3 stabbed in fight after Finley bonfire party

A fight at a bonfire party in Finley ended with three people stabbed and the alleged assailant kicked in the head in an attempt to stop him.

Zachary E. Gray, 20, had been told to leave the Dec. 22 party after getting into a fist fight with one of the hosts.

But before Gray’s friends drove off the South Haney Road property, he reportedly asked them to return to the house so he could grab his sunglasses.

That’s when Gray allegedly attacked Alan John Zilar with a pocket knife, stabbing him once in the chest and again near his armpit.

Zilar’s cousin, Johnathan Zilar, and one of Gray’s friends, Collin Rodriguez, ended up with stab wounds in the ensuing scuffle.

On Friday, Gray pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to third-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault. Trial is set for Feb. 11.

Gray had been in custody until Wednesday, when he posted $5,000 bond. His bail was increased Friday to $10,000, and the additional amount was paid within hours, according to court officials.

Benton County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Haney Road home for a report of a fight involving a knife. Witnesses told deputies that the suspect, Gray, had been taken to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, and Alan Zilar was driven to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

Court documents show the two men fought because Zilar believed Gray was pushing on the face of his friend who was passed out from drinking too much. Gray also allegedly used a racial slur when talking about one of Zilar’s friends.

Gray got in a car with a friend to leave but when he returned for some sunglasses, Zilar told him he didn’t want them on his property.

Zilar said he then heard someone yell that Gray had a knife but was surprised when Gray stabbed him, documents said.

The party host said he freaked out because he didn’t know the severity of the wounds.

He remembers seeing his cousin step in to stop Gray, but said he was in shock and doesn’t know how the fight ended because his mother drove him to the hospital, court documents said.

Rodriguez, Gray’s friend, told investigators he stepped in to break it up and ended up stabbed in the right thigh, documents said.

He later went to Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco for treatment.

Johnathan Zilar reported that when Gray tackled his cousin and stabbed him twice, he tried to grab the knife from Gray and got stabbed in the hand, court documents said.

He said he kicked Gray in the head and knocked him out. Then, with the help of others, he got Gray into a car and locked him in, documents said.

Gray allegedly made threats while inside the car, telling the party-goers they were lucky and he “should have killed you all.”

Deputies found the pocket knife, which had a 3- to 4-inch blade, on the hood of a car in the driveway. They also tracked down Gray at Trios and later interviewed him at the sheriff’s office before taking him to jail.