ARLINGTON — Seven shell casings were found at the scene of a shooting near Arlington, after a man opened fire from a silver Chevy Impala in April.
Hours later, an Impala crashed into a power pole in the same neighborhood. Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies found a box of bullets in the car, the same brand and caliber. Seven were missing.
The car’s owner, 26, was arrested late Friday for investigation of drive-by shooting. The gunfire was sparked by road rage, according to court papers obtained Monday by The Daily Herald.
An Arlington Heights man, 42, told deputies a silver Impala was tailgating him on the evening of April 20. The Impala driver tried to pass his Subaru without signaling, in spite of the oncoming traffic. So the Subaru driver swerved his car to block the Chevy, according to the man’s report.
The Impala cut in front of him anyway, just missing a collision and forcing the Subaru driver to slam on the brakes. The Impala stayed in front of the other driver, until the Subaru pulled into a driveway on 240th Street NE. The Impala pulled a U-turn, and the driver fired a pistol in the direction of the other man and his home, according to the report.
Police picked up bullets and copper jackets from the spent ammunition. One bullet was found a few inches deep in the grass, and another struck a wooden fence.
They were .380-caliber Winchester rounds.
Eleven hours later, a silver Impala crashed into a pole off 228th Street NE. The engine was running. The radio was playing. But the driver was gone. The car had one bullet hole through the windshield.
Police got a search warrant for the Impala. In the glove box, they recovered a box of .380-caliber Winchester bullets. It held 43 rounds out of 50.
The car’s owner, a cook at a Stanwood restaurant, called a deputy about the vehicle being impounded. They asked if he owned a .380-caliber handgun.
“Uh,” he reportedly said. “My buddy does.”
The man lives about a half-mile from 240th Street. In an in-person interview with the sheriff’s office, he would not answer questions about the shooting. He told police he’d fallen asleep while driving.
Deputies circled back to the driver of the Subaru. Using a photo, he identified the car’s owner as the shooter with 100 percent certainty, according to sheriff’s reports.
The suspect was booked into jail Friday evening. His bail was set Monday at $100,000.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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