Pasco police chase catches 10-time convicted gang member. He’s facing federal charge
A Pasco man with 10 convictions who was arrested last month after a chase by Pasco police ending with a “PIT” maneuver pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Victor Amezcua-Garcia, 31, also known as “Lil Minor,” is an active member of Mexico Pride of the Sureno gang, according to the Eastern Washington U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In January, Amezcua-Garcia was wanted on a felony warrant for escaping Washington state Department of Corrections supervision and on suspicion of a series of armed robberies and shootings in Pasco, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
No charges were filed in connection with what federal officials say was a series of robberies and shootings.
Prosecutors did charge Amezcua-Garcia after he threatened a woman, held her in a Pasco apartment and threatened to kill her dog and take her belongings on Jan. 2, according to a Franklin County Superior Court document.
He held a gun to the head of a woman there and told her she needed to choose whether he killed her dog or stole her PlayStation, according to a court document.
When she told him to steal the PlayStation, he kicked her cat across the room, according to a court document.
Amezcua-Garcia and the second person left without harming her dog or stealing anything, according to a court document.
The woman said she didn’t know why Amezcua-Garcia came to her apartment.
He was charged with second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment, but Franklin County prosecutors dropped the charges because federal prosecutors planned to charge him.
Pasco police chase
On Jan. 24 a Pasco Police Department detective called Amezcua-Garcia, pretending to be a rival gang member, and arranged a meeting that day to “fight,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Amezcua-Garcia and another Sureno gang member showed up for the fight in a stolen vehicle, sitting low in the car with their faces covered by bandannas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As Pasco police attempted a traffic stop, the car sped off, traveling at high speeds through Pasco residential neighborhoods.
Pasco police used a “PIT” maneuver on Court Street to stop the car. A video posted on the Tri-Cities Bad Driver Shaming Facebook page shows a police car hitting Amezcua-Garcia’s car to force it to the side of the road, where other police cars quickly surrounded it.
Amezcua-Garcia and the second gang member in the car attempted to run, but Pasco police cars blocked them, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Pasco police could see a loaded and chambered gun with a symbol associated with the Sureno gang carved into it in plain view in the stopped car.
Amezcua-Garcia had ammunition that matched the gun, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Rich Barker, the acting Eastern Washington U.S. attorney, said that law enforcement officers “frequently are called upon to put themselves in harm’s way to protect Eastern Washington communities.”
The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Washington state Department of Corrections and Pasco Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Baunsgard is prosecuting the case.