NEAH BAY — A Sequim man is expected to be charged today with allegedly shooting at a vehicle that was occupied by his girlfriend just outside of Neah Bay, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.
John Thomas Moniz, 38, remained in the Clallam County jail Tuesday on $25,000 bail.
He was arrested Saturday for investigation of first-degree assault with domestic violence.
Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Cameron said in court papers that he encountered a GMC Yukon that was parked in the westbound lane of Bayview Avenue at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Cameron said he stopped to help a woman who was moving around inside the SUV.
Woman frantic
“When I contacted the female she was frantic and afraid,” Cameron wrote in the certification for probable cause.
The woman said she and Moniz had been arguing when her boyfriend stopped the vehicle, grabbed a rifle from the center console area and ran up a hill to the south, court papers said.
“Once he reached the top of the hill he turned around and began yelling at her,” Cameron wrote in the arrest report.
“She then heard a shot.
“She heard the glass shattering in the rear window of the vehicle and the bullet went past her head,” Cameron added.
“She said the bullet John fired was only feet away from her head. [The woman] believed if I had not arrived John would have killed her.”
Cameron observed what appeared to be bullet holes in the rear windows of both the driver’s and passenger’s sides.
A man later identified as Moniz came out of the tree line about 100 yards from the vehicle, which had been parked in the 4000 block of Bayview Avenue.
Said he didn’t shoot
Moniz told Cameron he did not shoot at the SUV.
He said he did not have possession of the gun when it was fired.
“He said he threw the gun into the woods,” Cameron said.
“He wanted to make sure no one else could use the gun so he threw it, the clip and the bullets into the woods.”
Another deputy found a rifle described by Moniz while Moniz was being evaluated for an undisclosed medical condition at Forks Community Hospital, Cameron said.
Moniz was booked into the jail in Port Angeles at 7:23 p.m. Saturday.
Although the incident occurred within the boundaries of the Makah tribal reservation, the Sheriff’s Office is in charge of the investigation because Moniz and the alleged victim are not tribal members, Cameron said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
