Man gets 14 months in gun-pointing incident near mall

A 22-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 14 months in prison for pointing a gun at three people July 6 at a bus stop near Westfield Vancouver mall.

Eduardo Gutierrez, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to two counts of second-degree assault in exchange for Deputy Prosecutor Randy St. Clair dropping a third second-degree assault charge and removing a firearm enhancement, which would have added another five years to his sentence. Gutierrez has no other criminal history.

“Excuse the pun, but you did kind of dodge a bullet,” said Judge David Gregerson. “This could have been a very serious sentence with those (firearm) enhancements.”

Gutierrez’ attorney, Al Bennett, described the crime as a “prank that went terribly wrong.”

His accomplice, Brian Reyes, 21, pleaded guilty Oct. 17 to similar charges and was sentenced to six months in jail, 77 days of work release and 12 months probation.

Gutierrez and Reyes drove by a bus stop in the 9400 block of Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive on July 6, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court. Gutierrez, sitting in the passenger seat of a Honda Accord that Reyes was driving, pointed a silver pistol at three victims while yelling gang threats, the affidavit stated. The victims told police they feared for their lives.

The assault followed an argument between Reyes and one of the victims, Bennett said.

The victims said Gutierrez and Reyes identified themselves as “South Siders,” according to the court documents.

However, Bennett said Wednesday that the crime was not gang-related and that the victims were strangers.