A federal jury found an Arkansas man guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter following a 2016 incident at an Air Force base in Japan where he assaulted several airmen, trying to snap one’s neck and later resisting arrest.
After a three-day trial, Rodrigo Pineda Gomez, 44, was convicted of one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter, four counts of assault, one count of resisting a federal officer, and a count of lying to law enforcement.
At the time of the assault, Gomez was married to an active-duty service member assigned to Misawa Air Base in Japan. His son, 22-year-old Miguel Gomez, was also involved in the altercation between them and three Air Force airmen. Miguel Gomez pleaded guilty to one count of assault on April 19.
According to the superseding indictment in the case, “During the assault, defendant Rodrigo Gomez attempted to kill one of the airmen by attempting to snap his neck and stomping on his head repeatedly while he was on the ground. He subsequently resisted arrest after law enforcement arrived, and then later made a false statement about the incident.”
A Justice Department news release Thursday said that the son, Miguel Gomez, assaulted just one of the three airmen. U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. has yet to set a sentencing date in the case.
