Tri-Cities father followed armed road rage suspect through Pasco until police arrived
When a driver flashed a gun at a family near the cable bridge in Pasco, a father wasn’t about to let it go.
He called 911 and proceeded to chase a brown Nissan pickup through Pasco until police could catch up with both drivers.
Now the Nissan’s driver, Emiselio Perez Mendez, 46, of Pasco, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail for second-degree assault and illegally possessing a gun.
The chase through the streets of Pasco allegedly started about 8:30 p.m. on July 14 when a man, his girlfriend and a 4-year-old boy were heading north on Highway 397 to cross the cable bridge.
They said the tan Nissan was blocking the road by making an illegal U-Turn at the base of the bridge. .
The dad swerved around the pickup truck and made a rude gesture at the other driver. He continued north, but then noticed that the pickup was passing to his right and the driver allegedly had pulled out a silver handgun and was pointing it at the three of them.
While he was afraid Perez Mendez was going to shoot them, the father continued to follow Nissan because this wasn’t the first time he’d been threatened by another driver with a gun, court documents said.
“He claimed that because he did not follow the previous vehicle that officers did not investigate and the suspect got away with threatening him and his family,” Pasco Officer Conrad Christenson wrote in court documents.
He followed the Nissan from the bridge into East Pasco. The pickup’s driver tried to lose him by driving in circles and taking side alleys.
When they ended up near the Simplot plant on Commercial Avenue, Perez Mendez allegedly pointed the gun at them again.
The father continued to follow at a distance, provided a 911 dispatcher with his location. Christenson stopped both drivers on East Kartchner Street.
Perez Mendez and a woman were in the pickup when officers stopped it. He admitted to drinking three beers and said the other driver tried to crash into him.
He denied having a gun in the car. While police found shell casings, he claimed those came from two days prior when his friend went target shooting, court documents said.
Police searched the pickup and found a 9mm handgun, along with a box of ammunition and four shell casings that appeared to have been fired from the driver’s seat.
Neither of the victims reported hearing gunshots, but Christenson said they might not have heard them because of the stress.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 11:26 AM.