had to move out of the way of the vehicle. One of those officers stated that as the vehicle continued towards the entrance to the food court, the driver's side window was down and he could hear Arellano say, "I'm going to kill innocent people."

Arellano then drove the vehicle through the glass and metal doors at the entrance to the food court and came to rest inside the building. Documents state Arellano then rolled up his window and officers had to breach the vehicle to get him out. As he was being taken into custody, Arellano began yelling that he didn't want a white person to touch him and that he hated white people. He also yelled that he planted bombs all around the mall and was going to kill people in the name of Allah, according to court documents. As Arellano continued to resist officers' efforts to place him in a patrol vehicle, he also yelled that he was going to kill all the white people and the officers were lucky he wasn't holding his gun, documents stated.

Officers on the scene observed what appeared to be a pressure cooker in the back seat of Areallano's vehicle and given the threats he made, the Pueblo Metro Bomb Squad was called to the scene and they later determined there were no explosives in the vehicle, court documents said. The mall and surrounding businesses were evacuated during this time.

A Pueblo officer reported that while Arellano was in custody in the back seat of the patrol vehicle, he said he was "pissed at all the white people," and that he had been beaten up by white people. He also said that he was Muslim and doing everything for Allah. When asked about the pressure cooker, the officer reported that Arellano said his entire car was a bomb that he could control from his cell phone. He also said he was hooked up to a heart monitor that could set off the bomb and had a team of people around the world who would "wreak havoc" if something happened to him, according to court documents. He also mentioned something about being affiliated with Hamas.

Paramedics who responded to the scene determined Arellano should be evaluated at the Parkview Medical Center. While being transported via ambulance, Arellano spit on multiple officers and bit the finger of one of the officers when she tried to cover his mouth. After this happened, Arellano said, "She's lucky I didn't bite it off. That's what I was trying to do," according to court documents.

Documents show that during interrogation, Arellano told officers that he is off his medication and he says a lot of things that he doesn't mean when he is not taking that medication. He also said that when he saw police show up to the mall, he got scared and that's why he drove into the building. In addition to that, he told investigators that he hadn't slept in several days and was hearing voices and having hallucinations.

Arellano has an extensive criminal history including five separate felony convictions for assault, as well as one felony conviction for arson, and one for burglary, according to court documents.