Misdemeanor charges were officially filed Monday in the Superior Court of Guam against Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio in connection with a gun-grabbing incident July 7 at the Guam BBQ Block Party in Tumon.

Tenorio was charged with reckless conduct, reckless conduct with a firearm, obstructing government functions and official misconduct.

The Office of the Attorney General submitted the complaint Aug. 31 but it was not officially filed with the Superior Court until a summons for Tenorio to appear in court was signed Monday by Superior Court pro-tem Judge Maria Fitzpatrick.

The Judiciary of Guam has not said how many members of the Superior Court bench had recused themselves from signing the summons, necessitating the need for an appointment of a pro-tem, or temporary, judge.

A declaration attached to the complaint states Police Chief Joseph Cruz of the Guam Police Department noted the appearance of a possible conflict of interest and transferred the criminal investigation into the incident to the OAG Criminal Division.

Gun-grabbing struggle

A report submitted by police Sgt. Carl Cruz noted that around 10:25 p.m. July 7, while standing on the road near the Slingshot establishment, he felt someone behind him tugging at his duty firearm, "which was properly holstered at his side," stated a declaration filed with the Superior Court.

The firearm was loaded and ready for immediate use. Cruz reacted to the tugging by pulling on the lower portion of his holster, which would lock the perpetrator's fingers in place, and pivoting to elbow the then-unknown perpetrator in the chest, Cruz reported.

When the officer swung around to face the person, Cruz was surprised to see it was the lieutenant governor who had been tugging at his firearm. Cruz quickly released his grip on his holster and held Tenorio by the shoulders to support him from the force of the elbow strike.

Court documents state, "Lt. Gov. Tenorio persisted" in a second attempt that immediately followed. Tenorio reached at the release/retention button on officer Cruz's holster and proceeded to lift his firearm out of it. Tenorio then took hold of the gun with both hands and transferred it to his right hand and held it with his thumb and index finger at the lower portion of the receiver.

"In this orientation, the lieutenant governor held the firearm at eye level dangling its barrel in the direction of officers who were sitting on the tailgate of the official police vehicle assigned to (an) officer," the declaration stated.

According to Sgt. Cruz, Tenorio then stated, "It's that easy. It's that easy! You know, I'm the public safety chairman."

Cruz took back the gun and reholstered it. He noticed Tenorio "reeked of alcohol and that his face was red." Tenorio allegedly continued to repeat how easy it was to take the gun away from the police sergeant and tried a third time to take the firearm.

The officer reported that he blocked each attempt and responded, "Roger, sir. Roger, sir."

Tenorio walked away laughing and greeted other officers in the immediate area but returned to Cruz and said, "Let's try again. It's that easy!" as he tried to grab at Cruz's firearm, court documents state.

Cruz then grabbed Tenorio's wrists and pushed them away and tried to signal a lieutenant governor's staffer, Tony Lujan, who was accompanying Tenorio.

Tenorio walked away and greeted some Guam Fire Department personnel. He then moved from where he had been standing and made his way back to Cruz and grabbed at the holstered firearm for a fifth time. Cruz said he grabbed the lieutenant governor's wrists and this time sternly stated, "Have a good night, sir," the declaration stated.

'I am the public safety chair'

Another officer assigned to provide security at the block party reported seeing Tenorio holding a Heineken beer bottle and greeting other officers. The officer looked back and later saw Cruz "slapping and pushing" Tenorio's hands away from his waist and gear belt. Several other officers reported witnessing the same thing and overheard Tenorio comment, "Do you know who I am? I am the public safety chair," court documents state.

A police lieutenant, who did not see the incident, spoke with Cruz about it and concluded in his report to the police chief that the sergeant acted in a professional manner while "defending himself from an aggressive physical onslaught by the lieutenant governor."

The police lieutenant noted that if this incident had involved "any other citizen on the street and not a high-ranking government official, the outcome would have been much different, possibly resulting in an arrest, and confinement, or (worst) case scenario, a use of deadly force issue," the declaration stated.

Sixth time

When Tenorio attempted to grab the gun a sixth time, he allegedly used more force and the escalation caused Cruz to use greater force – pushing Tenorio in the chest with both hands to create distance between the two. The shove caused Tenorio to stumble backward and another officer had to hold the lieutenant governor up to prevent him from falling.

Tenorio said, "Oh, it's like that! Oh, it's like that!" and Cruz replied firmly, "Yes, it's like that."

The lieutenant governor then reportedly got into his official vehicle and left the block party.

Additional resources

OAG investigators obtained a video recording of the incident from surveillance cameras in Tumon, as well as product information concerning the holster Sgt. Cruz used that had two levels of retention to keep the firearm "securely in place" as an individual moves.

Interviews were conducted with the lieutenant governor's driver, a police officer, who reported that Tenorio was drinking alcohol that night, but he did not know how much and did not believe that Tenorio was drunk.

Tenorio's staffer, Lujan, stated he was aware that Tenorio had been drinking alcohol and stated that he had given "about four beers" to Tenorio during the night of the block party. He denied seeing any of the gun-grabbing incident and recalled hearing Tenorio speaking with the police chief on the phone and overhearing him say, "What if somebody was to grab that gun? Can you imagine peoples' intention?"

The police chief was interviewed and stated Tenorio called him to express concern about an "unsafe situation" and that he was able to remove a firearm from a police officer.

Refusal to be recorded

OAG investigators met with Tenorio, at the office of his attorney, Tom Fisher, for the purpose of conducting an interview, but Tenorio did not agree to have the interview recorded in any way by investigators, so they left without conducting the interview.

Assistant Attorney General James Collins believed there was sufficient evidence to charge Tenorio with two misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct for intentionally pointing a firearm at, or in the direction of, another; obstructing governmental functions; and official misconduct.

In August, Tenorio issued a statement requesting a speedy review of the OAG investigation into his decision to grab a police officer's gun from behind. He previously said he meant to teach the officer a lesson, but later apologized.

Tenorio said he was confident he committed "no illegal action" and said his actions were for public safety. He admitted that he does not have a firearms ID.

The lieutenant governor has acknowledged he took the officer's service weapon out of its holster after noticing it did not appear to be securely fastened.

Superior Court marshals showed up at the lieutenant governor's office at Adelup on Monday afternoon, attempting to serve him with the complaint and summons, but they were told Tenorio would not be in the office.

He was served before 3:15 p.m. at a meeting arranged by his attorney.

The summons to appear is for Oct. 3 before Superior Court Magistrate Judge Benjamin Sison.