Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – If what Gilbert Borquez says is true, two vehicles full of people from Raymond were trying to help a female get back her rental car – containing $500 and all her belongings – from her ex-boyfriend who stole it, when a sawed-off shotgun accidentally discharged outside an Adna gas station on Tuesday.

Amalia Copp concocted a plan to get the ex, Paul Martin, to meet someone at the 76 station on state Route 6 for a drug deal and they would rush up and take back her rental car, Borquez told detectives.

But Martin in his Nissan drove off erratically; and then Borquez gave chase in his silver Hyundai but got stuck in the ditch, the story goes.

One of the group ran for the nearby fields and two males along with Copp left in a silver Jeep Cherokee, according to the interview as described in court documents. The Jeep was stopped by a trooper farther west on state Route 6, but the occupants denied any involvement, and were released.

Borquez, 36, was booked into the Lewis County Jail last night, and appeared in court this afternoon.

Prosecutors asked he be held with no bail, as the details get sorted out.

He was arrested by the sheriff’s office for drive-by shooting and first-degree assault, but Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey today said he could see probable cause to hold him for second-degree assault, as well as a weapons violation because of the pistol-grip sawed off shotgun.

“I’ll give you till 4 o’clock tomorrow (to charge him), Brosey said this afternoon.

The Lewis County segment of the saga began about 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday with a 911 call about someone firing a shotgun outside the gas station at the intersection with Highway 603. Then two, or three, vehicles fled the area, with one subject on foot who was finally tracked that afternoon along the Chehalis River.

Borquez told detectives that when they arrived at the gas station and he saw Martin had a handgun, he retrieved his shotgun from his vehicle, according to court documents.

He said he fired one round into the ground, which was accidental, the documents state.

Today, Borquez was taken back out the area to assist in recovering the shotgun. He’d said he had thrown it into the brush across the street from where his car was stuck, according to court documents.

Defense attorney Bob Schroeter argued unsuccessfully for only $10,000 bail, noting it seemed like an inadvertent release of a shotgun into the ground.

There is no allegation anyone was shot.

According to court documents, detectives tracked down Borquez by asking law officers in Pacific County about a short, stocky Hispanic male with tattoos on the left side of his neck and face who was known for involvement with the three stopped in the Jeep. That was the description given by witnesses at the scene.

A witness from the gas station picked his photo out of a montage, according to the documents.

According to Borquez, the plan was hatched on Tuesday morning, when Copp and three males arrived at his home in Raymond asking for help.

She said she’d rented a 2012 Nissan Altima because she’d been kicked out of her father’s house the night before, and everything she had was in the car when her ex-boyfriend took it, Borquez told detectives.

Borquez is scheduled to return to court tomorrow afternoon when, if charges are filed, his bail will be set.

Robert R. Ogilve, 42, who was booked Tuesday afternoon  remains in the jail on a  warrant from the state Department of Corrections.

The Pacific County resident told detectives he just wanted a ride into town from a friend, and the next thing he knew he found himself at a gas station near Chehalis where there was a dispute and someone firing a shotgun, court documents state.

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For background, read “Dispute, gunshot draws law enforcement to state Route 6 intersection” from Tuesday April 16, 2013, here

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

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