Raymond man held on $750K bail on attempted murder charge in Kandiyohi County
Jan. 24—WILLMAR
— A Raymond man is facing a litany of felony charges after firing a weapon during a police chase Jan. 15 in Willmar that ended with a vehicle-mounted battering ram and tear gas.
Esteban J. Ramos Jr., 36, was ordered held on $750,000 unconditional bail or bond Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Kandiyohi County District Court for the incident that resulted in his hand being shot.
Ramos is charged with felony attempted second-degree murder along with felony assault and firearm charges for the incident. Officers would later recover a Judge Taurus shotgun revolver they believe was used by Ramos and .410 caliber shotgun shells from his pants pocket.
According to the law enforcement, Ramos' injury was self-inflicted and no law enforcement officer discharged their weapon.
Ramos initially ran from police around 8:39 p.m. Jan. 15 following a traffic stop in Willmar due to an officer suspecting he was inside the vehicle and had active warrants.
According to the criminal complaint:
After Ramos initially ran from police following the traffic stop, an officer confronted Ramos, who had fallen, and asked him to show his hands. At that point, a firearm was discharged. The officer was not injured but did slip when trying to find cover and lost Ramos' location.
Law enforcement would eventually find Ramos in a locked garage following an air and ground search of the area. Members of the Willmar and Kandiyohi/Meeker County SWAT teams and a State Patrol helicopter had been called to help locate Ramos. A drone was also deployed.
After the door to the garage was breached by a vehicle-mounted ram, law enforcement deployed chemical munitions in order to coax Ramos out but those attempts failed.
Ramos was arrested around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 16, though the criminal complaint does not state how he was arrested.
Ramos would later be found to have a a gunshot wound to his hand that law enforcement believes was self-inflicted. Officers did not notice any blood in Ramos' tracks in the snow leading up to the garage but did see a pool of blood where he had been in the garage.
Ramos was transported to Carris Health — Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, where he received medical care, and was then released to the Kandiyohi County Jail where he remains as of Wednesday afternoon.
Ramos has a federal warrant for failure to appear for a bond revocation hearing for a federal firearms charge stemming from a July 2017 incident in Kandiyohi County where he was found to be in possession of a firearm as a felon. He pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm — armed career criminal in federal court in June 2021 and had been released prior to sentencing.
The hearing to revoke his bond was scheduled following a September 2021 arrest for driving under the influence in Lyon County. Ramos also has a warrant from Lyon County for failure to appear for a hearing in that case as well.
His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 1.
