McIlwain gets 19 years for Soap Lake standoff, shooting

EPHRATA — A Toppenish man who shot at two people in August 2015 and triggered a lengthy standoff in Soap Lake will be spending 19 years behind prison bars.

Jason B. McIlwain, 34, of Toppenish, pleaded guilty to first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, third-degree assault (criminal negligence and weapon) and third-degree assault (law enforcement officer) in Grant County Superior Court. The firearm charge carried with it a standing sentencing range of 87-116 months, with a maximum term of 10 years. The two assault charges carried standard ranges of 51-60 months and a maximum term of five years apiece.

Following a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Mark Laiminger and defense attorney Robert Kentner, Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell sentenced McIlwain to 10 years on the firearm charge and 4.5 years on each of the assault charges. Knodell imposed an exceptional sentence and ordered the sentences to run consecutively, bringing McIlwain’s total time of confinement to 19 years.

One of the two victims in the Aug. 2, 2015 incident told deputies McIlwain had asked him for a ride to McIlwain’s ex-girlfriend’s home in Soap Lake so he could gather some of his belongings. When he got to her residence McIlwain got into a verbal argument with his ex-girlfriend and possibly choked the woman. The woman is said to have “minimized the assault on herself at her residence” in her statement to police, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald report.

The male who gave McIlwain a ride left the residence with McIlwain’s ex-girlfriend in McIlwain’s car, who gave him verbal permission to drive the vehicle. The two victims encountered McIlwain again as they were driving on Road 20 Northeast in Soap Lake. McIlwain drove toward the victims in a Saturn Ion and passed by them, waving a gun as he went by.

McIlwain made a U-turn, pulled up next to the victims and pointed a gun at them. The male victim slammed on his brakes, at which time McIlwain fired the gun. McIlwain is reported to have shot at the victims several more times.

McIlwain was later tracked down by police and ditched the Saturn. He ran to a grove of trees and brush near the intersection of St. Andrews Drive and Road 20, where he later fired a handgun from a tree in the grove, triggering a four-hour standoff.

The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team was activated and responded to the scene. Near the end of the standoff McIlwain requested a pack of cigarettes. Deputies, fearing McIlwain would set a brush fire, countered McIlwain’s offer and gave him an e-cigarette instead. After finishing the e-cigarette McIlwain surrendered and was taken into custody, according to the Herald report. There were no reported injuries.

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