If the description of a shooting suspect includes the New York Yankees logo tattooed to his forehead, it really cuts down on the guesswork.
That's how 21-year-old Carlos Benito Sturgus got caught making another awful life decision last week in Mesa, as police say he shot an innocent bystander while he was in a shootout with another man at an apartment complex.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, a witness told police he saw Sturgus and another man arguing on the balcony of the apartment above him, and when the other man walked downstairs to leave, Sturgus started shooting at him.
The other man began to shoot back at Sturgus while running through the apartment complex, and Sturgus eventually landed a shot -- in an innocent man, according to the documents.
When police arrived, the man said he couldn't feel his legs, and was placed in the intensive-care unit at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
He told police he didn't know who shot him, but said the shots came from a balcony.
A witness told police he knew who shot the man, because of his nickname and, ya know, having the friggin' Yankees logo inked between his eyes.
Mesa police detectives located Sturgus in Glendale on Tuesday, and he admitted to shooting the man, according to the documents.
Sturgus said he didn't mean to shoot the man, which doesn't really matter to the cops, especially since the report notes he's not even allowed to have a gun because he's already been convicted of at least one other felony.
In fact, Sturgus was out on bond at the time of the shooting, after being jailed last month for -- you guessed it -- misconduct involving weapons. He was carrying a different gun during that incident, police note.
His excuse for having the gun was that "he has robbed many people in Mesa and many people want to kill him..."
Police note in the documents that Sturgus "wants to hurt [police]," but didn't add any specifics.
Sturgus was hit with an additional felony because one of the bullets allegedly belonging to him landed in a wall inside another person's apartment.
Sturgus was booked on four felonies: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, endangerment, and discharging a firearm within city limits.
*Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Sturgus had shot the man he was in a gun battle with. He actually shot an innocent man who was walking a friend to his car.
