Prison sentence for shooter in Soap Lake drive-by

SOAP LAKE — A Soap Lake man will be spending a year in prison for his involvement in a January drive-by-shooting in Soap Lake.

Cristian Bustos, 21, of Soap Lake, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison by Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz. Both Bustos and his co-defendant in the case, Julian Latimer, 27, of Seattle, were initially charged with first-degree assault and drive-by-shooting, but the charges were lessened for man.

Latimer previously entered an In Re Barr plea to collection of unlawful debt and was sentenced to 72 days in jail, with credit for 72 days served. The In Re Barr plea indicates Latimer is not pleading guilty to the crime he is pleading to and there is no factual basis for the charge, but he believes there is a substantial risk of being convicted of the crimes he was initially charged with if the case were to proceed to trial.

Bustos’ and Latimer’s sentences stem from an incident on Jan. 12, when deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of shots fired on Adrian Avenue Northwest in the Lakeview area. Initial reports indicated shots had been fired at a Chevrolet Suburban from Latimer’s Ford Escape, according to court documents.

The victims said they didn’t know why Latimer and Bustos were chasing them and fired shots at their SUV on Road 19 Northwest, then again on Adrian Avenue Northwest. The Escape was found unoccupied in the 20400 block of Linden Avenue Northwest.

The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team responded to the area and surrounded a residence on Linden Avenue. Latimer ultimately left the residence and was taken into custody. He was later released due to a lack of evidence. Deputies determined Bustos had been picked up from the residence and taken to Ephrata before authorities arrived on Linden Avenue.

Video surveillance of the shooting reportedly shows the first altercation between the suspects and victims at the Road 19 Northwest/state Route 28 intersection. Bustos can be seen putting his hands out of the Escape with a black object in his hands after a passenger in the Suburban got out of the vehicle and made gestures toward the Escape.

On Adrian Avenue Bustos can reportedly be seen removing half of his body out of the passenger side window of the Escape and aim an object toward the Suburban. A spent .40-caliber shell casing was found in the Escape, as well as bullet fragments in one of the Suburban’s tires. Police records indicate Bustos has a lengthy history with the occupants of the Suburban, including one incident in which he allegedly fired shots at their residence.

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