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Grandview: Weekend car chase and shooting

September 23rd, 2009, incident report by jbtaylor

  • June 20, 2009
  • 0
  • 0
  • Apricot Road
  • Grandview
  • Washington
  • 98930

Ross A Courtney. Yakima Herald - Republic. Yakima, Wash.: Jun 23, 2009. pg. A.12

(Copyright (c) 2009 Yakima Herald-Republic)

By Ross Courtney

Yakima Herald-Republic

GRANDVIEW -- Investigators are still sorting out details of a weekend car chase and shooting, but so far they don't think it was gang-related.

The gunshots Saturday night may have stemmed from an old high school grudge between Grandview teenagers, said Stew Graham, chief of detectives for the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.

Two men told deputies that three others chased them down Apricot Road and shot at them because of past differences dating back to high school, Graham said.

Deputies have no evidence of a gang connection to the rift, Graham said.

Saturday's fight started with words exchanged at a Grandview store when two carloads of people stopped to buy food, Graham said.

Graham said three males, one age 17 and two age 18, driving a 2004 Mazda four-door sedan followed two men, ages 18 and 19, in a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse along Apricot Road, pulling up next to them and challenging them to a fight.

The driver of the Eclipse kept going, so one of the Mazda passengers pulled out a handgun and fired at least two shots about 7:50 p.m., deputies said. The two cars collided and the Eclipse veered off the road and struck a railroad tie used as part of a mailbox.

The Mazda drove away, but witnesses to the shooting followed it to the 300 block of East Fourth Street, Graham said. There, law enforcement officers arrested two of the occupants, ages 17 and 18 from Grandview, and plan to request drive-by shooting charges.

The 18-year-old made his first appearance Monday in Yakima County Superior Court. He was held on $100,000 bail while prosecutors consider filing drive-by and hit-and-run charges.

A third, the suspected shooter, is identified but still at large, Graham said. He is 18 and from Grandview, though deputies are not releasing his name. The victims also are Grandview residents. There were no reports of injuries.

Countywide, there have been at least 16 incidents involving gunfire since early May. One man has been killed; 10 have been injured. Much, but not all, of the violence has been blamed on gangs.

Reporter Mark Morey contributed to this report.