Second person charged in drive-by

EPHRATA - A second person is facing charges in a December drive-by shooting in Mattawa.

Prosecutors charged Fidel Sandoval III, 23, Beverly, with being an accomplice in an assault in the first degree and drive-by shooting in Grant County Superior Court.

Sandoval was reportedly seen getting out of a Ford Mustang at a gas station prior to the shooting, according to a Mattawa police report.

A 22-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman and their 2-year-old son were parked in a 1999 Ford Explorer near an East Third Street residence in Mattawa, when a silver Ford Mustang approached, according to the police report. When the Mustang stopped, the suspects reportedly started firing at the SUV.

The suspects reportedly continued to fire as they passed the Explorer, hitting the SUV at least twice, one bullet passing below where the boy was sitting, according to the police report. Witnesses reported hearing three or four shots from the Mustang, before seeing the car leave the scene.

A sheriff's deputy spotted a silver Mustang in Desert Aire. Before the officer could activate his lights, the car pulled into a driveway and three occupants fled, according to the police report. When officers recovered the vehicle, they discovered a revolver and a sawed-off shotgun inside it.

The first person charged in the shooting, Manuel Farias Jr., 22, reportedly told a fellow gang member they were shot at by a rival gang before the shooting.

Police allegedly discovered Farias' fingerprints on the car and identification cards inside the vehicle.

Farias is also charged with accomplice in an assault in the first degree and drive-by shooting.