The brother of a man who was gunned down outside Arms Apartments last month has been charged with a drive-by shooting.
The suspect, Roman Patrick Couillard, 26, has been charged with aggravated assault with a fire-arm and reckless endangerment with a firearm. He will face those charges along with charges of disorderly conduct he received the night of his brother’s shooting.
Couillard’s brother, Rufino “Junior” Soto, 28, was fatally wounded Sept. 4 outside Arms Apartments during an altercation with Herbert Conley, 51. Accounts vary widely with those who side with the victim saying Conley was looking for trouble and gunned down Soto in cold blood.
Conley maintains Soto pulled a knife on him and he shot him in the chest in self-defense. The grand jury is expected to hear evidence about the shooting and decide if criminal charges are warranted. Conley has not been charged.
Couillard was at Arms Apartments the night of his brother’s slaying and was arrested by police after he refused to settle down in what was a violently charged atmosphere after the shooting.
Couillard was free awaiting hearing on the disorderly conduct charge when he was hit with charges claiming he fired a weapon from his vehicle. The shooting, sheriff’s investigator Steven Carpenter said in his felony warrants against Couillard, happened after he had a disagreement with a man on Old Beersheba Road, concerning the man’s stepdaughter.
“The victim was standing outside his residence when a white car drove by and a subject inside the vehicle fired two shots from a gun in his direction,” Carpenter said. “The victim was able to identify him. He recognized him by the tattoos on his arm.”
Couillard was located a short time after the shooting. He was hiding under some furniture at his girlfriend’s house on Bell Street.