Driver fired 10+ shots into orchard near Benton City. He didn’t see the workers

A 25-year-old felon is suspected of driving drunk when he fired more than 10 shots out his open truck window into an orchard where a handful of people were working.

Both the pickup driven by Fidelmar Ayala Colin and the pistol used in the March 18 drive-by shooting had been stolen in the previous 24 hours.

No one was wounded but investigators noted that the shots could have hit workers and several homes about 100 to 200 yards beyond the orchard.

The orchard was just off the highway between Benton City and Prosser.

Ayala Colin was arrested after Benton County sheriff’s deputies stopped him heading east on Interstate 82.

Now, he’s locked up on $50,000 bail and charged in Benton County Superior Court with drive-by shooting, possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree illegal gun possession.

He is not allowed to own or possess a gun because he has two felony convictions, both for third-degree assault, according to prosecutors.

Court documents show that reports started coming in to 911 at 2:20 p.m. about gunshots being fired recklessly from a moving truck.

One caller said it was a gray Dodge Ram truck and described the shooting on North Hansen Road near West Gibbon Road. He told the emergency dispatcher that he noticed several workers were in the orchard at the time.

The pickup was gone when deputies arrived, but they caught up with him on the highway, documents said.

During the traffic stop, deputies reported seeing two boxes of 9mm ammunition inside in plain view and a black 9mm Smith & Wesson under the center console between the driver and passenger seats.

That’s when they also discovered that the Dodge had been stolen earlier in the day in Prosser.

After getting a search warrant for the truck and recovering the pistol, deputies also learned the gun had been stolen on March 17 during a vehicle prowl in Prosser.

Ayala Colin also was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. That case is being handled in Benton County District Court.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 2:41 PM.