EVERETT — He agreed to sell about $500 worth of weed to a friend.
The exchange ended with him being shot and hospitalized with a fractured rib and lacerated liver in February 2019, according to court documents.
Three years later, a Sultan man was charged this month in Snohomish County Superior Court with first-degree assault and first-degree robbery in connection with the shooting.
The accused, then 19, agreed to meet with the dealer in the early afternoon in a Rite Aid parking lot on Evergreen Way in Everett, according to charging papers. The Sultan man arrived with a man known as “Deek.” Prosecutors noted in court documents this man remained unidentified earlier this month.
The defendant and the dealer reportedly went to school together and were considered friends.
The Sultan man and Deek got in the dealer’s car — the 19 year old in the front passenger seat and Deek directly behind. The defendant immediately let his former schoolmate know they planned to rob him of his phone, wallet and weed, the charges say.
“We’re running you for your (expletive),” he reportedly said. “Give us everything.”
Both men pointed handguns at the dealer, according to court papers. The dealer gave up the weed, but refused to hand over his personal belongings. He opened his car door and tried to flee.
Then, prosecutors allege, either the defendant or Deek shot the dealer. The victim was hit but managed to continue running around the Rite Aid parking lot looking for help, according to the charges. He eventually ran inside the Rite Aid, where 911 was called.
In the meantime, the two men reportedly fled in their own car with the weed.
The victim was taken to a hospital. He was treated for two “through-and-through” gunshot wounds, according to court documents. He told police that his friend and Deek fired their guns simultaneously, striking him once in the femur and once in the chest.
Doctors wondered if a single bullet could have caused both wounds. Only a single bullet was found in the victim’s car, according to court records.
The defendant is to be arraigned Wednesday. He has no prior felony history, according to court papers.
The court papers don’t explain why the charges were delayed three years, though it appears they were filed one day before the statute of limitations would have run out.
Prosecutors didn’t object to the defendant remaining out of custody as long as he appears in court and follows a few conditions, including no contact with the victim and no possession of firearms or controlled substances without a prescription.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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