They went to Juniper Dunes to party. 2 left with broken bones

A Juniper Dunes party turned violent late Saturday, leaving two men with broken bones and another in jail.

It started about midnight when Cruz D. Del Angel, 22, of Benton City, threw a pallet into a bonfire in the remote area, said Franklin County Undersheriff Dan McCary.

When a partygoer yelled at him about it, Del Angel allegedly attacked and apparently broke his jaw. Someone drove the injured man to an area hospital.

An hour later, another man drove into the area quickly which upset Del Angel. He hit the man several times, leaving him with what appeared to be a broken nose and cheekbone, said McCary.

Deputies arrested Del Angel as he was trying to flee. He was booked Sunday morning into the Franklin County jail on suspicion of two counts of second-degree assault.

The 19,600-acre Juniper Dunes area, which is named because it contains some of the state’s larger sand dunes and a juniper forest, is owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management. It’s about 18 miles northeast of Pasco.

A 7,100-acre wilderness area is off-limits to motorists, but a separate 3,920-acre area is popular with off-road vehicles.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 12:46 PM with the headline "They went to Juniper Dunes to party. 2 left with broken bones."