BB gun vandalism case dismissed

EPHRATA — Prosecutors dropped charges against a man accused of being part of a string of broken windows in Moses Lake.

William M. Lobie, 43, Moses Lake, was charged with possession of a firearm in the second degree, malicious mischief in the second degree, possession with the intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana and use of drug paraphernalia.

The prosecutors’ decision to dismiss the case came after Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell’s ruling about a search warrant of Lobie’s home. Knodell ruled police did not have probable cause to believe there was evidence in the home.

Police were investigating a six-month-long string of vandalism in downtown Moses Lake, when an officer heard a BB gun being fired, according to a Moses Lake police report. The officer reported he saw a silver Ford Mustang in the area, which failed to stop at a stop sign, and sped toward state Route 17.

Police spotted a silver Ford Mustang on West Broadway roughly two and a half hours after the initial report. Officers followed the car until it was stopped on Division Street, according to the police report. Lobie, the driver, reportedly consented to a search of his car and officers found two BB pistols in a soft-sided lunch box.

Lobie told police he forgot to take the guns out of the car after he and his son had gone shooting at the sand dunes during the weekend, according to the police report.

Moses Lake police reportedly identified the Mustang Lobie was driving as the same one the undercover officer saw earlier in the night, according to court records.

They received a search warrant from Grant County District Court Judge Richard Fitterer for Lobie’s home, according to court records. Officers reportedly found three rifles, two BB rifles and 4.9 grams of marijuana in the residence.

Lobie’s attorney Dean Terrillion argued both the traffic stop and the search warrant were conducted incorrectly. His motion stated the police stop was not for the traffic violation, but instead, because they believed he was involved in another crime.

Knodell denied Terrillion’s argument about the traffic stop, but agreed with his second argument — there wasn’t probable cause to issue the search warrant for Lobie’s home.

Without a legal search warrant, anything found and determined to be evidence can no longer be used during a court case.