3 charged for armed robbery, kidnapping near Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE — Three males are facing robbery and kidnapping charges in connection with a mid-December incident near Soap Lake.

Grant County prosecutors charged David Knott Jr., 28, of Soap Lake, Cristian Bustos, 22, of Soap Lake, and Jeremiah Michelson, 17, of Moses Lake, in Grant County Superior Court with first-degree robbery and first-degree kidnapping.

On Dec. 19 the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a woman who said a male was on her porch in the 20700 block of Road B Northwest in Soap Lake. The woman said the man was screaming for help and claiming someone had stolen his vehicle, according to court documents.

The victim in the incident told the investigating deputy he picked up three males in the 100 block of Adrian Avenue, in the Lakeview community. The victim described the three males and the deputy immediately recognized the description of one of the males as being Bustos due to previous contacts.

The victim reported they drove toward the area of Road B Northwest and were attempting to find a place to smoke marijuana. At some point Bustos allegedly pulled out a semi-automatic-style handgun. The other two males, alleged to be Knott and Michelson, did the same and each pulled out a firearm as well and the victim was told to drive and do what Bustos said.

The victim drove to the dead end of Road B and was ordered out of his Jeep and told to put his hands in the air. The suspects allegedly stole the man’s cell phone, car keys, $3 and some loose change. The man said he was told to walk toward a gate at the end of the road and ordered to crawl under the gate and walk a short distance. The victim followed the commands and knelt on the ground after he crawled under the gate.

The suspects allegedly got back into the Jeep and the victim claims he heard a single shot fired. The victim brought the investigating deputy to the location where the Jeep was stolen and evidence at the scene reportedly corroborates the victim’s account of what happened.

The Jeep was later found abandoned in the Swanson Addition area of Ephrata. The victim was able to positively identify both Bustos and Knott out of photo montages.

“All three suspects pulled weapons and threatened (the victim). Without question, Bustos, Knott and Michelson had planned to commit such crimes. A plan had been formed as each acted in unison and knew what each other was doing,” wrote the investigating deputy. “The suspects inflicted extreme mental distress on (the victim) and he believed he more than likely would be shot and/or killed during the commission of such incident and taken to an unknown location.”

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