Moses Lake man facing harassment, stalking charges

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man is facing charges for allegedly stalking a female employee at a Moses Lake business and pulling a BB gun on the woman’s coworker.

Grant County prosecutors charged Daniel Nava, 39, of Moses Lake, in Grant County Superior Court with felony harassment, unlawful imprisonment and stalking.

The charges relate to a Tuesday afternoon incident when the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of a weapons offense at AutoZone on South Pioneer Way. Police immediately responded and located the suspect, Nava, sitting in a Chevrolet Avalanche in the parking lot. He was taken into custody as officers investigated what occurred, according to court documents.

An employee at AutoZone advised Nava was a frequent customer and had asked him to run a diagnostic test on his vehicle. The employee said after he opened the driver's door to the Avalanche and ran the test, Nava was blocking him from moving.

He said Nava reached for a pistol, moved the gun to his left hand and laid the weapon down in the side pocket of the door while still having his hand on the gun. Nava allegedly made a phone call, put the phone on speaker and told the person he called “I have him here at the store right now.” The person on the other end of the phone told Nava “he was at the house” and Nava hung up.

Nava reportedly received a phone call a few moments later, put the phone on speaker again and told the person “I have it handled here, don’t do anything.” Nava then hung up the phone and told the victim he had “people” watching his house and he would hurt the man and his family. The victim advised the run-in stemmed from Nava stalking his female coworker for the past month.

“(The victim) stated that Nava had left his phone in the store on record to record what the employees were saying about him when he wasn’t there without their permission. (The victim) stated that was why Nava singled him out because he heard his voice on the recording he took,” wrote an MLPD officer.

The woman advised that Nava had asked her out on a date several times and after telling him no, she finally said yes and went to dinner with him. After the dinner she decided to not pursue a relationship with Nava, but he allegedly “continually” sent her “romantic” text messages.

After the woman stopped responding to him, Nava allegedly started coming into the store and refused to be helped by anyone in the store but her. She then relayed a similar account of Nava leaving his phone in the store and recording “everyone calling him a stalker.”

About an hour before Tuesday’s incident Nava sent the woman a text message stating he expected a formal apology. When he was interviewed by police Nava stated “he had a BB gun in the side pocket of the driver's door and he didn't want (the victim) to be startled so he picked It up and threw it into the seat.” Police were able to locate the weapon and confirmed it was indeed a BB gun.

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