Two deny assault by menacing with a gun

Two Vancouver men pleaded not guilty Friday in Clark County Superior Court to pointing a gun at three people at a bus stop and yelling gang-related threats.

Eduardo Gutierrez, 22, and Brian Reyes, 21, are charged with three counts of second-degree assault. Their trial is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 9.

Both defendants remain in the Clark County Jail on $100,000 bail.

Judge Daniel Stahnke denied their request Friday to reduce bail. Their attorneys argued that a lesser bail was appropriate, given that since their arrest July 6 on suspicion of first-degree assault, prosecutors had found cause to charge them only with second-degree assault.

“The seriousness of the charges and the risks to the community are too great to reduce the bail below $100,000,” Stahnke said.

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

The victims said the alleged assault followed a verbal altercation involving Gutierrez and Reyes, in which the two men allegedly challenged the victims to a fight, court documents say. The victims said Gutierrez and Reyes identified themselves as “South Siders,” according to the court documents.