A Cortez man was arrested Monday morning on numerous charges after being accused of aggravated robbery and shooting a handgun several times in two residences Sunday night.
According to a Cortez Police Department report, Mark Dunn was arrested in the driveway of his residence Monday morning.
According to the police report, Teresa Carlson-Dunn, Mark Dunns wife, told officers the incident began when she questioned her husband about whether he should be driving after drinking alcohol.
This is the second recent brush with the law for Mark Dunn. He was accused of stabbing another patron at Blondies Pub and Grill in Cortez on Aug. 16 but the district attorney elected to not follow through with charges, saying that the case was possibly self defense.
The police report from the Sunday night incident stated that Mark Dunn became upset before pulling a gun from his waistband and firing a shot slightly above and a little to the left of her head.
Teresa Carlson-Dunn told police she got out of bed, went to her drawer, retrieved a bag with two guns inside, grabbed her car keys and left the house.
She said that as she attempted to flee on Highway 145, her husband followed, but was not directly behind her. After she saw a dead cat in the road, she stopped because she thought it might be her missing cat. At that point, Mark Dunn caught up with her, and she said he swerved his car in the direction of her drivers side door.
Both vehicles made their way to Rampart Road, and Teresa Dunn executed a U-turn and headed toward the Montezuma County Sheriffs Department while calling her husbands brother, Todd Dunn, to tell him what happened and how crazy her husband was acting, the police report said.
Teresa Carlson-Dunn, when question by police, said she was in fear of her life when her husband fired the gun so close to her head.
At about 10 p.m. Sunday, Cortez Police were dispatched to a home in the 900 block of North Henry Street for a report of shots fired where Todd Dunn lived.
He told police that shortly after talking to Teresa Carlson-Dunn, there was a knock at his door, and not knowing who it was at that time of night, he retrieved a gun.
After realizing it was his brother, Todd Dunn told officers he placed the gun at his side and opened the door.
According to the police report, Todd Dunn said once Mark Dunn entered the residence, there was a struggle. Mark Dunn reportedly grabbed his brother by the right forearm, and as the two fought for control of the gun, Todd Dunn was bitten on the chin. He reported that the bite hurt so bad that Mark Dunn took possession of the firearm.
Todd Dunn told police that his brother fired the gun three to four times in the house with one bullet narrowly missing a friends son who was sleeping in a spare bedroom when one of the bullets went through a wall.
Mark Dunn then left the residence with the gun. Todd Dunn expressed fear that his brother was going to come back to take him out or to plant a firebomb, the report said.
Todd Dunn told police he did not want to stay in the house while his brother was at large so he stayed at a local motel.
At about 3:30 a.m., Mark Dunn called police dispatch and asked for officers to call him back.
When Officer Ryan Carter called back, Dunn told Carter that he wanted to turn himself in, but said he was afraid he would be stopped for driving under the influence if he drove. Dunn asked if he could be picked up by officers. Police did not feel comfortable with that arrangement because of the weapons he may have possessed and, fearing an ambush, told him he would have to drive to the jail to turn himself in.
Officers spotted Dunn driving on Mildred Road, where they followed him to his house where he was arrested.
Police were unable to locate the gun he allegedly fired at his house or the firearm he took from his brothers home.
Dunn was arrested for aggravated robbery, criminal mischief, two counts of felony menacing, felon in possession of a firearm, 3rd degree assault, theft, prohibited use of a firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment and domestic violence.
Dunn, whose next court appearance is Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 2:30 p.m., is being held at the Montezuma County Detention Center on a $25,000 bail.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com
