EVERETT — An Everett man who allegedly shot someone in the chest in April may have been trying to leave the state when he was arrested, prosecutors say.
The defendant, 24, was charged earlier in June in Snohomish County Superior Court with first-degree assault, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm, due to previous felony convictions.
The confrontation happened on April 26. He had reportedly stolen a credit card from an acquaintance while they were both at a house in Everett.
Later, the acquaintance and two others were in a car when they found the alleged thief standing on the corner of Pacific Avenue.
The driver, a friend of the acquaintance, got out of the car to confront the man about the stolen credit card, charging papers say. The two argued. The defendant walked away. The other man followed.
Then the defendant turned around, fumbled around in his pocket, pulled out a handgun and allegedly shot the other man in the chest. He ran away, prosecutors wrote.
The man yelled out that he was shot and that he couldn’t breathe. He was transported to the hospital. The bullet had hit him in the sternum and went down toward the liver, medical staff told an officer.
The suspect wasn’t found until nearly a month later. Everett police caught up with him at the Everett Transit Center, texting someone. He dropped his phone as he was handcuffed.
According to prosecutors, the phone had a message from a woman:
“What do u mean nobody knows were ur going in Missouri how will us survive when you get there,” she reportedly wrote.
“Better than I will if I stayed here,” he replied, according to charging papers.
The man remained in jail earlier this week with bail set to $75,000. Prosecutors noted that he has a long history of failing to appear in court. He has previously been convicted of five felonies and 23 misdemeanors.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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