PORT ANGELES — Two men were charged Wednesday in connection with a mid-October window-shooting spree in Port Angeles that police say caused $10,520 damage.
Kevin Trae Richardson, 22, and Erik Kiku Rodgers, 27, both of Port Angeles, each remained in the Clallam County jail Wednesday on $50,000 bail after their Superior Court hearings before Judge Simon Barnhart.
Richardson and Rodgers were charged with felony first-degree malicious mischief. Richardson was charged with gross misdemeanor reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting with a CO2 BB gun pistol at windows at 14 locations between Oct. 14-15.
Richardson was put under investigation of the charges while already in jail on a state Department of Corrections community custody warrant for allegedly violating the conditions of his release from prison. Richardson was arrested on the warrant Oct. 21.
DOC spokeswoman Susan Biller said Wednesday that Richardson allegedly violated the terms of his community supervision on a conviction of second-degree child molestation.
Rodgers was charged with gross-misdemeanor reckless endangerment-accomplice for allegedly driving around Port Angeles while Richardson shot the gun at windows of businesses, houses, vehicles and Clallam Transit bus stops.
“There is just no good reason for this behavior,” Deputy Police Chief Jason Viada said.
No one was injured during the spree. A man in his 70s was in his home when the living room window was shot multiple times with a BB gun, Viada said. The man was sitting in living room at the time, according to a probable cause statement.
Port Angeles residents came forward with information that led to Rodgers arrest Nov. 1.
“Members of the community … thought it was important that these suspects be held accountable for what they had done,” Viada said.
One of the men was bragging about driving around and shooting out windows with a BB gun, he said.
“That is exactly what broke the case,” Viada said.
Rodgers will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Nov. 13. Richardson will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 13.
Richardson traded his watch for the gun, according to the probable cause statement.
Richardson would not be interviewed about the allegations by Officer Jackson VanDusen, who authored the probable cause statement.
When VanDusen interviewed Rodgers at Rodgers’ home, VanDusen found a “realistic looking” metal black BB gun inside a case in Rodgers living room, according to the probable cause statement. Rodgers said it was not his gun but admitted to “driving around town while Trae shot the windows of several locations,” VanDusen said in the probable cause statement.
“I asked Erik if he tried to stop Trae from shooting and he said something like, ‘No, he’s my best friend and I couldn’t just stop him,” VanDusen wrote. “I asked Erik why Trae was shooting out the window, and he said, ‘I don’t know, he was being a dumb ass and shooting out the window.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
