After nationwide manhunt, arrest made in shooting that wounded Tacoma boxing legend

TACOMA — After a nationwide manhunt, the 27-year-old Seattle man suspected of shooting a prominent boxer and coach in Tacoma two months ago outside the Oasis of Hope Center has been arrested.

The man is accused of shooting the 52-year-old coach on Feb. 17 during a Golden Gloves boxing event following an argument in the parking lot. Witnesses say the coach stepped on the alleged gunman’s shoe prior to the shooting. The man was allegedly trying to instigate a physical altercation with the coach due to his status and reputation as a former boxing champion, prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

The coach survived multiple gunshot wounds. The alleged gunman fled the state following the incident.

Pierce County prosecutors charged him with first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. A bench warrant with a nation-wide extradition was issued for his arrest on March 13, court records show.

“With collaborative efforts from the United States Marshal’s Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender’s Task Force, USMS New Mexico Task Force, and USMS Arizona Task Force, the suspect was tracked across the southwestern United States,” according to a Tacoma Police Department news release.

The man was arrested on April 19 by the USMS Violent Offender Task Force in Long Beach, Washington, upon returning to the state. The man’s loaded firearm was seized during the arrest and he was booked into Pierce County Jail, the release said.

The release said that the man is involved in other ongoing violent-crime investigations across the Puget Sound region. He is also is a convicted felon. He was previously convicted for six counts of residential burglary, second-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, records show.