SerpApi.Org
A 32-year-old Tacoma resident drove his car into a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife, leaving the victim with life-threatening injuries.
The driver was charged with first-degree assault by prosecutors in Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday. According to court documents, the man has no prior criminal convictions as an adult.
Tacoma police detective Chad Lawless wrote in a police report that he received a call at 1:56 a.m. on Monday detailing an aggravated-assault that happened in the 400 block of East 75th Street. The department received two calls, one from the driver’s wife and the other from the driver himself. The man stated that he struck the victim with his vehicle, a tan 2006 GMC Denali. He also said that the victim had an affair with his wife.
The victim was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He was in critical condition Tuesday morning.
According to the defendant’s statement, he struck the victim out of self-defense. Prior to Monday morning, the man had allegedly received “numerous vague threats” from the victim, court records show.
The victim showed up outside the driver’s residence in Tacoma on Monday, wanting to get his cell phone back that he believed was inside the man’s home.
The defendant was returning from a convenience store at the same time.
The driver circled the block, returning in the opposite direction. At that point, he said he saw that the victim was “reaching for his waistband.” Believing the victim was reaching for a weapon, the man said he “ducked down in the vehicle behind the steering wheel.” In interviews with the police, the man said he did not “intentionally” hit the victim but had done so out of fear for his life.
A neighbor offered slightly different details.
The neighbor stated that the victim had been smoking a cigarette on the south side of East 75th Street, east of East D Street. The neighbor said the driver “revved” the engine and accelerated toward the victim, who had his back toward the car. The witness also said that the driver was not crouched down but “was sitting upright in the driver’s seat with both hands on the steering wheel.”
Search warrants were pending for both the defendant’s and his wife’s phones. The vehicle was towed to Tacoma police headquarters, and the department is seeking a search warrant to inspect it.
