He attacked a transient. Prison ordered in Kennewick hatchet assault

A 27-year-old man is going to prison for attacking a stranger with a hatchet at a Kennewick car wash.

Rafael Mejia Virrueta reportedly targeted the 49-year-old victim after learning the man was a transient.

The victim, Coy Jones, was left with a large cut below his bottom lip, and had a significant amount of blood “pouring from the wound” when police arrived.

Mejia Virrueta pleaded recently guilty in Benton County Superior Court to a reduced charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Deputy Prosecutor Julie Long said in a court filing that she agreed to the reduction from first-degree assault because Jones’ injuries, although severe, don’t rise to the level of “great bodily harm” as required under the statute.

Amending the assault and giving Mejia Virrueta the maximum penalty, along with an extra year for the deadly weapon enhancement, should hold him “accountable for his actions while taking into consideration the burden the state must satisfy,” Long said.

Mejia Virrueta’s potential penalties were discussed with the victim, Long said.

Kennewick police were called at 6:37 p.m. Sept. 27 for an assault at Snod’s Car Wash, 216 N. Washington St.

Officers got there in less than a minute, but Mejia Virrueta was gone, court documents said.

Jones told police he had been at the car wash when a stranger approached and asked if he was a transient. Jones said he was, adding that he planned to stay at the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission in Pasco.

That’s when Mejia Virrueta hit Jones once in the face with the hatchet, and tried to hit him several more times, documents said.

The two men reportedly fought for a few minutes.

Then Mejia Virrueta walked away. He was found a short time later walking toward Clover Island. He was carrying a hatchet, but denied having been in the area of the car wash.

In his guilty plea statement, Mejia Virrueta said he “hit a man with an axe.”

He faced between three and nine months in jail for the second-degree assault.

Judge Bruce Spanner ordered the top of the range, along with the deadly weapon enhancement, for a total one-year, nine-month prison term.

Mejia Virrueta will be on community supervision for 1 1/2 years after he is released from prison. His criminal history includes second-degree unlawful possession of a gun and drug possession.

This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 6:24 PM.