Montana man pleads guilty to Woodland drive-by shooting

WOODLAND — A Montana man charged in a Woodland drive-by shooting in May pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than a decade in prison Wednesday morning in Cowlitz County Superior Court.

David Wayne Lewis, 42, of Kalispell, Mont., entered a guilty plea to first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and a drive-by shooting charge. He was sentenced to roughly 10 years in state prison plus three years of community custody for his involvement in the Woodland shooting that wounded a male driver.

Judge Marilyn K. Haan also installed a no-contact order.

A verbal and physical altercation between the victim, Lewis, and Lewis’s brother, on May 20 at Woodland’s Astro gas station on Hoffman Street, escalated into the brothers firing multiple gunshots while driving, according to the case’s probable cause statement.

The victim told authorities one of the suspects punched him in the back of the head, so he retaliated with a punch, reentered his Honda Accord, and sped away.

The suspects chased the victim, eventually driving in the opposite traffic lane and firing multiple shots from the passenger side, the report states.

In fear for his life, the victim took the 911 dispatcher’s advice and drove to the Woodland Police station, where he parked near the intersection of East Scott and Old Pacific Highway and met a police officer.

The victim told authorities the same person who punched him at the gas station also shot at him. The probable cause statement says the victim’s Honda was “riddled with bullet holes,” with his rear windshield broken.

Out of the 20 rounds fired at the victim, one bullet grazed his right leg and left seven bullet holes in the victim’s Honda Accord, the report states.

According to court documents, Thomas Henry Lewis, 40, of Woodland, the brother and accomplice of David Wayne Lewis, has also pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and a drive-by shooting charge in July. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20.