Murder suspect's bail set at $1 million

EPHRATA — Two Moses Lake men were charged for their alleged roles in a shooting that took the life of a bystander in Moses Lake over the weekend.

Grant County prosecutors charged Ismael Ortiz Jr., 25, of Moses Lake, with second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Prosecutors charged a second man, Jose Rodriguez, 25, of Moses Lake, with two counts of intimidating a witness and first-degree rendering criminal assistance. Ortiz’s bail was set at $1 million and Rodriguez’s bail was set at $100,000.

The charges stem from an incident early Sunday morning at Neppel’s Dockside Pub in Moses Lake, when a fight broke out between Rodriguez and another unidentified man. Ortiz reportedly joined in the fight and threw a couple of punches at the unidentified male, which resulted in all three subjects getting thrown out of the bar by staff, according to police records.

The unidentified man, who is described as Caucasian, medium height, with short hair and wearing a white tank top during the fight, left the bar first and started walking east toward the intersection of Ash Street. Ortiz and Rodriguez left the bar as well and started heading in the same direction.

After the fight took place and during the time the three men were being thrown out of the bar, Robert Cook, 68, of Moses Lake, and his female friend decided to leave the bar and went to Cook’s Ford F-150 pickup truck that was parked west of the bar’s entrance.

Cook’s friend told police that as Cook started to pull out onto West Broadway Avenue, she heard five loud “pops” coming from behind the truck, which she believed was firecrackers. She said she turned around to see who was lighting the fireworks and saw a white or cream colored four-door passenger car pull up alongside Cook’s truck and pass them.

A window in the vehicle reportedly rolled down and the woman reported seeing the unidentified man involved in the bar fight inside Neppel’s riding in the passenger seat. The man allegedly pulled out a “large black handgun” and pointed it in the direction of the Ash Street/West Broadway Avenue intersection.

“(The woman) stated that is when Cook was struck by a bullet and lost consciousness,” wrote a officer.

Cook was struck in the back of the head and lost control of his truck, which ended up striking a parked 2006 Hyundai Sonata and pushing the car west down West Broadway Avenue. As the truck was pushing the Sonata, the two vehicles reportedly “glanced” off a Chevrolet Caprice. Cook's friend was able to steer the truck into the Tacos El Rey parking lot, where it came to a rest.

Another witness reported seeing a large-framed Hispanic man dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans approach Neppel’s from the area in front of Danny’s Tavern, located at 120 W. Broadway Ave. The witness reported the man, alleged to be Ortiz, raised his right arm when he was at the Ash Street/West Broadway Avenue intersection and began firing numerous shots. Police reportedly recovered 10 spent shell casings at the scene.

After firing the shots, Ortiz ran away heading north with Rodriguez. They reportedly ran behind Danny’s Tavern, went into an alleyway and started heading toward the Alder Street fill. Two men who were fishing on the west side of the fill reporting hearing the gunfire and witnessing two people run from the vicinity of where the shots were fired and go across the grass toward the water near the fill.

One of the two subjects allegedly got into the water, but got back out and moved toward a dock on the lake near Neppel Park.

“Rodriguez and Ortiz ran northbound to their (the fishermen’s) location and they (Rodriguez and Ortiz) told the men they needed their fishing poles,” wrote a officer. “Rodriguez took his shirt off and put it in the water before the officers arrived. Rodriguez and Ortiz told the men they should tell the officers they had been with them for the last two hours fishing. When the officers arrived they observed both Ortiz and Rodriguez were sweating profusely. Ortiz was also wet and muddy and Rodriguez was shirtless and there was a white T-shirt floating just in front of their location.”

As MLPD officers were questioning Ortiz and Rodriguez, one of the suspects allegedly told one of the fishermen they had just been in a bar fight. Numerous witnesses were able to confirm that Ortiz and Rodriguez were involved in a fight inside Neppel’s before the shooting. The description given to police of the clothes the shooter was wearing matched the clothes Ortiz was wearing when police found him, according to police records.

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