A man being investigated in connection with a fatal Brush Prairie shooting appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of illegally possessing a shotgun.
Jonathan “Jon Jon” Oson, 36, was already in custody in an unrelated assault case. Now, he faces separate allegations of being a felon in possession of a firearm and altering the gun.
Judge Robert Lewis set bail in Oson’s newest case at $50,000 after hearing about the defendant’s lengthy rap sheet from Deputy Prosecutor Katie Sinclair. Oson’s past convictions include financial fraud, possession of a stolen vehicle and forgery.
At about 1:45 a.m. June 9, Washington State Patrol troopers responded to a fatal crash on state Highway 503 near Northeast 119th Street. They found 29-year-old Ariel Romano dead after his car hit a large tree near Prairie High School.
Investigators initially thought Romano died in a hit-and-run crash while street racing but discovered that he had been shot.
Trooper Will Finn said during a Monday press conference that Romano had met with Justin Schell and Raul Flores, both 44, as well as Oson at a WinCo Foods on Northeast 119th Street, near the spot where Romano’s car crashed, on the night of the shooting.
There was an altercation at the store, which led to Romano being chased by a vehicle that authorities say was occupied by Flores and Oson. Troopers are still working to determine who was driving and who fired the shotgun round out of the moving car that killed Romano.
Flores appeared June 29 in Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder, but Oson has yet to face charges directly tied to the slaying. Schell was also arrested Monday and is being held on a community custody violation, the jail roster shows.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Oson’s firearms case, the investigation into Romano’s death was used as the basis for troopers calling the Clark County Jail and asking about the inmate’s possessions.
Troopers learned he had two cellphones in his personal property, and in one of those phones, they discovered a photo of a chrome or silver pistol-grip shotgun, according to the affidavit.
They reviewed jail calls made by Oson and located the shotgun, which he asked an acquaintance to stash at a Vancouver home in the 10300 block of Northeast 75th Place, according to the affidavit.
Law enforcement served a search warrant on the home June 30 and retrieved a silver shotgun — it was hidden under a futon cushion, wrapped in a towel. Someone had attempted to scratch off the gun’s serial number. Police also located a duffle bag containing one dozen 12-gauge shotgun shells, according to the affidavit.
People in the home said the shotgun and duffle bag belonged to Oson, according to the affidavit.
Finn said it is possible the seized shotgun was used in the fatal shooting of Romano. However, multiple weapons were taken from the Vancouver home, and some of them will be analyzed at a crime lab, he said.
