A Vancouver man is accused of shooting at a vehicle following an alleged hit-and-run early Sunday morning.
Erik M. Blasquez-Moreno, 21, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of four counts of first-degree assault and one count of drive-by shooting.
Judge John Fairgrieve set Blasquez-Moreno’s bail at $250,000. He will be arraigned May 1, court records show.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Vancouver police responded about 12:45 a.m. to the area of Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast 54th Street, near Interstate 205, for a reported shooting.
The 911 caller, Emily Forsyth, said her boyfriend, Gregory Widen, was driving her black BMW sedan when they were rear-ended by a truck and then shot at, the affidavit states.
Responding officers stopped the suspect pickup, occupied by Blasquez-Moreno and his brother.
Widen told police he was driving Forsyth and two other passengers to a 24-hour coffee stand. He was driving south through the intersection of Northeast Gher Road and Fourth Plain when the BMW was struck by a “lifted” truck, court records state.
He followed the truck to a nearby business, he said, where he believed he would exchange information with the other driver. The truck then fled the parking lot. Widen continued to follow, and near the onramp to northbound I-205, the truck turned around and came toward the BMW, according to court documents.
Widen said the pickup’s driver’s-side window was down, and he saw a flash and two shots. The bullets struck the BMW’s rear driver’s side and damaged the rear window, according to the affidavit.
Police spotted a live round during the traffic stop and seized the truck, court records say. Officers also determined Blasquez-Moreno was driving under the influence. When questioned about the shooting, he invoked his right to remain silent and his brother denied knowing anything about it, court records say.
