EVERETT — The suspected shooter was not a good winter driver.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies believe the man crashed his car a short distance from a south Everett house that was riddled with bullets. There was snow, ice and slush on the road.
Fericit Varga, 20, returned to his stuck car as a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy was speaking with neighbors. They told police Varga had knocked on their door and asked for help moving the car about 10 minutes earlier. The car was stuck but Varga declined their offers to call 911.
Prosecutors have charged Varga with drive-by shooting for the Feb. 6 gunfire. They believe before crashing his Buick he fired multiple rounds into a house near 107th Place SW.
Bullets struck the garage door, a large front window, and siding near the front door. A man had been lying on a couch in front of the damaged window at the time. He rolled onto the floor and yelled for others in the house to duck. There were four other people inside, including two children.
Deputies reviewed video surveillance from the home. It showed a light-colored Buick drive by. A muzzle flash was seen coming from the car.
The Buick on the video matched the car that deputies passed on their way to the scene, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Jarett Goodkin wrote in court papers. It was parked outside a nearby home. The passenger front wheel was broken off. Deputies saw a .45-caliber casing with an aluminum finish on the rear floorboard. The casing appeared to match ones recovered outside the victim’s house.
Witnesses said the car had been there for about an hour.
Varga reportedly returned to the car as deputies were canvassing the neighborhood. He admitted that the car was his and no one else had been driving it.
Varga was arrested when deputies found brass knuckles in his pocket. Deputies reportedly recovered multiple .45-caliber shell casings in his backpack.
Varga denied shooting at the house. He couldn’t explain why he had shell casings, court papers said. A deputy asked Varga if “the gun was in a safe spot so a kid doesn’t find it,” Goodkin wrote.
He allegedly replied, “Ya, it’s in a safe spot, man.”
The deputy asked him where the gun was and Varga said he didn’t know anything about a firearm.
The defendant was being held on $50,000 bail. He doesn’t have any prior criminal history.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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