Update: Teens fired over 20 shots at Prosser officer and neighbor during ruined robbery, say police

Two teens were trying to break into a Prosser apartment and rob a man when they shot through a wall, hitting a neighbor, court documents show.

Then, as police responded to the complex, at least one of the teens shot at an officer, hitting him once in the leg, police said.

The suspects got away but were captured more than 14 hours later — one in Kennewick and the other in Centralia in Western Washington.

Abdiel B. Vargas and Isaiah M. Colley both are charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Nationwide arrest warrants were issued for them Monday after investigators learned their identities from the person they tried to rob.

Saw suspects through peephole

That man, who refused to open his apartment door at 1 a.m. Monday, told police he looked through the peephole and recognized the teens.

The charging documents suggest that Colley may have been the one to shoot the next-door neighbor, though the court affidavit does not go into details.

The two 19-year-olds have not yet been charged with the assault of Prosser police Officer Antonio Bustamante.

The officer has been with the department for a little more than one year. He was released from the hospital Monday morning after being treated for his gunshot wound.

The neighbor’s condition is not known at this time, but police earlier said his injuries are not life threatening.

Teen suspects dressed in black

According to court documents, a resident of Canyon Park Apartments was the first to call 911 and report two males trying to break into her apartment. The Canyon Drive complex is just west of the downtown area.

She said the would-be intruders were wearing all-black clothing and jiggling the handle of her front door.

That woman’s boyfriend reported that the teens continued to ring the doorbell and were walking around their apartment, also knocking on windows.

He advised police that about 10 p.m. Sunday, he got word from an acquaintance that Colley and Vargas were planning to rob him, documents said.

The couple were still awake three hours later when they initially heard a faint knock on the door.

The neighbor told police he had been asleep but awoke to knocking on his window.

He got up, and as he approached the window, shots were fired from the outside into his apartment, court documents said. The man, who was hit at least once, ran across the hall to a third apartment and asked that neighbor for help.

That second 911 call came nine minutes later, at 1:10 a.m.

Neighbor heard several bangs

The resident in the third apartment told investigators that he too had been sleeping when he heard several bangs and what sounded like a car leaving, documents said.

Moments later, his wounded neighbor knocked on his door. He gave the man a towel to help with the blood on his left side and, after calling 911, heard an additional six to eight shots fired at a distance.

Two officers responding to the first 911 call were pulling into the parking lot as the initial shots were fired into the apartment. Bustamante reported it over the radio to his colleagues.

Officer Eric St. John drove to Bustamante’s location and found his fellow officer outside of his patrol car and ducked down between two vehicles, court documents said.

Bustamante told St. John he had been shot in the leg, so St. John stayed with the injured officer until backup units arrived, documents said.

Interviewed later at the hospital, Bustamante told a detective with the Tri-City Special Investigations Unit that he saw a man in black clothes run out from behind a Dumpster.

Officer counted 10-20 gunshots

The officer got out of his patrol car and tried to contact the suspect, then suddenly heard gunshots. Bustamante said he had not seen a gun before that, but he returned fire in the direction of the fleeing suspect, according to court documents.

He added that he thought the suspect fired 10 to 20 rounds at him.

Investigators found multiple .22-caliber shell casings outside the apartment window where the tenant was shot, in the parking lot where Bustamante was hit and on the opposite side of the parking area.

Many 9mm casings, believed to be from the officer’s service weapon, were found in the carport area where Bustamante hid after shooting toward the suspect, documents said.

Detectives showed two separate photo lineups to the intended robbery target, and the man reportedly picked out Colley and Vargas as the two he saw through the peephole.

Arrest warrants issued

Prosser police have been helped in the investigation by other law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force.

A news release from the task force says officers responded across Eastern Washington on Monday in an attempt to find and arrest the suspects.

Judge Bruce Spanner signed off on the warrants just before noon Monday.

At 3:30 p.m., Vargas was spotted in a car driving near West Clearwater Avenue and Highway 395. Kennewick police stopped the car and took him into custody without incident.

Vargas appeared in Benton County court Tuesday afternoon and pleaded innocent to the assault charge. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 16. Bail is set at $500,000.

Task force members learned that Colley had traveled to Centralia, and worked with the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Centralia police to check several locations for him.

He was tracked down to a Cooks Hill Road location at 4:30 p.m. but refused to surrender, so the Lewis County Regional SWAT Team was called to help, according to The Chronicle in Centralia.

Colley was one of four adults arrested. He was booked into the Lewis County jail in Chehalis at 7:15 p.m. and held without bail.

‘Incredible partnerships’ in Washington

Also, online jail records show Bernice T. Colley, 39, was booked into the jail on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She also is being held without bail.

Details of his mother’s alleged involvement were not released, but Isaiah Colley’s criminal record shows he has ties to Lewis County.

Centralia police mentioned the arrest on their Facebook page.

The Prosser Police Department replied to that posting Tuesday morning, saying “Thanks for your help, it was greatly appreciated.”

“One of the things that make the communities in Eastern Washington strong are the incredible partnerships we have between our federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the communities we serve,” U.S. Marshal Craig Thayer said in a Tuesday news release.

Raymond Fleck, supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service, added: “Shoot a law enforcement officer in Eastern Washington and you will not be able to run hard enough, fast enough or long enough to evade justice. You will simply be captured tired.”

This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 9:57 AM.