Mesa, Arizona

From the Arizona Republic of March 10, 2006

Mesa council candidate trades shots with suspect

City Council candidate J.T. Ready traded gunfire early Thursday with a man he suspected of being involved in a criminal activity. The man was armed with a BB gun.

"I thought I was dead," Ready said. "I didn't think I was going to make it to the election."

Mesa police arrested 32-year-old Eduardo Castellejo Godina on Thursday. He is accused of chasing and shooting at Ready with a gas-powered BB gun that looked like a semiautomatic handgun. Godina is charged with threatening or intimidating and assault, both misdemeanors, Sgt. Chuck Trapani said.

Heading into Tuesday's election, the spotlight in the heated District 4 race is again on Ready, who confirmed a day earlier that he was seeking the support of the Mesa Hells Angels motorcycle club.

"I think it could help," said Ready, on whether the incident would improve or hurt his chances at the polls.

"It's a shame such a great neighborhood is going downhill with illegal immigration and gangs."

Ready said he was driving back from a trip to Wal-Mart about 1:15 a.m. near Horne and Broadway Road when he spotted what looked to him like "gang-bangers" running down the street. Some hid in the bushes. Others scaled fences to get away, he said.

"I did like any good citizen would," said Ready, a 33-year-old former Marine, who dialed police dispatch on his cellphone.

Seconds later, he saw a man run out of the bushes and get into a truck with tinted windows. He decided to tail it to call in a license plate number, he said.

Ready followed the truck south on Temple Street until it came to a dead end, according to a police report. The truck stopped and a man got out of the passenger side and walked over to Ready.

As the man got closer, he pulled what looked like a handgun out of his pocket and took aim, according to the report. Ready drove his car forward and then jumped out while it was still in drive, he said. He still had his cellphone in one hand. Even at 300-plus pounds, Ready said he remembers moving "like a gazelle."

Ready, a concealed-weapons instructor who has a valid permit, reached for his .38 Special handgun in his ankle holster.

The man shot once at him - Ready said he recalled hearing at least one pop - before he returned one round of fire. Neither man was hit.

Eileen Rogers was watching TV when she heard the thud of Ready's car against a trailer parked in the street. She went to the front door.

Ready told her to call 911 because there was a man in her yard with a gun, Rogers said.

The irony in all of this, Rogers said, was that she has a Kyle Jones sign staked in her front lawn. Jones is one of Ready's opponents in the council race.