PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Superior Court case against a Port Angeles man accused of attempted murder has been dismissed, but the prosecuting attorney in the matter has pledged to refile after witnesses are tracked down.
Mario Wayne Hackney, 45, was charged with one count each of attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in October.
He allegedly fired a shotgun at a man in a pickup truck Sept. 20 and then eluded capture for about a month.
John Troberg, Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney, said Wednesday he requested that the attempted-murder and unlawful-firearms-possession charges against Hackney be dismissed because witnesses sought in the case have not been found.
But he plans to refile the charges once they’ve been located.
“I basically just gave myself more time to work [the case],” Troberg said.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer ordered the case dismissed without prejudice Jan. 18, according to court documents.
Hackney has started a 20-month sentence in the state corrections system for a separate set of charges, which Troberg said was another reason for his request to dismiss.
As of Thursday, Hackney was listed as an inmate in the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton.
Hackney was wanted after he allegedly sprayed the side of a pickup with buckshot outside a house in the 200 block of Cameron Road in west Port Angeles.
Police said he missed the intended victim, the man driving the truck.
Hackney eluded capture until Oct. 17, when he was arrested at the same Cameron Road house where the shooting took place.
According to court documents filed in the attempted-murder case, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies have not been able to serve four people subpoenas to testify during the jury trial, which had been pushed to Jan. 28 after an original date of Dec. 17.
Attorney Loren Oakley, the Clallam County public defender assigned to Hackney in the case, requested the trial be continued in December because witnesses could not be found.
Troberg said some of the witnesses sought don’t seem to have permanent addresses, meaning law enforcement officers have had to try to locate people who may know the witnesses in order to find them.
Before any trial in the attempted-murder case, Hackney will serve 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of second-degree possession of a stolen motor vehicle and second-degree possession of stolen property other than a firearm.
According to court documents filed in this case, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies said Hackney was found in possession of a stolen Honda motorcycle, fish tank and aquarium supplies at a residence in the 1500 block of West U.S. Highway 101 on Aug. 11.
Hackney, who initially was charged with residential burglary in connection with this case but had the charge dismissed as part of a plea agreement, reportedly broke into a home in the 4000 block of South Reddick Road and used a rented moving truck to steal the motorcycle, fish tank and aquarium supplies.
The stolen property was valued at $1,100, according to the police report filed in the case.
Hackney posted bail Aug. 13 after being jailed for investigation of these offenses, according to court documents, a little more than a month before he allegedly shot at a man near the Cameron Road residence.
The Cameron Road house is about a mile-and-a-half from the Highway 101 address where Hackney was arrested Aug. 11 and less than a mile from the South Reddick Road residence.
________
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
