Moxee man charged with assault in orchard shooting

Published 2:35 pm Thursday, October 27, 2011

YAKIMA — A 72-year-old man accused of shooting at orchard workers near Moxee has been charged with assault.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Gerald H. Lenderman appeared in court Wednesday and was ordered held on $250,000 bail.

Sheriff’s deputies say he stepped out of his home Saturday and fired two shotgun blasts at nearby orchard workers. Pellets wounded a tractor driver.

Detectives say Lenderman did not give a motive for the shooting but one described him as “very curmudgeonly.”