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FINLEY Three days after a 7-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet at a Finley park, Benton County sheriff's officials announced plans to step up patrols around the area.
Capt. Steve Keane said deputies will conduct extra patrols in Hover Park to ensure no one is discharging a weapon within the park.
They also will be making sure people target shooting in the area are doing it in a safe manner, he said.
The increased patrols will start this weekend.
On Saturday, Matthew Cardenas was shot in the thigh while his family took a lunch break from four-wheeling.
His father, Anastacio Cardenas of Pasco, said Matthew suddenly fell to the ground and started crying. When they pulled up his pants, they saw he was bleeding.
A slug was removed from Matthew's thigh during surgery Monday at Kennewick General Hospital and Matthew was recovering well, his father said.
Keane said deputies are investigating what happened, but he suspects the bullet likely came from someone target practicing on the north end of the park by Ayres Road.
"I'm pretty sure it's coming from Ayres Road and traveling a long way," Keane said.
He said there have been complaints about shooters in the area in the past and deputies are checking the property to see who owns it.
A large area of open land south of the park that is owned by the Kennewick Public Hospital District also is a popular spot for target practicing and off-roading.
Keane said if the property on the north side of the road is private property and the owner doesn't mind people using it for target shooting, sheriff's officials can't force the owner to stop allowing that use.
But if the owner doesn't want people using his property, deputies can try to help make sure people don't trespass on it.
Pasco officer's hunch leads to car theft bust
PASCO Two suspected car thieves were nabbed early Tuesday thanks to "good proactive police work" by a Pasco officer on the graveyard shift, officials said.
Officer Jason McClintock was patrolling around 3 a.m. in the area near East A Street and Manzanita Lane where stripped stolen cars have been dumped in the past when he spotted a car driving in without its headlights on, said Capt. Jim Raymond.
"It was just perfect timing," Raymond said.
When McClintock went to see what the driver was doing, a passenger jumped out of the car and the driver took off, he said.
A police dog tracked the passenger to a garage on the 2700 block of East Lewis and officers found Juan Garcia Castro, 20, of Pasco, hiding inside, Raymond said.
Hector Garcia Castro, 18, of Pasco, was stopped a short time later on the west end of town in a 1995 Honda Civic that turned out to be stolen.
Raymond said parts from the stolen Honda were found in the garage where Juan Garcia Castro was hiding, and some other suspected stolen Honda parts were seized.
The Honda Civic the suspects were in apparently had been swiped from where it had been parked on the street on the 1100 block of Shoshone Street, Raymond said.
The car's owner didn't know the car had been stolen until officers notified the victim.
A half-dozen Hondas have been stolen in the past few months in the Tri-Cities and many of them have been found dumped in east Pasco after being stripped of valuable parts, Raymond said.
Hector Garcia Castro was arrested and booked into the Franklin County jail on suspicion of first-degree theft. Juan Garcia Castro was jailed on investigation of theft of a motor vehicle.
Richland woman hit by alleged burglar
RICHLAND A residential burglary was disrupted late Monday when the resident returned to her Richland home and found two men inside, police said.
The victim, 19, saw one of the suspects attempting to steal an Xbox game system when she walked inside her home on the 1300 block of Van Giesen Street around 8:45 p.m., said Richland Officer Erica Tungesvik.
The woman was hit and pushed down when she confronted the suspect, Tungesvik said. A second woman, 18, also was pushed by the suspect.
Police officers surrounded the area to try to track down the suspects but they could not be located.
The case remains under investigation.
Motorcyclist injured in bypass accident
RICHLAND A Richland motorcyclist escaped serious injury after he apparently ran a red light on the Highway 240 bypass and crashed into a truck, the Washington State Patrol said.
Ron Ellis, 49, was going across Stevens Drive to go on the bypass when he reportedly ran a red light and struck the right rear side of a pickup that was driving west on Stevens Drive, Sgt. Zach Elmore said.
The truck driver was not injured, but Ellis suffered a bad cut to his face and a cut on the back of his head, Elmore said.
Ellis' Harley Davidson was totaled in the wreck that occurred at 6:50 a.m. Monday.
Witnesses reported traffic was backed up considerably while the collision scene was cleared. Ellis was not wearing a legal helmet, Elmore said.
-- Paula Horton: 509-582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com
