YAKIMA, Wash. -- Police say two California felons shot a Yakima man in the leg, then led officers on a car chase before breaking into a southeast Yakima home and threatening to kill a woman there Thursday afternoon.
Within 40 minutes of the shooting, authorities arrested the two men -- ages 20 and 27, both of Turlock, Calif. -- on pending charges of assault, burglary, firearm possession and harassment.
This is what police say happened in what they are calling a gang-related incident:
About 12:40 p.m., somebody called 9-1-1 to report gunfire and several people running in the area of South Third and Pine streets, according to Yakima police Capt. Greg Copeland.
Officers spotted a dark blue Honda Civic that witnesses said was involved in a drive-by shooting -- but its driver sped away when they tried to stop it, police said. A loaded pistol was later found along the chase route.
Near South Eighth and Race streets, two men ditched the Civic, heading west on foot, authorities said.
Officers followed them into the 600 block of South Seventh Street and began knocking on doors, searching for the men.
At one home, a nervous-looking woman told police that nobody was there, said gang unit Sgt. Erik Hildebrand.
"We left her and then realized there's nowhere else they could have gone," Hildebrand said later.
So the officers returned, and the woman let them look around inside. They found the two men hiding in a bathroom.
Later the woman told officers the men threatened to kill her if she called police. Police said she did not know either man.
One man was shirtless, having apparently discarded his shirt to avoid being recognized, Hildebrand added.
Meanwhile medics were treating a gunshot victim in the 300 block of South Fourth Street, according to the release.
Yakima resident Irvis Pineda, 18, told police he was shot in the leg while walking, Copeland said. Pineda is a known gang associate, authorities said.
Witnesses to the shooting identified the two suspects, Copeland wrote. The men are believed to be involved in gangs.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/05/alleged-shooters-lead-police-on-midday-chase
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