A 21-year-old man is facing charges after he appeared to fall asleep in the driver’s seat of a vehicle last week at a Phoenix intersection and then exchanged gunfire with someone at an apartment.  

Police got a call around 7 a.m. Sept. 4 to report a driver, later identified as Luis A. Valdez, who appeared to be sleeping behind the wheel of a black Cadillac at the intersection of 27th Avenue and Campbell Street, according to Phoenix police officials.

The caller told police he was concerned the driver may be impaired, the release stated. Valdez became alert while the caller was on the phone with police and began to drive away.

The caller followed Valdez and saw him sideswipe another vehicle. Shortly after, Valdez got out his vehicle and pointed a gun at the caller who was following him. 

The caller felt threatened and stopped following Valdez, who fled on foot into an apartment in the area of West Heatherbrae Drive and 23rd Avenue, police said. 

Valdez and the apartment occupant knew each other and exchanged gunfire. After the shooting, Valdez fled on foot again and police confronted him at a nearby residence, according to police.

He refused to comply with officers, who used a police dog and stung bag to take him into custody, police said. He was taken to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Valdez was later booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of shooting within city limits, being a prohibited possessor of a firearm, and endangerment, according to Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, a police spokesperson.

Additionally, the man who exchanged gunfire with Valdez was identified as 21-year-old Luis Gilberto Moreno Tanori. He was arrested on suspicion of being prohibited from possessing a firearm, Fortune said.

Reach breaking news reporter Brooke Newman at [email protected] or on Twitter @brookerae17.

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