Man arrested in Moses Lake for drive-by shooting

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was arrested in a drive-by shooting incident in the Cascade Valley area of Moses Lake Tuesday night, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Austin Bennett, 27, was booked into jail on suspicion of drive-by shooting, according to the Grant County Jail roster. As of Wednesday morning, he did not have a listed bail amount. 

At about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday, GCSO deputies and Moses Lake Police officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 7900 block of Stanley Road Northeast, according to the statement. Investigators collected evidence at the scene, including a spent .223-caliber cartridge casing.

Witnesses told investigators that a blue Ford Expedition may have been involved, according to the statement. Officers located the SUV a short time later in the 3200 block of Arrow Street, where Bennett was detained during the investigation.

During a search of the Expedition, investigators found another spent .223-caliber cartridge casing, a .223-caliber rifle without a serial number, and a rifle magazine loaded with .223-caliber ammunition. Investigators also found a .223-caliber cartridge in Bennett's pants pocket. The Expedition was seized as evidence.

Bennett was arrested in 2018 on charges of residential burglary, third-degree malicious mischief and showing effects of alcohol, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives, and in 2020 on charges of eluding, driving while under the influence, third-degree driving while license suspended, resisting arrest and third-degree escape, as well as an outstanding warrant related to third-degree driving while license suspended and second-degree criminal trespass. Archives also show arrests for Grant County Superior Court warrants in 2023 and 2024.