Man sentenced for threatening repo agent with BB gun

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was sentenced for threatening a repossession agent with a BB gun.

Christopher Henderson, 34, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and obstructing a law enforcement officer in Grant County Superior Court. Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Carole Highland and defense attorney Rafael Gonzales and sentenced Henderson to four months in jail. Henderson was initially charged with second-degree assault, but the charge was amended in a plea agreement between Highland and Gonzales.

On March 19 the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of disturbance in progress in the area of Central Drive and Grape Drive, in which police were advised a man had a gun and was pointing it at a woman. While en-route to the location police were further told the male had given a 3-year-old the gun, with the child going inside a house with the gun, according to police records.

Police contacted the suspect, Henderson, on Central Drive as he was standing next to a car. Henderson told police, “it was only a BB gun” and refused to comply with commands. He eventually complied and was taken into custody.

A woman at the scene said she had flown into Spokane from Oklahoma earlier in the day and took a taxi to the 1000 block of Central Drive to repossess an Infiniti G35. She said she arrived at the residence and had the taxi driver pull up behind the car. The woman got into the Infiniti and started the vehicle with a spare key and left toward Paxson Drive. She said she made a U-turn at the corner of Buell Drive and Central Drive and was eventually stopped by Henderson, who was standing in the middle of the road.

Henderson lifted up his sweaters and showed the woman what appeared to be a gun. She said she told Henderson she was there to repossess the car, but he entered the car and attempted to run her over. Henderson drove the car into a driveway and got out and pointed the gun at her. The woman told the taxi driver to call police and Henderson stated, “it’s not even a real gun” and took the magazine out of the gun and threw it. Henderson then gave the gun to a 3-year-old boy, with the boy taking it inside the Central Drive residence. The taxi driver was able to corroborate the woman’s story.

Henderson denied having a gun, advising police he was a convicted felon and not allowed to be in possession of firearms.

“Henderson stated as he walked up to the door of the vehicle after he stopped it in the middle of the road, she (the repo agent) stated she was going to repossess the vehicle,” wrote a officer. “I asked Henderson if he handed anything to the young boy. Henderson stated he never handed anything to the boy.”

Police received a search warrant for the Central Drive residence and recovered the BB gun in question underneath a mattress, according to police records.

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