{"id":5291,"date":"2011-03-05T10:38:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-05T18:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5291"},"modified":"2011-03-05T11:00:18","modified_gmt":"2011-03-05T19:00:18","slug":"drive-by-shooting-charges-dismissed-against-second-of-four-suspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5291","title":{"rendered":"Drive-by shooting charges dismissed against second of four suspects"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker
\nLewis County Sirens news reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHEHALIS – Juan Valentino Vasquez was released from jail yesterday after Lewis County prosecutors asked a judge to drop the charges against the accused drive-by shooter.<\/p>\n

Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover” according to police, was one of four individuals believed to be inside a Chevrolet Blazer from which somebody fired a round in August on Southwest William Street in Chehalis.<\/p>\n

\"2010.0811.mug.juan.vasquez2\"<\/a>

Juan Valentino Vasquez<\/p><\/div>\n

Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes told a judge yesterday afternoon he had insufficient evidence to prove the case.<\/p>\n

The Centralia man had been scheduled to go to trial next week in Lewis County Superior Court on charges of drive-by shooting and first-degree assault.<\/p>\n

Outside the courtroom yesterday, Hayes declined to elaborate on the details behind the dismissal.<\/p>\n

Vasquez is the second original suspect against whom charges have been dropped.<\/p>\n

Last fall, similar charges were dismissed against Ruben Alberto Palomares because his wife’s statements against him would be inadmissible since her information came from privileged marital communications.<\/p>\n

Centralia defense attorney Don Blair represented both men.<\/p>\n

\"2010.0811.mug.andrew.morales.loberg\"<\/a>

Andrew Morales-Loberg<\/p><\/div>\n

The individual fingered as the actual shooter by the alleged target in the incident remains at large. A $500,000 warrant was issued last summer for Andrew Morales-Loberg, 19, of Chehalis.<\/p>\n

He still hasn’t been found, Hayes said yesterday.<\/p>\n

Authorities describe the shooting as related to a debt owed to somebody called “Candy man” and perpetrated by the LVL gang.<\/p>\n

A .45 caliber round was found at the scene after the Aug. 7 incident on the 400 block of Southwest William Street. It missed several people standing outside but struck an unoccupied parked vehicle.<\/p>\n

Chehalis police at the time described witnesses as reluctant to talk\u00a0 because of fear of gang retaliation.<\/p>\n

LVL stands for Little Valley Locos or Little Valley Lokotes a gang locally made up mostly of individuals who grew up in Centralia when it was particularly active in the summer of 2007.<\/p>\n

Chehalis police initially said the occupants of the SUV were Morales-Loberg, Vasquez, 24, Palomares, 25, of Tenino, and his wife, Christina Palomares, formerly Alaniz, 24.<\/p>\n

The mother of three remains charged with drive-by shooting, however, she was released from jail in September on an unsecured bond.<\/p>\n

Chehalis police said they believed Christina Palomares was the driver. Her trial is still scheduled for the week of April 18.<\/p>\n

Drive-by shooting is a class B felony, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Vasquez was jailed only about two months ago after police found him at a trailer home on Windsor Avenue.<\/p>\n

A search of the trailer turned up a fully automatic Chinese SKS firearm, described by police as a shortened rifle, and illegal for anyone to possess. It was not believed to be the gun used in August.<\/p>\n

Hayes yesterday said the order Judge Richard Brosey signed dismissing the charges against Vasquez were “without prejudice”, meaning they could be filed again at a later time.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Read background on the case:<\/p>\n

\u2022 “Mother of three charged in Chehalis drive-by shooting, husband turns self in” from Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010, here<\/a>
\n\u2022 “Tenino couple’s arraignment for Chehalis drive-by shooting set for today” from Thursday Aug. 12, 2010, here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker Lewis County Sirens news reporter CHEHALIS – Juan Valentino Vasquez was released from jail yesterday after Lewis County prosecutors asked a judge to drop the charges against the accused drive-by shooter. Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover” according to police, was one of four individuals believed to be inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10],"class_list":["post-5291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-story","tag-by-sharyn-l-decker","tag-news-reporter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5291"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5294,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291\/revisions\/5294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}