Jack Moran
registerguard.com
A bizarre attempted murder case has taken another strange turn, with the suspect’s wife now accusing him of trying to crash his truck into her just moments after police say the suspect intentionally ran over a man and a dog in a northeast Eugene neighborhood.
The woman leveled the allegation against Francisco Mario Ochoa in a restraining order petition filed in Lane County Circuit Court.
Ochoa, a 33-year-old Eugene resident, is being held in the Lane County Jail on charges that include attempted aggravated murder, first-degree assault, animal abuse and hit-and-run driving.
Ochoa “voluntarily ran over a pedestrian and his dog,” his wife wrote in the petition. “My vehicle was in the direct line of attack, and seconds before it was destroyed I escaped the vehicle.”
Police have said Ochoa’s truck slammed into a parked vehicle after it struck the dog walker. But authorities have not mentioned anything about Ochoa’s wife being at the site of the March 14 incident near Gay Street and Snelling Drive.
Police did initially arrest Ochoa on two counts of attempted murder. But prosecutors opted to charge him in court with just one count, naming the dog’s owner — a 50-year-old man with whom Ochoa was acquainted — as the sole human victim injured in the case.
The victim’s dog was killed after being struck by Ochoa’s truck, police said.
It’s not known whether Ochoa’s wife has any relationship with the dog walker. In the restraining order petition, the woman refers to the male victim — who suffered injuries that police said were not life-threatening — only as “a pedestrian.”
“I feel that (Ochoa) blames me for his actions,” Ochoa’s wife wrote in the petition.
A judge who reviewed the petition barred Ochoa from contacting his wife.
Police and prosecutors declined to comment about the woman’s allegation that she was targeted by Ochoa, who is expected to return to court next week after a grand jury investigation is completed.
It is possible he could face additional criminal charges as a result of that investigation.
Ochoa’s wife could not be reached for comment on Friday. The Register-Guard normally does not identify crime victims by name.
Ochoa fled the scene of the crash, police said.He turned himself in to federal authorities on Monday, hoping they could give him “additional protections” in jail in case any of the victim’s associates were being held there, his attorney said.
The attorney, Michael Arnold of Eugene, said Ochoa and the victim were neighbors who had been on friendly terms before becoming involved in a recent dispute.
Arnold said the victim had threatened Ochoa with violence and claimed affiliation with the Mongols motorcycle club.
Turner resident Jeremy DeLoretto, who co-founded the Mongols’ Oregon chapter, said Monday that the man who is identified in court documents as the victim in Ochoa’s case is a former member of the club.
DeLoretto said many law enforcement authorities have mischaracterized the Mongols as a criminal biker gang.
