Mattawa man sentenced to 10 years in drive-by shooting

EPHRATA — A Mattawa man was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison in connection with a drive-by shooting in Schawana in July.

Carlos Mendoza, 21, of Mattawa, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault. Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Kevin McCrea and defense attorney Rafael Gonzales and sentenced Mendoza to nine years and 11 months. A drive-by shooting charge was dropped in a plea agreement between McCrea and Gonzales.

On July 19 deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a drive-by shooting in the Schawana area. Deputies were told the suspect vehicle, a brown Cadillac, left the scene and started heading toward state Route 243. The sheriff’s office requested the Mattawa Police Department head north on SR-243 and look for the suspect vehicle.

An MPD officer found the vehicle in Mattawa and said the driver fled to the 200 block of Fourth Street. Mendoza jumped out of the moving Cadillac and fled the scene on foot. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Antonio Martinez, 18, of Mattawa, stayed in the vehicle. Martinez previously pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Grant County Superior Court and was sentenced to eight months.

The intended victim in the reported drive-by shooting identified Mendoza as the shooter and Martinez as the driver of the Cadillac, stating he knew both of the men and had problems with them in the past. The victim said he was at a grocery store on B Street Southwest in Schawana and saw Mendoza pumping gas when he walked out of the store, according to police records.

Mendoza approached the victim and punched him in the jaw, with video surveillance of the incident showing Mendoza throw a punch at the victim. In addition, the video shows Mendoza get into the front passenger seat of the Cadillac, open the glove box and pull “something out.”

The victim said he left the area in a vehicle with three other individuals and heard two gunshots when they turned onto Second Avenue Southwest. He advised he thought Mendoza shot at the vehicle three times on Second Avenue. The Cadillac continued to chase the victim’s vehicle until they arrived at his house. The gunshots continued as all of the occupants of the car got out to take cover.

“I was trying to find cover so I did not get hit as Carlos was still shooting at us. I heard two to three more gunshots as I was trying to hide,” the victim said. “As Carlos was shooting at us, there were two small kids in the driveway. I think one was 5 years old and the other was 7 years old.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com