黑料福利社

Prosecutors have dropped their case against a Yakima man accused of shooting at a man who mistook him for a relative in 2023.

In a document filed June 5 in Yakima County Superior Courts, prosecutors asked Judge Jared Boswell to dismiss without prejudice first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm charges against Tommy Paul Soliz Jr., 20.

In the document, Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Barrett said the victim doesn鈥檛 want to cooperate with the discovery process, where both sides exchange information and evidence, nor testify at a trial. Without his testimony, Barrett wrote, the case against Soliz cannot be proven.

By dismissing the case without prejudice, prosecutors retain the ability to refile the charges should circumstances change.

Solizis was 17 at the time of the shooting and was being tried as an adult under a state law that 鈥渁uto declines鈥� juvenile court jurisdiction for 16- and 17-year-olds who are charged with certain violent crimes, such as first-degree assault.

He was accused of firing on a car whose driver had pulled up to him after mistaking him for a relative, according to a Yakima police affidavit.

Yakima police were called to the area of East Mead and South Fair avenues around 2 p.m. April 5, 2023, for a shooting.

A driver had turned south on South Fair Avenue from East Mead Avenue and saw the suspect and another teen standing at the corner, the affidavit said, thought they were cousins and turned the car around and greeted them.

At that point, Soliz, the affidavit said, pulled a gun from a fanny pack and opened fire. The driver was not injured, but police found several bullet holes in the driver鈥檚 side of the car, the affidavit said.

Police found Soliz, who they said had a .45-caliber pistol in his pocket, while investigators found eight .45-caliber shell casing at the scene, the affidavit said.

At this preliminary appearance hearing, a defense attorney said Soliz was defending himself from someone he thought was threatening him, asking if he were a gang member.

Soliz has a prior juvenile conviction for fourth-degree assault.