2 charged in Soap Lake drive-by

SOAP LAKE — Two men are facing assault and drive-by-shooting charges in connection with a Jan. 12 incident near Soap Lake.

Grant County prosecutors charged Cristian Bustos, 21, of Soap Lake and Julian Latimer, 26, of Seattle, with two counts of first-degree assault and drive-by-shooting in connection with a Jan. 12 incident near Soap Lake. Bustos is facing separate charges of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and obstruction of a law enforcement officer in connection with a Feb. 3 arrest in Lakeview.

On Jan. 12 the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of shots fired on Adrian Avenue Northwest, in the Lakeview area. Deputies were advised two males, Bustos and Latimer, had fired shots at a Chevrolet Suburban from Latimer's Ford Escape. The victims claimed they had no idea why the two suspects started to chase them and fired shots at their SUV on Road 19 Northwest, then again on Adrian Avenue Northwest.

The suspect vehicle was later located unoccupied in the 20400 block of Linden Avenue Northwest. The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team (TRT) was activated and responded to the scene. Latimer later exited the residence and was taken into custody for questioning after a brief standoff. Deputies later learned Bustos had been picked up from the residence and taken to a residence in Ephrata before authorities arrived.

Deputies brought up video surveillance from the earlier run-in between the suspect and victims. The video reportedly shows the Chevrolet Suburban stop on Road 19 Northwest, at state Route 28, and a male passenger get out, walk toward the middle of the intersection and throw his hands in the air and flip off the vehicle in front of him, the Ford Escape.

Latimer, who claimed he was being shot at and chased, was released from custody due to a lack of evidence and misleading statements from the victims. Search warrants were obtained for the Escape and Suburban, which reportedly turned up a spent .40-caliber shell casing in the Escape and bullet fragments in one of Suburban’s tires.

Additional video surveillance reportedly shows the first altercation between the suspects and victims at the intersection of Road 19 Northwest and SR-28, in which Bustos can allegedly be seen putting his hands out of the passenger side window with “something black in color” in his hands after the passenger in the Suburban got out of the SUV and made gestures toward the Escape.

Footage of the second shooting on Adrian Avenue reportedly shows, “the passenger (Bustos) of the Ford Escape remove half of his body out of the passenger side window and face the Chevrolet Suburban. The passenger appears to have something in their right hand and aiming it toward the Chevrolet Suburban,” wrote a deputy.

Deputies claim Bustos has a lengthy history with the victims, including one incident in which he reportedly fired shots at their residence. The case wasn’t resolved due to uncooperative victims.

Bustos was taken into custody on Friday after he was spotted by a deputy in the Lakeview area and fled on foot to a residence in the 200 block of Ephrata Avenue Northeast. Bustos was arrested a short time later, with authorities reportedly locating a Interarms Star .30M 9mm handgun in a medical kit he was carrying when he was initially contacted by the deputy. A records check on the gun revealed the previous owner had passed away in 2009 and the firearm had not been reported as stolen.

Latimer has not been taken into custody. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

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