A 19-year-old Hazel Dell man appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court for allegedly shooting at another teenage boy after the boy failed to score marijuana for their group of friends.
Kevin T. Barsotti was held on $75,000 bail and will face a charge of drive-by shooting at his March 7 arraignment. Barsotti has no criminal history in the county, said Deputy Prosecutor Julie Carmena.
Judge Scott Collier appointed attorney Edward Dunkerly to defend Barsotti.
An informant reported the shooting to Clark County Sheriff’s Office and put deputies in contact with Barsotti’s friend, Andrew Musgrave, and other witnesses, according to court documents.
This is what happened, according to a probable cause affidavit:
Musgrave told police that he, Barsotti and a friend, named Terrance, had plans on Jan. 26 to drive in the same car to another friend’s Hazel Dell apartment, where they all would hang out. Terrance and Barsotti said they needed to run an errand around 10:45 p.m. and drove the group to a convenience store on Northeast 51st Circle to pick up another teenager named Zack. As the group drove around Orchards, Zack made about seven phone calls on his cellphone trying to find someone who would sell them marijuana but was unsuccessful.
“Andrew said they were on 94th Avenue, and Terrance and Kevin began getting frustrated so they kicked Zack out of the car,” according to the affidavit.
Zack began walking north on 94th on the west side of the road, while the other teenagers drove in the same direction on the roadway. When the group had nearly reached their friend’s apartment, Barsotti allegedly said, “I’m gonna buck at him,” the affidavit stated.
Then, the documents state, Terrance, who was driving the vehicle at the time, made a U-turn and headed back toward Zack. Barsotti allegedly took out a pistol and fired two or three shots at Zack in the 6800 block of Northeast 94th Avenue.
A resident at a home on the same block said she and her children heard popping sounds around midnight Jan. 26.
Deputies found a .380 shell casing in the grass near where the shooting happened.
Sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant Wednesday on Barsotti’s vehicle and home, where he lives with his parents on Northwest 88th Street.
They found a photograph of a firearm that matched the description of the one he is accused of using in the drive-by shooting, according to court documents. Barsotti denied that he was involved in the shooting and claimed to have no knowledge of the firearm.
Paris Achen: 360-735-4551; http://twitter.com/Col_Courts; http://facebook.com/ColTrends; paris.achen@columbian.com.
